Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

The year 2023 is rapidly approaching, and everyone is wondering if they should welcome or fear automation. Some say automation will help businesses become more efficient and effective, while others say it will cause mass unemployment and social unrest.

At the tail end of 2022, automation remains a popular discussion issue in the corporate sector. Prominent figures in the corporate world have discussed the pros and cons of automating routine tasks. There is a school of thought that organisations may reap the benefits of automation by streamlining their operations and shifting their attention to more valuable endeavours. Others worry that automation will lead to widespread job loss and societal upheaval.

In this article, we examine the views of industry professionals on the future of automation and present their recommendations for the most efficient methods to use automation inside business processes.

Hyper-Automation, The Key to Digital Age Success

The future of a business is in its innovative use of technology. Leaders and technologists should be asking teams daily “what can we do better”, and the answer is in automation. Enterprises tell us that barriers to successful automation come from doing it faster and better. Enterprises that execute better take a “hyper-automation” approach and put the entire innovation lifecycle from the discovery of process gaps to using technology to plug those gaps, and capture and measure the value, all on one integrated platform.

– Wee Luen Chia, Area Vice President and Managing Director, Asia, ServiceNow

A New Way of Operating and Innovating

Automation is shifting from a tool to a way of operating and innovating. To scale automation, organisations must hire and train a new calibre of digital-friendly workers, and reduce programming requirements to speed up automation creation for professional and citizen developers.

– Scott Hunter, Vice President, Strategic Engagements & Transformation Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan at UiPath

A Necessity in Today’s Digital Landscape

Automation is key to effective cybersecurity amid today’s expanded digital terrain and skills shortage. Essential to success is having a clear implementation roadmap, working with capable partners that understand local market nuances, as well as securing employee support for a machine-augmented cybersecurity strategy that optimises security outcomes and enables upskilling of the human workforce.

– Sukhbir Sandhu, Managing Director, ASEAN, Forescout

A Game-Changer for Business Efficiency and Value

Automating discovery gives you real-time knowledge of all your assets on your network by mapping every endpoint everywhere, allowing you to make fast, accurate decisions that result in breakthrough levels of efficiency and value across your business. You can also optimise performance across the full lifecycle while tracking contracts, to ensure assets are efficiently managed and secured.

– Liam Ryan, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Ivanti

Cobots: The Future of Manufacturing Automation
Collaborative robots (cobots) are now at the forefront of automation. As we move towards 2023, organisations exploring automated solutions to increase productivity, and efficiency while creating a safe and conducive environment for human workers can start by understanding the operations on the production floor. Manufacturers that are new to automation should observe how their employees work. This helps to identify tasks that are ideal for cobot deployment.

– Ix Lee, Head of Southeast Asia and Oceania, Universal Robots

Creating a Fully Connected and Automated Claims Ecosystem

Automation is only feasible if the data it requires to operate has been digitised and thoroughly organised. This applies particularly to insurance claims processes, which are not just limited to the insurer but involve a variety of external service providers across an entire ecosystem. To ensure meaningful automation, any process changes must be implemented uniformly along this value chain – from insurers all the way through its various partners in this wider system.

In today’s digital age, it is essential to create a fully connected and automated claims ecosystem for the best user experience. By implementing AI-assisted decision-making tools, complex processes can be managed more effectively while still allowing assessors to remain in control of all outcomes. This revolutionary combination allows us to move beyond tedious manual tasks towards higher accuracy across every claim type.

– Trevor Lok, Chief Fermion Ecosystems and CEO of Merimen

The Next Level for Production Efficiency

Cloud-based automation is the light at the end of the tunnel as it saves time by creating operational continuity via improving production efficiency. The load on computing, networking and storage resources that bring systems online or offline is balanced by AI. To manage increasingly complex data, it addresses the need for advanced cloud-based management and automation tools.

– Kun Huang, General Manager of Malaysia for Alibaba Cloud Intelligence

Harnessing the Power of the Cloud

The future of automation begins in the cloud. The cloud’s availability allows rapid deployment in areas that would benefit most from additional efficiency and cost reduction. Success would be achieved by combining a well-balanced mix of AI/ML augmented off-the-shelf solutions for operations with in-house solutions for strategic business processes.

– Sui Jin Foong, Systems Engineering Director for ASEAN, Juniper Networks

Navigating Uncertainty With Automation

The uncertain market conditions could kick off a new wave of automation, as organisations hunt for ways to reduce costs without compromising performance. Organisations should look to low/no code automation solutions to boost adoption among non-IT users and ease technical implementation. To take a longer-term approach to automation, organisations should look beyond tapping on RPA as a point solution and plan for end-to-end, holistic business process transformation.

– Allan Teng, Founder and Managing Director of Asia Pacific and Japan for Workato

Autonomous Systems for Business Productivity

Businesses will continue to look to autonomous systems and rely on technologies such as robotic process automation to drive efficiency and boost productivity. To ensure one is adopting the right approach, organisations must understand their current automation maturity level – where they are in their technology adoption and their current capabilities. Frequent reviews on maturity levels need to be conducted to identify areas for improvement and key opportunities.

– Emon Zaman, Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific for AVEVA

AI-Powered Identity Security

With the growth of digital identities, securing identities is beyond human capacity today. Enterprises should incorporate AI/ML identity tools to automate the discovery, management, and control of all user access, and provide users with the right access to the right resources at the right time. Enterprises can begin with an automated identity security platform that delivers flexibility, user-centricity, and integrates seamlessly with existing security tools.

– Chern-Yue Boey, Senior Vice President of Asia-Pacific for SailPoint

Driving Agile, Efficient and Innovative Businesses

Advanced, intelligence-based automation will play an increasingly critical role in driving agility, efficiency and innovation for enterprises, especially in a climate of business uncertainty. These solutions integrate iterative self-correction and learning to support processes that would typically require employee intervention — freeing organisations to focus on higher value, strategic tasks that truly shift the needle for their business.

– Matthew Addley, Industry Strategist for Manufacturing at Infor

A Solution to Supply Chain Disruption

The past two years of supply chain disruption have prompted organisations to focus on automation in production and the warehouse. There is a need to identify challenges in warehouse processes and adopt a feasible automation solution. Some of the common pain points are space optimisation, increase in throughput, error reduction and sustainability. It is of paramount importance for them to choose a mature and proven solution that resolves most, if not all of the pain points.

– Clement Yew, Director of Business Development for Southeast Asia at AutoStore

In summary, as we head into 2023, the increasing prevalence of automation brings both opportunities and challenges for enterprises. Automation, on the one hand, may make businesses more agile and competitive in today’s fast-paced market by facilitating faster, more consistent, and more accurate operations. However, the demands of humans and machines, as well as the possible influence on the workforce, must be considered from a holistic perspective if automation is to be implemented successfully. Businesses may position themselves for future success by adopting automation and making use of cutting-edge technologies.

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