In our recently published Process Automation and SAP S/4HANA research report, process mining and process intelligence emerged as key focus areas for SAPinsiders.
When it comes to process automation technologies, SAPinsiders clearly have a roadmap in mind to help them plan their process automation journey, as shown in Figure 1. While the adoption of RPA technologies has certainly increased, many SAPinsiders are still actively working on adopting RPA platforms. They have foundational capabilities and experience through technologies like invoice and workflow automation and a roadmap to embracing more comprehensive and advanced solutions in the mid and long term.
Figure 1. Process Automation technology roadmap of SAPinsiders
Source: SAPinsider Research, April 2022
When it comes to the current state, foundational automation capabilities like invoice automation and workflow automation are the areas where SAPinsiders have made most of the progress. These are however subprocesses, and many SAPinsiders indicated that they are now exploring RPA platforms that encompass end-to-end processes and, in many cases, span across functions. RPA platforms were therefore second on the list of key technologies, with 40% indicating that they have either already deployed this technology or are actively working on the deployment.
Process mining is a key focus area of processing technology over the next two years along with AI- and ML-driven intelligent automation. This aligns with the driver to become an agile organization. Organizational agility, as defined by SAPinsiders, goes beyond end-to-end visibility. With the visibility attained into business processes, organizations also need to develop the ability to plan and execute in an agile way. This is where process intelligence and intelligent automation come into play. The insights from process mining and intelligence, combined with automated decision-making through intelligent automation, can provide the agility within business processes being sought by SAPinsiders.
The roadmap defined by SAPinsiders is summarized below:
• Current state: Invoice automation and workflow automation have already been implemented by a majority. Adoption of RPA platforms is also relatively high in the current state (46%).
• Mid-term (Next 2 years): Process mining, RPA platforms, and SAP S/4HANAbased automation solutions remain top priorities over the next two years, followed closely by AI- and ML-based intelligent automation.
• Long-term (2-5 years): Continue foraying into more advanced capabilities like API automation and intelligent automation.
This video summarizes the roadmap highlighted by SAPinsiders:
https://vimeo.com/716836579
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