More and more CIOs are considering how to use automation to increase productivity. The IT director stated that a collaborative approach is the key to ensuring the adoption and acceptance of RPA.

Mark Samuels is a business journalist who specializes in IT leadership issues. He was an editor of CIO Connect and a contributing editor of Computing. He has written for various organizations, including The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Times Higher Education.

Adobe CIO Cynthia Stoddard said that the introduction of RPA is "a cultural change."

In an era where good people are hard to find and it’s harder to stay happy, interest in robotic process automation (RPA) is growing: the technology can automate repetitive tasks, allowing talented employees to focus on more valuable, higher-value The task is for the company and its employees.

According to Gartner, global RPA software spending in 2020 will reach US$1.58 billion. The analyst predicts that by 2022, 90% of large organizations around the world will adopt RPA in some form.

Digital transformation: CXO's guide

Reimagining the business for the digital age is the top priority for many executives today. ZDNet provides practical advice and examples on how to properly perform digital transformation.

Employees can use this technology to configure scripts (often called "bots") to automate business and IT processes, such as searching for data, triggering responses, or executing transactions.

See: What is digital transformation? Everything you need to know about how technology is reshaping your business

Analyst Forrester believes that we are about to enter a new phase of RPA and automation. In the next ten years, we will see the emergence of "autonomous enterprises"-organizations whose operating model is supported by self-aware, self-correcting, and self-directed digital technologies, with artificial intelligence and automation as the core. 

This is the powerful function of RPA. Once the software is up and running, the CIO may sit down and observe the exponential increase in efficiency. 

However, although the business case for using automation is clear, implementing RPA can be difficult and the long-term practice has been slow to change. 

Adobe CIO Cynthia Stoddard recognizes this situation, and she has been overseeing the implementation of automation in her company for the past few years. She said that the introduction of RPA requires a careful and thoughtful approach. 

"This is a cultural change-being true to your vision and what you say," she said. "If you don't advance, people will feel scared and they will oppose this technology. Just be open and transparent to help people get through the change."

Although RPA may be eager to implement, it may not guarantee its acceptance, because employees may worry about the impact of the technology—especially when it starts to do what they think is their work. A preliminary report a few years ago indicated that as many as 800 million workers worldwide could be unemployed by 2030 due to robotic automation.

Companies that are currently implementing RPA must work hard to eliminate the fear that such stories may bring. Adobe uses a collaborative approach, where business functions and technical teams work together to analyze how robots will be implemented and accepted.

Adobe's transition to automation began three years ago, when financial executives were keen to improve the operational efficiency of their departments. 

Stoddard and her IT team considered the challenges facing the finance team and realized that RPA can help. The technical and financial functions did not create IT solutions for business problems in isolation, but jointly developed an automation platform based on UiPath technology. 

The result of this collaborative approach is the RPA Center of Excellence within Adobe, which manages the construction, tools, and implementation of the automation platform. The center is also studying how to use this technology to automate business processes. 

"The technical component is inside IT, and then we work with the finance department to create its business partner component-and then we combine the two into a virtual team," Stoddard said.

Three years after the finance department first saw it as a potential technical solution to business challenges, the approach is paying off. 

RPA has been used to handle specific elements of the financial process, such as contracts and procurement. The technology has also been applied to acquisitions. 

See: Want to get the job done technically? You need these surprising new allies

The success of the RPA project in the finance department means that it is now being used throughout the enterprise. Stoddard once again stated that Adobe has taken a systematic approach to apply automation in other departments.

“People will come up with ideas to us, and then they will work with the Center of Excellence and say,'How do we achieve it, and how do we get people to use these tools?'” she said. 

For example, the IT team works with the internal compliance team to introduce RPA. The purpose here is to find a way to automatically check whether the company has appropriate compliance controls. 

RPA has also been applied to IT operations. The technology acts as a virtual assistant, providing IT staff with suggestions on how to successfully complete tasks, and automatically handles low-level help desk queries. 

The operations team uses the platform to deal with technical issues during the coronavirus pandemic. The Center of Excellence uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to filter the data in the internal Slack channel. They look for technical questions that are frequently asked and can be answered programmatically through RPA.

However, although Adobe has successfully expanded automation, there is evidence that other companies may encounter difficulties. According to Forrester, only 52% of companies that have initiated RPA programs have made progress beyond the top 10 robots. 

The analyst said that governance and cultural issues are often the biggest obstacles to scaling technology. CIOs must carefully formulate the basic rules of how RPA is used in their organizations, which resonates with Stoddard.

“The way we look at RPA within Adobe is that we don’t see productivity gains as a reduction in headcount,” she said. 

"We see it as creating virtual workers that work side by side with our human workers. Therefore, we are just creating this kind of virtual labor to give our human labor more time to do other, more important, value-added activities."

See: What is the secret to being more creative at work? Why timing may be the key

Stoddard’s message is simple: Don’t over-promise. Other digital and business leaders who are considering implementing RPA must consider very carefully how their employees' work lives will change.

"If you are using RPA to create a virtual workforce and increase productivity, please do it because people will pay attention to what you say and do. We have been very cautious in saying whether it is virtual or not, we are increasing productivity, and we will not change Or eliminate any work," she said.

She said that people within Adobe who used to be engaged in more mundane activities are now engaged in higher-value tasks. Some are even writing scripts for RPA and helping to increase the productivity gains automation should encourage.

Stoddard once again stated that the key to success is collaboration: "You have to be open and accurately communicate how roles will change before people will join. You must show them what your vision is and how RPA will make things happen. better." 

Samsung and Viettel start 5G trials in Vietnam

According to Alex Atzberger, create a personalized digital experience (no cookies required)

7 million active avatars every month will get the right to use new tokens to shape the future of Metaverse

Most Latin companies that use artificial intelligence profit from this technology

Remote work: 5 problems we need to solve in 2022

Most Brazilian companies will increase cybersecurity spending in 2022

Cloud computing is developing: this is the next step

Cloud computing: using a multi-cloud approach to spread risk

Hybrid cloud brings benefits. But it also brings new cybersecurity risks

Please review our terms of service to complete your newsletter subscription.

You agree to receive updates, promotions and reminders from ZDNet.com. You can unsubscribe at any time. By joining ZDNet, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

You agree to receive updates, promotions and reminders from ZDNet.com. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to receive selected newsletters that you can unsubscribe at any time. You also agree to the terms of use and acknowledge the data collection and use practices outlined in our privacy policy.

© 2021 ZDNET, a red venture capital company. all rights reserved. Privacy Policy| Cookie Settings| Advertising| Terms of Use