A survey by Automation Anywhere Inc., a global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) revealed that one out of four organisations globally expect more than 80 percent of their workforce to become a digital workforce post COVID-191.
Serene Keng, Senior Director, Partner Sales, ASEAN for Automation Anywhere shared that the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating the transition to automation at an unprecedented pace as companies turn to virtual employees and automation to complete tasks.
Serene Keng, Senior Director, Partner Sales, ASEAN for Automation Anywhere shares, “Currently, the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating the transition to automation at an unprecedented pace, as companies turn to virtual employees and automation to complete tasks and alleviate the manpower and resource crunch that they are facing. As these organizations realize the benefits of automation, and how it complements their existing human workforce, this development is expected to extend past the pandemic.”
The increasing demand for the adoption of robot-based solutions and cloud-based solutions is creating potential opportunities for the growth of the RPA market across the globe2. According to a latest report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global RPA market is expected to be worth US$7.2bil (RM30.77bil) by 20253.
“While bots can take on manual tasks and perform them at near-zero error rates, human workers are crucial to analyze insights from data and deal with business complexities. Empowering human workers with bots will enable them to solve even more complex issues and innovate more creative solutions. The imperative is not to avoid automation, but rather to focus on working toward the future, by enabling businesses to leverage both human and digital workforces. As businesses embrace automation to further their digital transformation, business leaders need to address job transitions with reskilling their human workforce,” adds Serene about the recovery of businesses during and post COVID-19.
The survey by Automation Anywhere also unveiled that there will be a major shift towards RPA by organizations to increase business productivity. While this accelerates business performance, it will also be a step towards operational cost reduction post COVID-19, globally. More than 80 percent of medium to large organizations in countries like India, the Middle East and emerging markets in Africa and Southeast Asia, plan to invest in digital technologies to build sustainable business plans moving forward4.
Last December, INTI International University & Colleges partnered with Automation Anywhere to train students and faculty on the development of software robots (bots) and the use of intelligent automation. Leveraging the expertise of Automation Anywhere University, the collaboration will prepare the next-generation workforce for the future of intelligent automation.
Dr. Ahmed Ramzi, a Technical Manager at INTI explained the importance of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in creating a safe IT infrastructure setup.
Dr. Ahmed Ramzi, a Technical Manager at INTI shared, “RPA is an important solution especially now when most of us are working from home. By adapting RPA into business processes, unintentional human errors are avoided while ensuring business and service continuity. This frees up time for human talents to work on more creative tasks and begin the process of addressing process and system improvements in response to the global crisis.”
“From an IT context, RPA also helps us execute tasks within the company’s infrastructure and servers automatically, which provides more security than executing it remotely as there could always be a security breach in running certain tasks from unsecured locations. Cybersecurity has become a rising concern now as more companies have made their resources available remotely. Therefore, implementing RPA into business structures allows tasks to be performed in a secure manner within a company’s resources,” Dr. Ahmed further explained about the importance of RPA in a safe setup.
Yap Choi Sen, a Senior Lecturer who teaches Information Technology modules at INTI International University, Nilai said, “RPA can help mitigate disruptions by enabling businesses to stay connected across teams and systems, maintain customer support and offer stability in times of uncertainty. As the demand for RPA continues to increase and creates new job opportunities for RPA skilled candidates, I strongly believe that RPA will not replace the human touch, but will serve to enhance creativity and complex decision making.”
Tan Lin Nah, Chief Executive Officer, INTI International University & Colleges stated, “The global RPA market is expected to grow exponentially with the increasing demand for business digitization and process innovation. Following recent trends and as we move towards the recovery MCO phase, digitization is no longer a distant dream. As an educational institution, our aim for integrating RPA as part of our learning experiences at INTI is to equip our students with the relevant skills so that they can understand and appreciate the digital transformation of business processes moving forward.”
Serene concludes, “We see that technology is helping businesses around the world navigate the changes brought about by the pandemic, and intelligent automation has proven to be a key game changer. It combines RPA and Artificial Intelligence technologies to facilitate rapid end-to-end business process automation and accelerates digital transformation in the process. Intelligent automation will ultimately pave the way for digital transformation.”
1 https://telanganatoday.com/70-firms-see-half-of-their-workforce-to-be-digital-post-covid-19-survey
2 https://dagorettinews.com/robotic-process-automation-rpa-market-2020-demand-upcoming-trends-development-benefits-key-players-and-business-opportunity-2025/
3 https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2020/06/18/software-robots-to-take-on-more-work-in-asia-as-covid-19-accelerates-demand-for-automation-says-uipath
4 https://www.automationanywhere.com/company/press-room/new-research-reveals-intense-shift-towards-intelligent-automation