IBM acquires Brazilian RPA firm WDG ….
Now IBM joins the party, making a modest acquisition of Sao Paolo based WDG Automation.
BPM
AI in Digital Process Automation: It’s Complicated
Whenever we discuss trends, the conversations inevitably turn to the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) in process automation and robotic process automation (RPA). Frankly, I’ve found that most vendors latch on to the idea but have very little substance behind their words in terms of strategy and product roadmaps.
Intelligent Business Automation: The Nexus for Process, Content, Data, AI/ML, and More
Increasingly, my colleague, Alan Pelz-Sharpe, and I are finding substantial convergence and common ground in our coverage areas. (Alan covers blockchain, content, compliance, and AI/ML, and I cover digital process automation, RPA, process mining, and customer experience.) The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing this trend even harder as companies struggle to get their arms around documents, tasks, processes, commerce, and customers so they can deliver products and services more rapidly across ever-morphing supply chains.
Process Mining & the Lost Art of Continuous Improvement
Have you ever wondered where all the Lean, Six Sigma, continuous improvement, and operational excellence practitioners have gone? When the BPM (methodology + software) conversation turned toward digital process automation (software and very little process methodology) much of the continuous improvement conversation went away. Poof–it disappeared, to be replaced by a lot of technical talk.
Three Recent Acquisitions – Hyland, OpenText & Alfresco
Though one can speculate that these deals may not have gone through had they been delayed a week or two, the fact is they did, and the industry continues to move forward. Recently Hyland acquired Learning Machine, OpenText bought xMedius, and Alfresco closed their first significant deal by catching TSG (Technology Services Group. Each is interesting and significant deals that may well herald more similar deals in the future.
The way ahead….the new norm
But tech became detached from reality and showed little compassion or, indeed, common sense at times. Frankly, tech is a sector that has been ambivalent at best regarding moral and ethical concerns. That has to change; maybe this is the time to make the change.
SAP’s Take on the RPA Market
I just got off an informative and compelling webinar by SAP about its robotic process automation (RPA) offering. The bottom line is that SAP sees RPA and BPM (aka digital process automation) as belonging together.[i] Two direct quotes were “RPA by itself does not do the trick” and “RPA and BPM are two sides of the same coin.”
Innovation – A call to action!
We have been ongoing about innovation (or the lack of it) for some time now. And though there is no question that the process and content industry is slow to move, and typically lacks that creative spark, there are glimmers of hope. Over the past year, we have taken close to 200 briefings, and if …
RPA in 2020
RPA, as an intelligent automation platform, will transform enterprise priorities: from a focus on technology adoption to process transformation, from number-of-bot measurement to process improvement metrics and from process output to business outcome.
Appian Buys Jidoka—Let the Consolidation Begin!
The robotic process automation (RPA) and digital process automation market have just received a big jolt that promises to be a harbinger for consolidation in the RPA and process automation markets in 2020 (and beyond).