Business leaders in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) are increasingly recognising the vital role of automation, according to IDC APJ Automation Survey 2022 commissioned by UiPath.
The majority (86%) of APJ organisations agree that automation will be a critical requirement for business excellence, customer experience and competitive success within the next three years. As such, 62% will scale up their robotic process automation (RPA) initiatives or achieve an enterprise-wide RPA deployment by 2025.
“While improving operational efficiencies and enriching customer experience have been top of mind for leveraging automation, many organisations also believe that automation is a pathway towards meeting ESG and sustainability goals, which will be a gamechanger for corporate trustworthiness,” says Michael Araneta, associate vice president of IDC Financial Insights.
However, APJ organisations are finding it challenging to scale their RPA initiatives due to the shortage of automation skills and talent. More than half (53%) therefore consider the availability of skilled automation talent and strong implementation partners’ support when selecting automation solutions.
Infographic: UiPath
See also: Keys to achieving human-centred automation testing
Increasing use of automation in non-IT domains
The survey also reveals that 44% of APJ organisations already have non-IT domain employees involved in automating aspects of their work.
The banking and insurance industry is leading the pack, with 56% of non-IT domain employees already involved in automation, followed by the telecommunications (50%) and retail (49%) sectors.
See also: Human element still important for effective mass communication
One such organisation is ICICI Bank. The bank’s technology group head, Balaji Rajagopalan, shares: “Since 2020, intelligent process automation (IPA) has played a pivotal role in ICICI Bank by augmenting customer experience and driving operational excellence. Automation has been a linchpin in the bank’s risk-calibrated growth strategy and has enabled the teams to manage massive upsurges in the volumes of transactions and requests during the pandemic with a consistent throughput time.
“Going forward, IPA will continue to be a vital component of the Bank’s Technology Strategy #2025 and more teams are expected to turn to automation to bring exceptional value by delivering real-time personalised customer journeys and superior business outcomes.”
As more organisations integrate automation in the work of non-IT domain employees, respondents highlighted that collaboration with IT, clear guidance on best practices, and easy-to-use tools are the key requirements for successful implementations.
Additionally, organisations should develop a comprehensive training and development plan with a focus on reskilling and upskilling across teams and units, which only 38% of the APJ organisations are currently doing.
“To level up their automation initiatives, organisations must elevate their automation mindset by leveraging a holistic strategy with executive buy-in, coupled with a robust employee upskilling and training program to automate at scale in the APJ region,” says Scott Hunter, Vice President, Customer Strategy and Solutions Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan, UiPath.
Infographic: UiPath
