vVolve Takes On Technology

Forrester™s Predictions 2019 are out. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to engage with their analysts™ and hear their take on the most important predictions for the year. Two predictions that they raised are particularly pertinent to our clients™ business and I thought it could be useful to share my thoughts.

Innovation focus turns to operational efficiency

One of the first observations that Forrester made was that of failed transformation promises. They shared high profile examples of how overhyped digital transformation plans became a distraction. Given this, they predict that companies will increasingly focus their innovation efforts on improving operational efficiency and becoming more tactical, as companies™ boards push for real tangible results. They believe that some firms will overhaul their core to new cloud-based platforms, while others will focus on APIs, data lakes and connected devices.

For our clients and us, this is probably nothing new since we have been working together to push for and implement incremental changes in key finance, supply chain, procurement and other back office areas.

The game-changer is the key realization, at the strategic decision-making level, that focusing on such backend processes in the ERP systems such as SAP ERP and S/4 Systems and making it connected / Intelligent through process automation and analytics is really what moves the needle for companies.

RPA and AI join forces in Enterprise AI

Another observation that Forrester made was No Pain, No Gain with Enterprise AI. Indeed, the path to intelligence isn™t instant plug-and-play. It is, in fact, an evolutionary path starting from baby steps like process automation. That™s why Forrester recommends that that companies view Robotic Process Automation (RPA) as a practical step into the cognitive era, and using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to supercharge process automation to get tangible results.

This is totally in line with vVolve™s view and roadmap for RPA and AI. My colleague, Vivek, had elaborated on selecting the right processes for RPA and how to make bots intelligent as well as to work at scale.

At vVolve, we believe that digital transformation is evolution, not revolution. By focusing on getting tangible results in the areas that matter, and for RPA, starting simple before evolving to full scale automation, clients can fully reap the ROI on a sustainable basis.