Need to Embrace Automation Trends in 2020
Published on : Saturday 29-08-2020
2019 saw automation continue its march into offices and workflows across the world. Indeed, automation is breaking out into mainstream maturity, with few workplaces untouched. Here, we speculate on the likely automation trends for 2020.
Increased demand for traditional BPA
More and more areas of our work are digitized. And more and more younger workers are entering the workforce. So, another of the top automation trends for 2020 will be heightened appetite for efficient, technology-led ways of handling workloads. But this doesn’t necessarily mean RPA. (Despite all its surrounding hype.) For small businesses, paying many thousands of pounds for basic levels of automation simply isn’t feasible.
Rather, we expect to see more SMEs starting their automation journeys with traditional business process automation tools. For the most typical workflows – data pushing, email parsing, app syncing – classic BPA is a more cost-effective choice.
The entry of IPA
Intelligent process automation (or IPA) is the latest buzzword in the automation space. While we don’t think it will enter the mainstream anytime soon, it will be a hotly discussed topic in the year to come.
IPA is the latest wave in automation technology. It sees automation technologies converge to produce dramatically improved capabilities. This convergence spans tech such as RPA, smart workflow, machine learning, natural language generation, and cognitive agents. And, together, they allow businesses to automate on a greater scale, with greater intelligence. But, as per the previous point, the vast majority of businesses aren’t ready for this level of transformation yet. So, IPA will be one of the leading automation trends for 2020 in terms of debate if not deployment.
This idea of not being ready for the most advanced levels of automation is key. For example, the computing power required for advanced AI is doubling every 3 and a half months. There are clear limitations to how far and how intelligently we can automate at present. And as yet, we’re nowhere near artificial human intelligence. In 2020, businesses will likely reach a greater understanding of these limitations. As AI hits a wall, and as conversations on automation increase, 2020 will see a better understanding of automation possibilities.
These factors expected to enhance the adoption of traditional BPA and the theoretical-only hype around IPA. Though appetite is keen, one of the key automation trends for 2020 is a less naive notion of its application.