The journey to optimized enterprise automation doesn\u2019t happen overnight.<\/p>\n We use a maturity model that evaluates across four primary areas: organization, operation, enablement and reporting. Each area includes subcategories that will help you paint the bigger picture.<\/strong> Organization covers the structure and vision of the program and how you should train and manage team members. Operations is about how the automation program enhances your business through intake and support. Enablement keeps the lights on while maintaining a strong foundation. Reporting helps you understand the performance of automations.<\/p>\n So, where is your organization in our maturity model? If the scenario above sounds familiar, you\u2019re in the first stage \u2013 ad-hoc maturity. Below, we\u2019ll explain how you can graduate to the second stage \u2013 opportunistic maturity.<\/p>\n Forming your vision starts<\/a> you down the path to enterprise automation maturity. Your vision will become your North Star, guiding and directing you in how you think about automation.<\/p>\n That said, not every vision needs to be about reaching the stars. If your needs are small, your goals can be small, too. Instead of training teams of citizen developers, for example, you may benefit more from a small team of experts dispersed throughout your organization\u2019s structures. For example, your vision could be: \u201cTo improve customer and employee satisfaction by removing manual tasks and speeding up cycle times.\u201d<\/p>\n When building your vision, think about the next three to five years. Ask yourself these questions with a long-term mindset:<\/strong><\/p>\n Use the answers to these questions to identify gaps between your current and future state. These gaps can drive your vision for automation in the future. Be sure to keep in mind your organization\u2019s capability for automation.<\/strong> Just like identifying the ideal mower for your yard, you don\u2019t want to over or undersize your goals. Having a 54-inch deck on a zero-turn lawn mower doesn\u2019t make sense if your yard is the size of a pickup truck. Alternatively, a reel manual push mower isn\u2019t ideal for a multi-acre estate. Make sure you identify the vision that appropriately matches your organization.<\/p>\n Many organizations often overlook training or only allocate it for technical resources, but it\u2019s a key part of your automation journey.<\/p>\n To scale toward opportunistic maturity, train a select group of champions on power-user functionality or take them through specific business analytics training related to your automation tools.<\/strong> You could have champions within multiple departments or on multiple teams who will work with automations.<\/p>\n For example, UiPath<\/a> breaks down its training by role, including automation users, testers, developers, analysts, IT, architects and more. Most mature automation providers have a similar level of training differentiation.<\/p>\n When beginning to intake and prioritize your automation processes, a center of excellence<\/a> (COE) \u2013 an internal team dedicated to overseeing enterprise automation initiatives \u2013 provides governance and standards. As we continue through this series, we won\u2019t dive deeply into how you can build and manage a COE, but we will build on the concept.<\/p>\n At this stage along the maturity model, aim for simple feasibility and prioritization<\/a>. You can accomplish this setup by simply using Excel spreadsheets to identify your return on investment. Many tools help keep prioritization in order, such as ROI calculations, organizational impact, development complexity or a priority matrix.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once you categorize automation opportunities and the ROI associated with each, it\u2019s time to talk with leadership to help decide the appropriate next step. Targeting the project with the biggest ROI isn\u2019t necessarily the right answer.<\/p>\n Moving your delivery and support to an opportunistic stage is less about making changes and more about learning your organization\u2019s Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) by deploying automation in production.<\/p>\n Start with smaller automations for a minimal-risk way to familiarize your team with the new way of working.<\/strong> Use this as an opportunity to illuminate the implications of automating certain elements of the process and how it may affect the team\u2019s dynamic.<\/p>\n Taking those first steps will give your team something to react to, build on and develop into standards or documentation they can use moving forward.<\/p>\n The automation technologies used at the maturity model\u2019s initial stages are still starter or community editions. If your vendors have sold you on enterprise licensing<\/a>, take a hard look at when you can actually take advantage of those existing licenses before your renewal dates.<\/p>\n Look across your technology landscape to see where you have existing technologies for enterprise automation or if your vendors already have automation platforms.<\/strong> For example, some enterprise resource planning (ERP) providers also have robotic process automation<\/a> (RPA) or even business process management<\/a> (BPM) systems that can integrate within your existing ecosystem.<\/p>\n You also want to determine whether a certain combination of providers or systems makes sense for your organization. If you avoid poorly integrating platforms, it will make your life easier when building and executing automations. Not being able to interact with other platforms or tools will cause further complications in your journey toward enterprise automation maturity.<\/p>\n Across automations, you may have areas you can build for reuse in a component library. Highlighting these areas and moving them higher in priority can help move your organization to a well-managed automation program.<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, can you use naming standards for different components? What areas need identical naming standards? What areas do you need to name differently?<\/p>\n Creating and sharing a log of all the naming standards will enable the delivery and support team to update any existing automations to those standards.<\/p>\n The goal of reporting at the opportunistic stage is to ensure the feasibility of potential automations. Success rate or automation rate and throughput are the two main measures you should track at this stage. This step doesn\u2019t need to be complicated: a simple weekly or monthly status report stating that you automated X% of all transactions this period and that you increased your throughput by X% percentage is sufficient at this stage.<\/p>\n The effort needed to move to an opportunistic stage is fairly minimal but sets the groundwork for how your organization approaches automation moving forward.<\/strong> Starting with a comprehensive vision for your dream lawn is necessary before embarking on a major lawn do-over.<\/p>\n The same goes for business transformation. Incorporating more advanced tools, like an automated sprinkler system \u2013 or a new RPA vendor \u2013 comes after the basic tools are accounted for and the groundwork is set. Next, we\u2019ll look at how an automation COE provides maturity and governance on your journey to building an operationalized automation program.<\/p>\n\n ![\"Automation\"](\"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/blog_BPM-RPA-Maturity-Stages_1-2_11142022-1024x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOrganization<\/h2>\n
Vision, Strategy and Alignment<\/h3>\n
\n
Enterprise Automation Education and Talent Training<\/h3>\n
Operational<\/h2>\n
Enterprise Automation Intake and Prioritization<\/h3>\n
Automation Delivery and Support<\/h3>\n
Enablement<\/h2>\n
Enterprise Automation Technology<\/h3>\n
Governance and Standards<\/h3>\n
Reporting<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n