Report: 92% of IT decision-makers think process automation is ‘vital’

According to a new report by Camunda, more than nine in 10 (92%) IT decision-makers describe process automation as a vital element of digital transformation. The same percentage considers process automation critical to achieving business optimization and efficiency, and to helping them free up employees to take on more complex, strategic jobs. They support increases in investment in process-related technologies and expect their organizations to put a higher priority on applying automation across operations, revealing that process automation is taking on an increasingly important role in their organizations.

However, the survey also shows the fact that organizations continue to face challenges in their efforts to leverage process automation to its full potential. Just 12% of respondents say they’ve been implementing process automation as planned this year, citing a reliance on outmoded technology, lack of knowledge of how to get started, and confusion over industry terms such as hyperautomation and robotic process automation (RPA). And while increased investment is a positive indicator for continued progress, in order to maximize the impact of this investment, organizations must focus on overcoming the challenges that continue to limit even further success.

To do so, organizations should consider five opportunities for overcoming barriers and embracing process automation to its full potential. This includes continuing to shift toward the cloud and mitigating complexities and orchestrating processes across legacy technologies; embracing flexible, open architecture to support integration with an existing technology stack; fostering business and IT collaboration and ensuring all stakeholders have a seat at the table — including developers and enterprise architects; taking a more holistic approach to RPA; and acknowledging that remote and hybrid work is here to stay, and ensuring all the right processes are in place to support this work model.

Camunda commissioned Regina Corso Consulting to conduct a survey among more than 600 IT decision-makers in North America and Europe to understand the state of process automation.

Read the full report by Camunda.