Automation in IT managed services programs is helping organizations differentiate themselves on two fronts - speed and cost of business. Game changing automation however, is not just about deploying automation software. Rather, it is about bringing together strategy, domain knowledge and technology to harness managed services in a faster, more reliable and scalable way.
While enterprises have enabled accelerated data transfer between processes through RPA, they have not challenged the status-quo on process definition, causing them to miss the digital transformation boat. There is also increased emphasis on technology with little attention to people transformation.
This article discusses how organizations can create an integrated IT automation strategy to leverage the synergies between multiple technologies and improve overall system reliability, reduce cost of operations, and drive customer-centric transformation.
Choosing Candidates for Automation: The Guiding principles
Although automation is a lever of transformation, not every process requires automation. Identifying candidates for automation requires a thorough analysis of the tasks in the context of its likely business benefits. The identification process must take the following factors into consideration to ensure a superior ROI:
While this is not an exhaustive list of considerations, it is important for enterprises to define the ‘What’, ‘How’ and ‘When’ of automation projects.
Setting Up an Automation COE and Program Management Office
As a next step, enterprises must entrust a governance body comprising IT and business stakeholders with guiding principles and set up a Program Management Office to oversee the following:
Architecture
Scaling automation to the enterprise level requires the support of an architecture that is modular, extensible and secure enough to support:
The solution architecture must therefore be underpinned by a platform that can host automation systems in a secure and scalable framework. The platform must be designed to support a developer workbench that can create automation projects quickly and align them with best practice-based automation solution architecture. To enable these objectives, the platform must be equipped with the following features:
Conclusion
IT Service Automation underpinned by state-of-the-art technologies, scalable architecture and robust governance practices is key to ensuring the desired business benefits of automation. Investing in teams comprising IT and Business stakeholders can help enterprises define detailed automation principles while setting up an automation platform. The platform will then serve as the glue to bring various solutions into a seamless ecosystem and ensure synergy. In the next blog, we will discuss the right mix of techniques to give automation the edge it needs by focusing on AI and governance.
John D’Souza
Enterprise Architect, Wipro Limited
John is an Enterprise Architect leading the Wipro HOLMESTM Enablement team and specializes in IT automation and AI. He is an Automation Advisor to large programs embarking on the automation journey and an expert in multiple domains of IT architecture. His wide-ranging experience spans information architecture, integration, application architecture, and traditional machine learning and deep learning applicable to business data, natural language and image data.
© 2021 Wipro Limited |
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© 2021 Wipro Limited |
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