Automation can help businesses get more value out of their time. Read on below to learn about automation, its capabilities, and its benefits.
For businesses, time is the most valuable resource of them all, and there is always a lot that needs to be done. Automation is a recent development that has helped many businesses get more out of their minutes, increasing their productivity and accuracy on the way. We spoke to several IT companies, all of whom agreed that automation will eventually become a standard solution, owing to its usefulness. One IT company that specialises in outsourced IT support London based SMBs have been using for over 12 years stated that many businesses are actually wasting their own time by not implementing automation tactics.
What is Automation?
Automation is the use of software to program tasks and processes to be carried out on schedule, without human intervention. Modern automation typically works on integrations between programs; by sharing data and intelligence between programs, tasks can be triggered when the right criteria is met. For example, automation can be used to extract information from an online form and entered into a database.
Benefits of Automation
Though most businesses tend to resist investing money into new technologies, automation is one of the safest bets there is. An IT support company London SMBs have used extensively pointed to the fact that it can enable businesses to scale their operations, due to the following reasons…
- Save Time
Repetitive tasks are usually the first type of work that most businesses automation. A significant portion of professional workers state that digital administration inhibits their productivity. By delegating administrative tasks to an automation solution, workers have more time on their hands.
- Eliminate Human Error
Human error is an inevitability when it comes to repetitive work. The benefit of automation software is that it executed tasks in exactly the same way, every single time. Computers do not make mistakes, so as long as the task has been programmed correctly, it will never fail.
- Improve Decision Making
Automation can be used to gather, compile, and analyse large volumes of data that would be difficult for a human user to accomplish. By simplifying the process, automation provides businesses with more data at their disposal, which makes business decision making more accurate.
How to Implement Automation
Automation is not a simple solution, and there are lots of options out there. Therefore, it is important for businesses to ensure they are leveraging the right solution. One company we spoke to – which provided IT support for estate agents – provided a simple breakdown of the process of implementing automation solutions.
- Find Opportunities
The first step is to take a look at one’s existing processes and workflows. It can be useful to speak with employees who carry out these workflows and ask them which tasks and processes are most time consuming and/or repetitive.
- Choose the Right Tool
Once you know what automation opportunities you have, you can start looking for the right tool. Knowing what you want to automate is important for knowing what tool is right for your organisation. Other important factors to consider include:
- Price – Businesses definitely shouldn’t try to cut costs with automation – but some solutions will make more sense than others. For instance, a small business won’t be able to afford an automation solution designed for large enterprises, nor will the solution be suitable for them.
- Integration/Compatibility – Make sure to look at what products and services your chosen automation tool can be integrated with. If they don’t work with the programs and systems in your business, it won’t be much use to you.
- Scalability – As important as it is to pick an automation tool that is right for your business in the present, you should also consider how well it will scale as your business grows.
