The term “hyper-automation” appeared in October 2019, ranking first on Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends list for 2020. However, the concept of hyper-automation is also included in other industry terms. For example, Forrester refers to it as “digital process automation,” while IDC and others use “intelligent process automation.”
Regardless of the term used, hyper-automation is a powerful set of digital technologies that will continue to transform organizations in nearly every industry over the years to come.
Advanced technologies used in hyper-automation include the following:
▸Process mining and task mining tools to identify and prioritize automation opportunities.
▸Automation development tools to reduce the effort and cost of building automation. They include RPA, no-code / low-code development tools, iPaaS for integrations, and workload automation tools.
▸Business logic tools to facilitate automation adaptation and reuse, including intelligent business process management, decision management, and business rule management.
▸Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to extend the capabilities of automations. The range of tools in this area includes natural language processing (NLP), optical character recognition, computer vision, virtual agents, and chatbots.
It is important to note that hyperautomation is not intended to completely replace humans. Rather, through automation, humans free themselves from repetitive, low-value tasks to focus on those that are of greatest value to the organization. Together, automation and human involvement help organizations deliver superior customer experiences while reducing operating costs and increasing profitability.
