How to tame ‘Automation Sprawl’

One of the generally unheralded trends in enterprise information technology is the proliferation of automation tools. Dozens of vendors offer systems to automate tasks and processes. Many of these tools have begun overlapping, or sprawling, over time. It’s clear that one aspect of the future is more sprawl.

“Automation” is an old term that has been used to describe virtually every type of computer system. More recently, it’s been focused on workflowrelated capabilities.

The focus of automation tools was at one point to automate structured, predictable workflows, typically within a specific domain. But robotic process automation, or RPA, has by now become the generalized tool for executing structured workflows, particularly for processes that involve data from multiple information systems.

One indication

of the expanding sprawl is that RPA and several other automation tools are now going after dataintensive decision tasks that are made within those structured workflows. They are either adding machine learning capabilities themselves or making it easy for customers to use other vendors for them.

It’s clear that everybody is moving into each other’s territory and rapidly adding new functionality. What should you do about it? One answer is to look for generalized automation tools that can perform a variety of task types. For many companies, that increasingly leads them toward RPA.

Another approach is to create a classification system for different automation types. One global consumer products company, for example, created a system that includes content recognition, task automation and process monitoring, and a set of technologies including RPA and artificial intelligence to support each category.

Finally, in managing sprawl it’s important to let employees know what the plan is for the technology. Smart automation raises obvious concerns about the future of human employment. Human workers