Q&A on how Infor takes a unique, broader approach to Hyper automation

With Infor's Chief Innovation Officer, Massimo Capoccia

Infor Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a new service integrated into Infor's cloud platform technology, making it easier and faster to deploy bots across the enterprise to boost workforce productivity. It is a key component of Infor's broader enterprise automation solution, embracing the concept of Hyper automation to facilitate a new era of automation.

For Infor CloudSuite customers, the benefits are substantial, as they can run a multitude of pre-built automation flows, leading to rapid value realization. These flows cover various processes such as invoice processing, proof of delivery, compliance and more, effectively digitizing critical operations. By adopting this solution, customers can significantly increase the depth and breadth of business process automation.

To understand the value of Infor Enterprise Automation, Massimo Capoccia, Infor's Chief Innovation Officer, answered a few questions from his experience. He explained how this transformative solution enables continuous scalability of automation, responding to both simple and complex business processes.

With Infor's state-of-the-art approach, organizations can reach new heights of efficiency and productivity.

• How do you describe the industry term "Hyper automation"?

I'd like to start by distinguishing hyper automation from traditional automation. While RPA aims to automate repetitive and time-consuming mundane or administrative tasks, Hyper automation goes beyond this. In other words, it strives to minimize human intervention wherever possible, allowing for more automatic decision-making throughout the business process. It involves the automation of a wider range of processes, including those that are not necessarily mundane, but are still usually carried out by individuals on a regular basis.

Take the scenario of regular sanctions compliance checks on blacklisted suppliers by the US government's Office of the Inspector General (OIG). To achieve this, a robust Hyper automation solution is required. First, an RPA tool would fetch the list of suppliers from the government's website. Next, an iPaaS platform would transfer the list to its verification program and an algorithm based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) would compare and verify the supplier names, considering various factors such as name variants, addresses, tax IDs and historical data.

A manual process for this use case would be complicated, requiring extensive coordination between departments, which presented a higher risk of human error. Through the power of Hyper automation, various technologies work together to optimize the entire process.

According to Gartner, more than 56% of organizations have an average of four or more simultaneous Hyper automation initiatives underway.

• What do you think is driving the rapid adoption?

Three key factors are driving its widespread appeal and implementation. Firstly, organizations are increasingly focused on maximizing efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The adoption of Hyper automation allows them to simplify processes, eliminate redundancies and optimize resource allocation, ultimately leading to substantial cost savings and improved operational performance.

Secondly, the arrival of younger generations in the business world plays a significant role. As digital natives become part of the workforce, they expect modern, efficient tools to help them with their tasks. Hyper automation meets their expectations, as they are used to using advanced software and automated processes, making it a natural fit for today's workforce.

What's more, Hyper automation transcends the automation of basic tasks and ventures into the realm of decision automation through optimizations and AI/ML expertise. By harnessing the power of decision automation, organizations improve the efficiency and accuracy of decision-making for better results and a competitive edge.

• Who is using Hyper automation today and why?

Large organizations get the greatest ROI by scaling automation across multiple complex use cases so that they run leaner, are more strategic and increase employee engagement. These complex business processes can involve multiple systems, involving multiple people, often logging into different systems to complete a business process.

Organizations that are still paper-based or deal with a lot of paperwork also get a higher ROI, because the process of digitizing paper documents so that they can be centrally managed and accessible online is very laborious. With the AI-based OCR (optical character recognition) technology available today, any document, even handwritten or in any language, can be scanned more accurately and integrated into a business process to automate it.

• What technologies provide Hyper automation?

Hyper automation does not rely on a single technology. On the contrary, it encompasses a combination of various tools and engines. Among the essential components are RPA tools, which drive task automation. APIs (application programming interfaces) play a crucial role in enabling seamless integration between different systems. AI/ML engines are essential for dealing with complex decision-making processes.

A crucial aspect that is often overlooked is security technologies. While it is laudable to achieve automation, it is equally vital to ensure that all tasks are carried out safely and in compliance with regulations. Many companies tend to neglect the security and compliance aspect of Hyper automation, which can lead to potential problems during audits or investigations.

To address these concerns, security and compliance technologies should be incorporated from the outset of Hyper automation implementation, and not treated as an afterthought. For example, Infor ensures that bots operate under the same robust security measures as user interactions through Infor CloudSuite. This proactive approach to security and compliance is a significant differentiator, ensuring that the benefits of Hyper automation are not undermined by potential risks.

• What are the implementation challenges?

• Start with why

The challenges of implementing Hyper automation are certainly worth considering. First, organizations need to establish a clear and compelling reason for adopting Hyper automation. This "why" must be aligned with their objectives, whether it's increasing user productivity, improving operational efficiency, or making more strategic decisions. Identifying a tangible outcome is essential, as it provides a solid foundation for the entire automation initiative.

• Integration

One of the main challenges arises in heterogeneous environments with multi-cloud or multi-application implementations. When choosing an automation tool, the integration aspect becomes critical. Without pre-configured integrations, organizations can face a daunting and costly project. It becomes crucial to select a solution that comes with a comprehensive set of pre-configured integrations to simplify implementation and avoid unnecessary investments. Justification for such projects can be difficult from a CIO's point of view if the cost-benefit ratio is not clear.

• Right tool, targeted approach

Selecting the right automation tool is key. It is essential to ensure that the chosen tool aligns with the specific needs and requirements of the organization. In addition, proper project management is vital for success. Rather than trying to automate everything at once, it is advisable to start with a targeted approach, targeting areas where integration points already exist. Proper program and project management is crucial because, at its core, automation involves integration projects. Without effective management, organizations can run into challenges and fail to realize the expected value of Hyper automation.

• What is Infor's approach to Hyper automation to meet these challenges?

Our answer to Hyper automation is Infor Enterprise Automation, a broader solution that includes Infor platform technology, pre-configured content, and innovation support service to deliver value from day 1 and continuous value realization.

With our Infor platform technology, we have designed all the necessary pieces of technology in a differentiated way that combines all levels of automation. This includes robust API capabilities for easy integration, robotic process automation and intelligent document processing capabilities for front-end automation, workflow management capabilities for efficient process orchestration and advanced AI capabilities for decision automation.

With our innovation support service, we help customers foster a creative culture of continuous improvement of their capabilities without having to invest in a team of people and software contracts with different technologies and platforms. Infor Enterprise Automation helps foster the customer's innovation journey without having a ton of prerequisites or costs just to get started.

• What makes Infor Enterprise Automation unique?

When you consider the competition in the market, it's interesting to see the different approaches taken by players like UiPath and our organization. UiPath initially focused on front-end automation, using screen scraping to integrate various screens into systems. However, they recognized the need for orchestrations and back-end automation, which led to the acquisition of an API gateway and orchestration mechanisms.

Infor has focused on back-end automation through Infor OS services, such as the Infor ION APIs and workflows. With RPA now tightly integrated into Infor OS, we offer customers a more streamlined automation experience. As a result, we believe our customers can create a continuous lifecycle and explore new opportunities.

To clarify any doubts or questions, please use our contacts.