“Automation” has been defined as a myriad of things. Corporations have embedded RPA (Robotic Process Automation), virtual agents, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and process automation into corporate services and processes. These tools have enabled efficiency gains, cost savings, reduced errors, less human intervention, elevated customer experiences, and more.
Shared Services Automation: What's Really Out There...And Being Used?
Each automation technology has its own value add. For example:
RPA – RPA is a software technology used to build, deploy, and manage software robots that automate high-volume tasks, such as data entry. Depending on the goals of your business, types of processes your company will want to automate will vary. Check out ScottMadden’s RPA Production-Ready Pilot to learn how to get started.
Virtual Agents and Chatbots – While similar in overall function, there are significant differences in the software behind them. Virtual agents are more advanced than chatbots, leveraging scripted rules and AI to automate services. Chatbots aren’t quite as sophisticated—they only interpret context. They cannot drill to specifics and leverage resources to find resolutions.
AI – AI is the simulation of human interaction carried out by computer and software systems. Speech recognition, decision making, problem-solving, and perception are a few of AI’s capabilities. Algorithms and technology provide enterprises with actionable data and leverage machine learning to respond to scenarios as a human would.
An organization can realize the true potential of automation in shared services with a well-planned approach, clear vision, actionable plan, and the means to evaluate an enterprise’s impact.
How We Help Our Clients
On the shared services automation journey, one of the most critical steps is the very first—to determine and align strategic priorities. Are your strategic priorities non-labor-related savings, competitive intelligence, headcount reduction, improved service levels or controls, or scalable operations?
Answers to these questions help define program design and funding requirements. At ScottMadden, we understand the complexities around shared services automation and investing in AI. Our consultants can help you select the right vendors, implement project managing deployments, build organizational adoption, and more.
Functional Insights
The ScottMadden Way
Case Studies
A food service and facilities management organization faced challenges hiring 80,000 candidates a year. We assisted with infrastructure selection and streamlining and automating components of the candidate screening process to meet needs.
Selected Paradox as a digital talent acquisition
solution
Developed a roadmap to expand the use cases and scale adoption of the new technology across the enterprise
Enabled the organization to host more than 400 events nationwide and schedule interviews with nearly 30,000 candidates in less than three minutes per candidate
A leading provider of online legal research utilized large groups of labor based in low-cost global locations to conduct repetitive process work. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) presented an opportunity to reduce large amounts of manual work and gain a competitive edge. ScottMadden was retained to conduct a pilot and help design a sustainable governance model for an enterprise-wide RPA program.
Met with stakeholders to identify problem processes, measured process volumes, and estimated RPA ROI
Mapped and recorded processes in detail and scripted five processes in UiPath
Conducted training to build client internal capability, designed a hybrid governance model, and defined COE roles
Documented immediate ROI and 10X improvement in process speed, established an initial RPA COE, and gained agreement on roles
