According to research commissioned by business process automation solutions provider Redwood Software, 99 percent of organizations report spending “considering personnel time doing repetitive manual tasks.”
In a Redwood Software release submitted to ChannelPro-SMB, the developer explains that 300 “decision-makers” from U.S. and U.K.-based SMBs claim to automating their business processes “to some degree,” but generally within certain departments, like accounting and HR.
Redwood Software’s research was conducted by technical content provider Vanson Bourne. Respondents on average claim that only 44 percent of their IT and business processes are automated. At the same time, the Vanson Bourne study highlights corporate awareness of very clear and measurable benefits of automating processes. For example:
- 79 percent of SMBs said automation delivered time savings.
- 69 percent cited “improved business productivity” as the key benefit of automation.
- 61 percent said automation regularly provides cost savings.
Even so, many surveyed organizations miss automation opportunities in areas such as business intelligence and reporting. The main challenges cited for not automating these processes include:
- Not having the right knowledge to do so (52 percent).
- Managing complex processes (63 percent).
- Not being able to integrate legacy applications with new applications (64 percent).
"It seems that businesses have just cherry-picked the 'easy' automation targets across a range of processes rather than tackling them from A-Z,” says Redwood Software CEO Tijl Vuyk. “Whether it's a lack of education, a lack of willingness, or a lack of confidence in branching out one's process automation network, businesses suffer because of the automation silos they have generated."
To see an comprehensive infographic outlining data from the study, download the “Manual Madness of Business Processes” JPG from Redwood Software.