For WLA platforms, how should organizations determine which is ‘the one’?

TODAY, digital transformation is no longer a nice to have, it is a strategic imperative.

Transformation can be a long and challenging process. This holds even truer for small and medium enterprises. Often, they lack the funding and expertise needed to deploy technologies that would propel the business forward.

The good news is organizations do not need costly technologies such as Artificial Intelligence(AI) or Machine Learning(ML) to kickstart the transformation process. They can start with small, practical solutions. One such solution is workload automation (WLA).

Simply put, WLA is the practice of using software to schedule, initiate, run and manage tasks related to business processes and transactions.

No organization is void of manual, repetitive tasks. These tasks are time-intensive, and have an increased risk of human errors. Kept unchecked, and it would have a cascading effect, compromising the whole business.

Using WLA on these tasks can optimize workload management, and frees up employees to work on tasks that require human input.

A good WLA solution will allow organizations to be more agile in responding to user needs. Also, it enables an organization to automate at a pace that can keep up with changing needs, whilst expanding user base diversity.

In identifying a good WLA platform, there are a few things to look out for.

As mentioned above, a good WLA solution will enable organizations to be agile and automate at pace.

To automate at pace, the platform should have a rich user interface (UI) for workflow design. On the other hand, for agility, there must be a robust API present with extensible components.

Often, organizations make the mistake of acquiring platforms that only has one of the above attributes.

To avoid this, they should consider a WLA provider with a full-service offering.

It is widely acknowledged that IT teams of just about any organization have much to do. They have to juggle multiple tasks that are assigned to them across various departments. At the same time, they also need to care for the IT infrastructure of the organization.

With this in mind, engaging a WLA partner wth full-service offerings can help alleviate their workload.

No longer would they need to worry about the adequacy of the WLA platform engaged. Rather, all that is needed is that they ‘fill in the gaps’, stepping in whenever there are tasks that require human effort.

Ultimately, this gives them the liberty to focus on whatever pressing matters they have at hand.

To maximize the benefits of a good WLA platform, organizations must also think beyond themselves, and be open to collaborating with other industry players.

Collaboration involves many different people, and this brings a variety of ideas and innovations.

Allowing others to contribute to the WLA platform will enable it to be holistic, robust and fast-growing. With such a platform in place, automating at a pace that can cater to the diversity of user needs will no longer be a concern.

Looking for the ‘right one’ is never easy, especially in technology.

Business leaders must exercise patience in their search for the best-fit WLA platform. They should scrutinize all aspects of the WLA platform, and determine it’s fit with the company before investing in it.

Get all this right, and business performance will leapfrog, making their efforts worth it.

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