Intelligent Automation News #10
Happy Saturday morning and welcome to our 10th issue of Intelligent Automation News!
Big thank you to all of you for reading as well. Not a subscriber yet? Click those three dots at the top right of this post and subscribe now.
Please join me on October 19th at 1 (central) – that’s this Wednesday – for an AIIM webinar. I’ll explain process mining and how it helps a business execute better. You can register here.
This issue includes news from Microsoft that could dramatically impact how companies organize and manage their information; an article on the strategic value of procurement by myself, Rich Medina, and Riley Wise; two looks at the customer experience, and thoughts on the future of the workplace.
Thanks for reading.
-- Marty
Process-Mining Companies Are Surging. They Might Need the Enterprise Software Establishment to Thrive.
This is a good article about where process mining fits within the overall automation landscape. It was written April, so the buying spree mentioned has slowed, for the moment.
The enterprise software establishment is on a process-mining buying spree. Just last week Microsoft purchased process-mining company Minit; early last year SAP acquired Signavio for an undisclosed sum; and IBM acquired startup myInvenio just a few months later.
But why are these business software giants investing so heavily in process mining? The answer may be less about process mining itself, and more about what process mining, workflow management and robotic process automation can achieve together. In this industry, the whole could be greater than the sum of its parts. Read on about the process mining marketplace.
Microsoft Syntex – How Big a Deal Is This
Alan Pelz-Sharpe from Deep Analysis brings . . . deep . . . insights and makes an apt comparison to Syntex and how this product could follow in SharePoint’s footsteps for market penetration.
“So what is it that Microsoft Syntex does? In short, it is a Content Intelligence system and set of tools that uses AI to do the work that humans cannot or won’t do. It tags content, organizes and categorizes it, and then processes that content in ways that bring business value. It can assemble documents for customer communications, it can dissect incoming documentation for processing, compare contracts, etc., etc. Using AI to categorize, understand and tag content is not new, but it’s not something many use; Syntex is designed to work at scale and its AI capabilities are highly advanced.” Learn more about the Syntex’s potential.
Procurement Processes Can Create a Strategic Advantage for Your Business
Smart companies are beginning to see procurement as a strategic advantage. How are companies doing this? They are streamlining procurement processes with intelligent automation tools. Using real-time insights from these tools allows companies to improve supply chain management, eliminate maverick buying, improve customer service, and more. See more about procurement and strategic advantage.
Why Organized Content Leads to a Unique Customer Experience
Obvious statement incoming: there’s a LOT of content and data and it’s going to keep increasing. Over the past decade-plus, there’s been a shift from viewing content as a governance or cost-saving challenge to using content to deliver a personalized customer experience. From the article by Jill Kolb of Shinydocs:
“By continuously assessing content that’s generated through a more streamlined and automated way – keeping what’s needed and removing what isn’t – organizations become more efficient and responsive. They also have better access to the insights needed to improve processes, enhance products, and create more personalized experiences for customers.” Learn more about the value of organized content.
How Intelligent Automation Improves Customer Experience
While many fear the rise of automation forecasts a decline in jobs for the human workforce, it’s undeniable that intelligent automation tools are making business processes easier. For example, swapping manual data entry for RPA software helps businesses improve accuracy and increase the speed of their response to customer communications. Read more about RPA, IA, and customer experience.
Designing the Workplace of the Future
As the workforce continues to shift due to COVID, quiet quitting, and the push and pull of work-from-home versus office, it’s clear that the right IT infrastructure is critical as you create your working environment. Collaboration and workflow tools will be needed, and so much more. From the Myles Suer article in Reworked:
“Young suggested, “Collaboration tools and role-appropriate workflow and data are critical. Just in time information is needed with ability to connect with colleagues in real-time. As well, CIOs need to constantly be identifying and prioritizing the grit in the gears to be eradicated.” One solution suggested by Gildersleeve is to map employee journeys to identify points of friction, just as is done for products.” Design your future workplace.
What Is Accounts Receivable? The Process, KPIs, and Metrics That Matter
According to the J.P. Morgan Working Capital Index Report 2022, the S&P 1,500 companies could have freed up an estimated $523B (US) in total working capital by the end of 2021 had they improved their performance against several accounts receivables and accounts payable KPIs. Citing data from S&P Capital IQ, J.P. Morgan also found that the average company has an average sales outstanding of 49.4 days, while top performers clocked in at 26.7 days.
Here, we’ll examine the Accounts Receivable process, how it’s different from Accounts Payable, important metrics and business objectives. We’ll also look at how companies are optimizing Accounts Receivable with new technologies, such as automation, process mining and execution management. Learn more about process mining and accounts receivable.
EVENTS
Join Doculabs at Two Great Events!
Doculabs will be speaking at both the MER Conference and at the Document Strategy Forum in 2023. Both events are fantastic and Doculabs is proud to have a relationship with each.
If you’re interested in speaking, their submission deadlines are rapidly approaching. See more below.
Mer Conference 2023 – Submission Deadline: October 28
You are invited to join a prestigious group of judges, legal professionals, technology innovators, industry suppliers, and IG practitioners focused on identifying real solutions to the IG challenges of today and tomorrow.
Recommended by LinkedIn
At the MER Conference, our attendees come seeking these solutions. In its 31st year, the mission of the MER Conference is to equip Information Governance Practitioners to more meaningfully impact their organization’s business objectives. Submit here.
DSF Charlotte Announces Call for Speakers — Submission Deadline: November 1, 2022
Interested in speaking at DSF ’23 Charlotte, May 22 -24 at the Le Meridien hotel? Our 2023 Conference Program will focus on how to increase customer engagement with our content and messaging strategies, create cross-functional teams to support holistic user experiences and manage an enterprise's information assets for better business outcomes. Check out what our Advisory Board is interested in covering at DSF ’23 Charlotte. Submit here today!
3rd Annual Hyper Automation Conference
October 18
Free Online Event
Key topics include:
Join me for this webinar!
5 Ways Process Mining Makes a Company Run Better [webinar]
October 19
1 p.m. Central
Execution gaps in business processes increase costs and can contribute to employee burnout and poor customer service. Process mining tools extract data from your existing system’s event logs. This allows you to see what employees and connected systems are actually doing and to see the real process, not the one created on a whiteboard in a conference room a decade ago.
With process mining, you can quickly identify the execution gaps, bottlenecks, and rework that continually inhibit efficiency, service levels, and profits.
In this webinar, Doculabs’ Executive Vice President, Marty Pavlik, will quickly explain process mining and where it fits in your business’ IT stack before explaining how it can be used to make operations more efficient. He’ll illustrate the power of process mining by discussing procurement processes.
Register now! Iowa Lean Consortium 2022 Annual Conference - We're Speaking!
October 24-25, 2022
This hybrid annual event is the largest in Iowa for continuous improvement professionals. Doculabs' Rick Hassman, Practice Lead for MFP/CPG/Retail, is speaking. His session is "Elevating the Power of Industry 4.0 With Process Mining."
After attending this session you will:
Process Mining & BPM Digital Summit
October 25-27 (Online)
Learn how process tools can identify bottlenecks, improve performance and redesign processes to be customer centric and end-to-end at scale.
Celosphere 2022
November 9-10
Munich, Germany and streaming online across planet Earth
Case studies, updates from Celonis, and news and advice for using process mining to fight inflation and supply chain disruption.
JUST FOR FUN
Photo credits
Coal Miner - Library of Congress
Lightbulb - Shutterstock
Organized paint spray cans - Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash
People in an office - Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash
Channel Sales Manager at Quadient
1yGreat article highlighting the ROI for AR automation!