New Research: Automation Silos Slow Business and IT in 'Manual Madness'

Yet 98% of enterprises claim automation of manual tasks is important to their operational productivity

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Oct 26, 2012, 09:00 ET

WOKINGHAM, England, Oct. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Redwood Software, the IT and business process automation specialist, announces independent research commissioned from Vanson Bourne, revealing that 99% of organizations still spend considerable personnel time doing repetitive manual tasks, with almost three quarters (74%) spending over a quarter of their time doing so.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121026/NE00588-INFO )

The research surveyed corporate decision-makers from 300 companies in the US and UK, and found that all organizations claim to automate processes to some degree, but this is largely limited to certain tasks and functions within organizations, such as HR / payroll (15%) and billing (16%).

Respondents on average claimed only 44% of their IT and business processes are automated, despite around half believing many of their processes—IT, business intelligence and reporting—would benefit from greater levels of automation.

The study highlights corporate awareness of very clear and measurable benefits of automating processes:

79% of enterprises said automation delivered time savings
69% cited 'improved business productivity' as the key benefit of automation
61% said automation regularly provides cost savings

Nevertheless, many organizations miss automation opportunities in areas such as business intelligence and reporting—functions critical to the bottom line and often undertaken manually with heavily dedicated resources.

The main challenges cited for not automating these less commonly automated processes include:

Not having the right knowledge to do so (52%)
Managing complex processes (63%)
Not being able to integrate legacy applications with new applications (64%)

All of the above are issues that a process automation solution can in fact address.

Tijl Vuyk, CEO at Redwood Software comments: "It seems that businesses have just cherry-picked the 'easy' automation targets across a range of processes rather than tackling them from A-Z, despite seeing the value in doing so – it's a contradiction in terms."

"Whether it's a lack of education, a lack of willingness, or a lack of confidence in branching out one's process automation network, enterprises suffer because of the automation silos they have generated."

"This is a significant opportunity for enterprises to confront the automation contradiction. But the key to grasping this opportunity is knowledge – knowledge of what processes can be automated, and how this can directly impact business goals. Only then will the gap between silos be bridged, and benefits achieved."

About the research

Independent research was undertaken by Vanson Bourne in August 2012 on behalf of Redwood Software. 100 UK and 200 US senior IT decision makers were interviewed across a cross-section of industries including but not limited to financial services, manufacturing, and retail, at organizations with more than 1,000 employees. Redwood Software did not have any influence over the companies surveyed or their responses.

An infographic further outlining the findings of the Vanson Bourne study may be located at: http://www.redwood.com/misc/manual-madness.

About Redwood Software

Redwood is Enterprise Process Automation. Our approach to automation is driven by business requirements to improve process efficiency, agility, compliance and control. For 20 years we've automated what matters most to our customers. Through our growing partner ecosystem and Automated Process Packages (APPs), we deliver Process-as-a-Service solutions with the first enterprise-class hybrid-cloud automation platform, RunMyJobs (www.runmyjobs.com).

Our unparalleled ability to connect applications from any vendor or source makes us the automation partner of choice for the some of the best known names in IT. Redwood is the only strategic automation partner with SAP® AG. Our automation suite is also offered by HP to their global customer base.

For more information on Redwood, visit www.redwood.com

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SOURCE Redwood Software