Understanding Hyperautomation: The Swiss Army Knife of Business Processes.
February 01, 2023 || FCTEC
Learn how automation and intelligent tooling helps modern organisations reduce costs, save time and unlock true business value.
Hyperautomation describes the use of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), to automate a wide range of document-centric business processes. It is a holistic approach that seeks to streamline as many business functions as possible, from simple, repetitive tasks to more complex, strategic decisions. According to Gartner, the research firm that coined the term in 2019, "Hyperautomation is a business-driven, disciplined approach that organizations use to rapidly identify, vet and automate as many business and IT processes as possible."
Successful hyperautomation strategies begin with identifying and analysing the business processes that can be automated and then matching these to the appropriate automation tools and technologies. Once suitable tools have been selected, they are applied to the most impactful business area and entrenched into the organisation through continuous monitoring and optimisation to ensure the right business outcomes are being delivered.
It is a well-established fact that a significant proportion of data, estimated to be over 80%, is unstructured. This makes process automation difficult (if not impossible) without a platform to effectively transform the data into a usable format. Intelligent document automation must therefore begin with data accessibility through content ingestion. This is made possible by the use of methodologies such as IDP, the coordinated use of sophisticated optical character recognition and Natural Language Processing (NLP) software to automatically extract, structure and analyse data from documents such as invoices, contracts, and forms.
From this foundation of structured data, hyperautomation leverages AI and ML to streamline and automate manual document processes. AI refers to the ability of machines to mimic human cognitive functions such as learning, problem-solving, and pattern recognition, while ML is a subset of AI that enables machines to learn and improve from experience, without being explicitly programmed. Simply put, AI and ML allow documents to be automatically processed with the efficiency and precision of machines without compromising on an organisation’s quality and compliance standards.
Think of it as a Swiss army knife for your business operations. It is a combination of tools that, when used skillfully and with the right strategic focus, can be adapted to your business’s changing requirements. This versatile toolset gives organisations the ability to automate complex, data-intensive processes that would be difficult, tedious or otherwise inefficient for humans to perform manually. A bank, for example, may use hyperautomation to automatically detect and prevent fraudulent transactions by analysing large pools of data to identify patterns of fraud long before even the quickest auditor could catch on. An accounts clerk may use hyperautomation to automate repetitive and often dull tasks such as data entry, invoicing, and financial report generation, allowing them to focus on more strategic and analytical tasks.
Hyperautomation also allows organizations to gain valuable insights into their operations by providing real-time data and analytics. This data can be used to improve decision-making and identify areas for improvement laying the foundation for more informed business decisions. For instance, retail companies can use hyperautomation to analyze customer purchase data and predict which products will be in high demand, allowing inventory adjustments to be made in anticipation of surges in demand.
It should come as no surprise then that nearly two-thirds of organisations are pursuing, on average, four or more hyperautomation initiatives. With hyperautomation proven to be a winning strategy for driving business success in the post-pandemic world, there is no better time to get started on your automation journey than right now.
FCTEC has been a leading provider of digitalisation and automation solutions since 2000. Read more about how FCTEC brings successful hyperautomation initiatives to life and get in touch with us today to begin your digital transformation journey.
