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It's that time of year when we start seeing predictions for the future. Recently Gartner outlined its top strategic technology trends for 2021. And, while these can apply across a variety of sectors, one trend in particular – hyperautomation – could be a game changer for the marketing community to improve customer retention and enhance the customer experience (CX).
So what exactly is hyperautomation?
Many believe hyperautomation is the next major phase of digital transformation. While Gartner looks at hyperautomation as a "philosophy," it's defined as the application of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotic process automation (RPA) and business process management to augment workers and transform processes in ways that deliver a greater impact than traditional automation capabilities.
There are a number of benefits associated with hyperautomation. For one, it enables organizations to be more flexible, since it relies on a variety of automation technologies rather than a single point solution. Hyperautomation also entails integration of digital technologies across processes and legacy systems, resulting in better access to data and seamless communication throughout an organization. And finally, hyperautomation improves productivity and return on investment (ROI). Employees are able to be more efficient and effective when multiple time-consuming tasks are automated, while use of analytical tools help organizations optimize resource deployment, resulting in higher revenues and lower costs.
Why Is Hyperautomation So Important Now?
Intelligent automation under the guise of hyperautomation has been trending for a while as a way to achieve more with digital operations, including increased speed, efficacy and capacity. The problem now, though, is that many companies are struggling with a patchwork of technologies that are not optimized or integrated properly, preventing the organizations from accelerating their digital business.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced executives to refocus on demanding excellence in digital operations, Gartner Vice President Brian Burke told PC Magazine. This "digital first" mentality is an important step to achieve digital maturity.
Burke noted that Gartner’s hyperautomation spectrum examines all types of automation – from simple task automation to complete business reinvention. Today, most companies are engaging in process automation and orchestration across functions, he noted, adding that "anything that can be automated will be." By 2024, Garter predicts that organizations will be able to lower operational costs by 30% through a combination of hyperautomation technologies and redesigned operational processes.
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Hyperautomation Helps Marketers Score Big
While all the talk about automation may make you think of assembly lines and factories, the truth is that there are many manual processes in virtually every type of organization that can be automated and optimized.
Hyperautomation is increasingly important for marketing departments seeking to increase customer retention and improve CX. It can help marketers contribute to their company’s overall business goals by allowing them to:
- Do more with less – Marketing teams are shrinking, as are their budgets, so they can now use technology to automate some key, but traditionally time-consuming, activities, such as building, delivering, fulfilling and measuring offers.
- Leverage AI and ML to transform business processes – Gartner noted that AI is a core business and analytic competency, while ML is now going beyond yesteryear's hard-coed algorithms and manual data science to transform business processes, reconfigure workforces, optimize infrastructure behavior through fast, improved decision making and process optimization.
- Speed time to market – Even though marketing staffs have gotten smaller, hyperautomation can help them develop and distribute customer loyalty offers faster, streamlining the process from months to a matter of days.
- Experiment and adapt to deliver the relevance customers demand – When offers aren't working, marketers can leverage automation to experiment with other terms to achieve better results. This agility enables them to optimize offers using customer insights that are updated in real time to deliver the relevance and value customers demand.
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