More Than Three-Quarters of Global Executives Surveyed Say 60 Percent or More of their Process-oriented Work Could Be Automated
Irvine, CA – August 23, 2019 – Kofax®, a leading supplier of Intelligent Automation software to digitally transform end-to-end business operations, shared the results of its first-ever Intelligent Automation Benchmarking Study, conducted in conjunction with Forbes Insights. Among the survey’s many findings was evidence of broad opportunities to harness Intelligent Automation within the enterprise.
A common perception is that big wins come in fixing inefficient processes, but the survey results indicate the most immediate gains actually come from applying Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – as part of a broader Intelligent Automation platform – to prioritized, well-defined and well-executed processes to hyper-connect enterprise data, systems and people.
"Many organizations have improved business processes and operations by investing in Lean Six Sigma-type initiatives to standardize, but stopped short of implementing automation to drive true enterprise value. This represents a target rich environment for Intelligent Automation to drive quick wins while setting the stage for longer term transformation," said Chris Huff, Chief Strategy Officer at Kofax. "The next wave of productivity lies in leveraging Intelligent Automation to automate data collection, accelerate analysis and provide deep insights while managing the convergence of automation and physical workers into a collaborative digital workforce – so organizations can work like tomorrow – today."
Specifically, the survey found that more than three-quarters of respondents said that 60 percent or more of their process-oriented work could be automated, while nearly one in five said that 80 percent or more could be automated. This demonstrates that many day-to-day processes in enterprises are already optimized for automation, which would then free the related staff members for more meaningful and rewarding work.
Getting Started with Intelligent Automation
The first step toward automation is identifying the processes that are the strongest candidates for RPA and Intelligent Automation. According to the benchmarking survey, the five most frequently automated processes were: quality control (43 percent), technology enhancement (42 percent), financial transactions/reporting (35 percent), customer experience (32 percent), and delivery of products and services (32 percent). This suggests most enterprises should start their evaluation in these areas.
In addition, a majority of executives said their processes were executed in a precise and consistent manner. Some 68 percent said their process execution is either somewhat or very detailed, and 75 percent said that their processes are either consistently or very consistently executed. These findings indicate that enterprises are likely to discover dozens of processes that are excellent candidates for RPA and Intelligent Automation.
Existing Kofax RPA, Kofax Capture and Kofax TotalAgility customers have access to a free Intelligent Automation “Starter Pack”, consisting of 12-month production licenses of Kofax RPA, TotalAgility, Insight, Communications Manager and SignDoc products. The Starter Pack allows customers to test drive the Intelligent Automation platform in a pilot project in order to map out their automation journey.
“Once business users have identified where to apply these technologies, steps should be taken to prioritize which to automate first by starting small, thinking big and moving fast,” Huff added. “Organizations that move quickly to embrace rules-based RPA and AI-powered Intelligent Automation across their optimized processes will set themselves up for competitive advantage and success in the digital age.”
The 2019 Kofax Intelligent Automation Benchmark Study surveyed 302 senior executives from 16 countries across three broad regions: the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific. Respondents held senior positions at large companies – all companies surveyed had annual revenue in excess of $1 billion. Director was the most common title among respondents, while nearly one-fifth were CIOs, and over a quarter were CEOs and CFOs. Finance and IT were the most common functions for lower-level titles.
About Kofax
Kofax software enables organizations to Work Like Tomorrow™ – today. Kofax’s Intelligent Automation software platform helps organizations transform information-intensive business processes, reduce manual work and errors, minimize costs, and improve customer engagement. We combine RPA, cognitive capture, process orchestration, mobility and engagement, and analytics to ease implementations and deliver dramatic results that mitigate compliance risk and increase competitiveness, growth and profitability. Kofax provides a rapid return on investment for over 20,000 customers in financial services, insurance, government, healthcare, supply chain, business process outsourcing and other markets. Kofax delivers its award-winning software and solutions through its direct sales and services organization and more than 650 indirect channel partners and integrators in more than 60 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit kofax.com.