Automation and RPA in The Enterprise

Automation and RPA
in the enterprise
How organizations are improving
productivity and accelerating value
Results from research conducted in 2021

by IBM Market Development & Insights
Automation and robotic
process automation
About the research

The IBM Market Development & Insights team conducted a series
of surveys on the experiences of companies that have deployed
or are considering deploying automation technologies, including
robotic process automation (RPA) solutions. The surveys capture
the perceptions, expectations and real-world experiences of
more than 600 decision makers in large enterprises and midsize
businesses across the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, Australia and India. Respondent roles span IT and
line of business (LOB), and their answers provide intriguing insight
into the experiences and challenges of effectively implementing
automation capabilities across the organization.
2
process automation
Table of contents
4 Automation for a world

of busines challenges
5–6 Embracing automation

SIDEBAR
7 Automation and robotic

process automation
8–12 Automation in action

SIDEBAR
13–14 Where the bots are
15–21 Perceptions, benefits

and challenges
22–27 What businesses want
28 Take the next step
3
process automation
Automation for a world

of business challenges
Automating business processes isn’t a new concept; what is new

are the many ways that innovative automation technologies are
being used and the kinds of real-world benefits being achieved
by organizations worldwide.
Applying automation to simplify routine or mundane tasks

frees up a workforce to do more strategic, higher value work,
such as bringing new products to the marketplace. It’s also
enhancing the customer experience by improving response
time and accuracy. Businesses are realizing the benefits of
automation through reduced inefficiencies and human errors,
which are lowering business costs and improving data quality.
Through robotic process automation, organizations are capitalizing

on artificial intelligence (AI) insights to streamline many repeti-
tive, formerly manual back-office tasks. Through RPA solutions,
including those offering low-code or no-code authoring tools,
line-of-business users are solving emerging business challenges
in real time. Although both general automation and RPA solutions
are delivering quantifiable business benefits, RPA adopters say
they’re getting even greater value from their solutions.
4 To table of contents
process automation
Embracing automation
Survey results overview
Respondents say their organizations have made automation an

increasing priority in recent years. This trend experienced even
greater urgency during 2020, with a heightened focus on maxi-
mizing efficiency and large segments of the workforce shifting to
working from home because of the pandemic.
80%
80%
report that automation is
a much higher or somewhat
higher priority compared to
12 months ago.
See Figure 1 for complete data.
RPA user, IT, US, large enterprise

“ Our company was already progressively moving
toward automating everything, and COVID forced
us to speed up that process.”
Non-RPA user, LOB, US, midsize business

“ It’s a different work environment post-COVID,
and efficient use of resources has been made
a higher priority.”
process automation
Respondents revealed where automation is being deployed

most and the challenges they’ve faced
Most common functions where automation or RPA solutions

are deployed:
• IT
• Customer service and support
• E-commerce
• Supply chain management
• Marketing
Key prioritization areas:

• IT operations
• Digital and data security
• Workforce utilization and optimization
• Network optimization
• Customer experience optimization
Challenges in adopting or expanding the use of automation and

RPA solutions:
• Talent with automation expertise can be expensive
and hard to find.
• Ease of implementation is a concern.
• Learning automation technologies can be complex.
Survey respondents reported that despite these challenges,

deploying automation and RPA capabilities has been worth the
effort and that their organizations plan to ramp up their use of
automation solutions.
process automation
Automation and
At their most basic level, automation solutions digitize and
streamline routine work. Business process management
robotic process
was an early example of automation. While RPA and
artificial intelligence share some characteristics, AI is
automation
data-driven, finding patterns in data that enable process
improvement. To achieve this, AI brings together capabili-
ties such as intelligent automation, machine learning (ML),
natural language processing (NLP), reasoning, hypothesis
generation and analysis. RPA, on the other hand, is process-
driven, using bots that can only follow processes that are
defined for it by a user.
Robotic process automation uses rules-based software to

perform many back-office tasks at extremely high speed
and high volume. Time-consuming actions, such as filling
in forms and moving files, are being automated, freeing
expensive human resources for more strategic or complex
activities. In addition to significant cost savings and higher
employee morale, RPA improves business agility to drive
higher customer satisfaction and helps reduce errors to
support compliance efforts. Furthermore, RPA solutions
can require less coding and won’t disrupt existing infra-
structure and systems because software bots work at
applications’ presentation layer.
www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/rpa
process automation
Automation in action
Primary use cases today and what organizations are planning

for the next 12 months
Respondents were asked how their organization is using auto-

mation and RPA solutions currently and what additional use
cases they have planned for automation over the next year.
Today
65% IT operations
63% Digital and data security

Workforce utilization
53% and optimization
52% Network optimization

Customer experience
50% optimization
Financial management
49% and planning
Next 12 months
Product recommendations
42% and offers
41% Sales forecasting

Product development
optimization
Predictive and preventive
maintenance
Fraud and anomaly
40% detection
Human resources
optimization
process automation
Use cases by organization size
Breaking these answers down by company size, some differences

emerge in how automation is being used today:
Large enterprises
66% IT operations

Network optimization
Customer experience
52% optimization
50% Risk and compliance
Midsize businesses
60% IT operations
51% and planning
49% Marketing analysis

and optimization
Customer experience
optimization
process automation
Use cases by role
With a few exceptions, respondents in both IT and LOB roles

reported similar rates of adoption for their current use cases.
Some differences seen were expected, such as more IT roles
reporting automation being used in their organization for IT
operations and network optimization, while LOB roles had
greater adoption of automation for financial management and
planning as well as for sales forecasting:
IT
70% IT operations


Customer experience
50% optimization
LOB
59% IT operations
55% and planning
52% optimization

Customer experience
optimization
process automation
Satisfaction with current automation products
Respondents were also asked about their satisfaction with the

automation and RPA products their organization currently uses,
their ability to effectively scale automation projects and the
return on investment (ROI) they’ve experienced.
68% 66% 63%
Meeting Able to scale to Achieved

expectations the degree desired desired ROI
…
Percentage of respondents answering
either 4 or 5 on a scale of 1–5, with 1
being not at all satisfied and 5 being
completely satisfied
Decision makers were asked about their satisfaction with the

types of automation solutions their company is using.
72%
of RPA users were very
or extremely satisfied.
60%
of non-RPA users were
very or extremely satisfied.
process automation
What people said:
RPA and automation technologies received enthusiastic praise from

respondents. Here’s a sampling of what they said:
RPA user, LOB, US, midsize business

“ The company’s goals have been achieved thanks
to this.”
RPA user, IT, US, midsize business

“ Made operations more efficient and more profitable.”
Non-RPA User, IT, Australia, large enterprise

“ Cleaner data, access to identical data sets that
are up to date which makes decision making and
customer service easier.”
Key takeaways
• Expanding existing automation capabilities is increasingly seen

as a business imperative—one becoming more vital by the day.
• Most respondents said that their organizations have deployed

automation capabilities for common tasks in areas that include
IT operations, security, network and workforce optimization,
and customer experience. Over the next 12 months, they plan
to extend automation and RPA capabilities for product recom-
mendations, predictive and preventive maintenance, product
development, and fraud detection.
• While a large majority of respondents believe that the

automation and RPA solutions deliver their expected value,
there is room for improvement in their ability to scale and
realize even stronger ROI.
Automation is delivering quantifiable business

benefits across a wide range of functions
and processes.
process automation
Where the bots are

Robotic process automation software bots are increasingly
being deployed to perform many repetitive, mundane tasks
that busy workers don’t have the time—or desire—to do.
Today, bots are orchestrating workflows, capturing data
and managing content. They’re becoming integrated with
business rules and decisions, shortening development
cycles, and reducing the traditional reliance on IT to quickly
stand up new capabilities.
Survey respondents indicated that their organizations are

using bots across multiple areas of the business.
45% IT operations

26% Customer self-service
Customer experience
25% optimization
Product development
24% optimization
23% Customer center optimization
Supply chain analytics

21% and management
20% Fraud and anomaly detection
process automation
Asked how many bots their company currently had in

production, survey respondents said:
12%
More than 20
14%
16–20
28%
11–15
32%
6–10
10%
1–5
4%
process automation
Perceptions, benefits
and challenges
Perceptions
Numerous benefits for automation and RPA solutions were

identified by participants who agree or agree completely with
the following statements:
Not using or expanding use
66%
may have negative financial
consequences
73% Helps attract talent
81%
Creates better collaboration
among team members
86%
The effort and expense
are worth it
87%
Provides many benefits
to development teams
process automation
Breaking down these responses by role, some differences come

to light between IT and LOB respondents, as noted by those who
agree completely with the following statements:
IT LOB
44% 31% Provides many benefits

39% 32% The effort and expense

are worth it
36% 30% Creates better collaboration

among team members
29% 22%
Helps attract talent
23% 20% Not using or expanding use

may have negative financial
consequences
process automation
Respondents from large enterprises felt even more strongly

about some of these statements than did those from midsize
businesses, as noted by those who agree completely with
the following statements:
Large enterprises Midsize businesses
42% 30% Provides many benefits

38% 31% The effort and expense

are worth it
36% 27% Creates better collaboration

among team members
process automation
Key benefits
Asked about the specific benefits their organization has experi-

enced, better data quality and greater accuracy led the list.
…
either 4 or 5 on a scale of 1–5, with
1 being not experiencing and 5 being
significantly experiencing
61%
Reduction in expenses
on human resources
64% Improved customer satisfaction
Faster customer service

69% Increased workforce
productivity
71% Increased capabilities for

data collection
Reduction in manual errors
72% Increased accuracy of work
76% Improved data quality
process automation
Top challenges
Several challenges for deploying or expanding use of automation

and RPA solutions were named by respondents, which included:
Difficulty in selecting the

43% right provider
44% Difficulty in proving ROI
Difficulty in prioritizing
45% use cases
46%
Infrastructure is not sufficiently
integrated to proceed
Other initiatives have

48% higher priorities
Implementation concerns
51% Complexity of learning
automation technologies
Talent with this expertise is
54% expensive and hard to find
process automation
Once again, respondents from large enterprises agreed more

strongly with most of the following statements than did those
from midsize businesses:
42 45 44 43 48 37 49 41 49 46 52 46 52 49 55 53
LE = Large enterprises
MM = Midsize businesses
…
being not a significant challenge and 5
being extremely significant challenge
LE MM
Talent with this expertise is

55% / 53% expensive and hard to find
52% / 49% Implementation concerns
Complexity of learning
52% / 46% automation technologies
Other initiatives have

49% / 46% higher priorities
Infrastructure is not sufficiently

49% / 41% integrated to proceed
Difficulty in prioritizing
48% / 37% use cases
44% / 43% Difficulty in proving ROI
Difficulty in selecting
42% / 45% the right provider
process automation
Key takeaways
• Even with the challenges, respondents say the effort required

to implement both automation and RPA is worth it.
• The benefits to development teams, improved collaboration

and the ability to attract skilled talent were noted by an
overwhelming majority.
• Primary challenges centered on integration with current

systems and processes; lack of internal talent; and the
need for support in prioritizing use cases, proving ROI
and vendor selection.
Ultimately, most respondents believe that not

implementing automation and RPA into the
organization will be a costly mistake.
process automation
What businesses want
Support, price, and the ability to integrate and scale

head the list
While most automation and RPA users report being satisfied

by their current automation products and solutions, many are
looking to new vendors for additional capabilities, lower prices,
and more effective help in integrating and supporting their
automation solution.
A full one-third of respondents said they are likely to switch

providers in the next 12 months, with a significantly higher
percentage of RPA users saying they’re even more likely to
seek new vendors:
…
Likely to switch providers Percentage of respondents answering
either 4 or 5 on a scale of 1–5, with
1 being not very likely and 5 being
extremely likely
43%
RPA users
31% 34%
non-RPA users total users
process automation
Asked to rank the top five things from a lengthy list of vendor
attributes that were most important to them, respondents most
commonly selected:
RPA users non-RPA users
38% 42% Technical support
30% 44% Competitive price
Integrates easily with

35% 39% my business processes
36% 37% Easily scalable
Ability to integrate with

35% 37% existing systems
34% 34% Proven ROI
35% 34% Ability to meet our regulatory

and compliance requirements
32% 34% Easy to do business with
32% 31% Integrates AI capabilities
process automation
Breaking these responses down by role, differences emerge in

what IT and LOB responders are looking for in a vendor:
IT LOB
38% 44% Technical support
36% 44% Competitive price
Integrates easily with

36% 40% my business processes
41% 32% Easily scalable
Ability to integrate with

33% 39% existing systems
35% 33% Proven ROI
33% 36% Ability to meet our regulatory

and compliance requirements
31% 36% Easy to do business with
33% 28% Integrates AI capabilities
process automation
Asked about the primary factors driving them to consider switch-

ing automation providers, RPA and non-RPA users called out
functionality, customizability and price, as well as the provider’s
ability to handle projects from end to end, among their most
common answers:
RPA users Non-RPA users
Improved functionality
29% 43% to meet our needs
36% 36% Ability to customize/flexibility
30% 39% Looking for a better price
Ability to handle end-to-end

38% 29% projects from strategy to
implementation
Need better customer service

28% 35% and support
Looking for improved
31% 32% product performance
Ability to support and inte-
31% 31% grate our broader technology
34% 27% Enhanced security capabilities
An interesting note is that 33 percent of RPA users say they’re

likely to switch vendors as a result of moving to a new cloud
platform or cloud services provider, while only 16 percent of
non-RPA users say the same.
process automation
Asked about the type of cloud or other infrastructure used for

their automation and RPA solutions, respondents indicated a mix
of technologies.
77% 76%
Private cloud
62% 49%
Public cloud
15% 13% Non-cloud infrastructure
Users were also asked if they use the same or different vendors
for their automation and their cloud solutions.
27% 24% Always use the same

providers for automation
and cloud solutions
60% 69% Sometimes use

the same providers
13% 7% Always use different providers
process automation
Participants were then asked about their preference for buying

automation and RPA solutions from a single vendor or on a single
platform versus buying products or solution components from
multiple vendors or platforms. Both roles slightly preferred a
single vendor or platform:
57% 55%
…
being prefer multiple vendors and 5
being prefer single vendor (platform)
Key takeaways
• Vendor flexibility and the ability to design, deploy and customize

solutions from end to end were valued by respondents.
• Most reported using a mix of private and public cloud, and
using a single vendor for their automation solutions was the
preferred approach.
While automation solutions are seen to be

delivering real value for organizations, users
want even more features and flexibility, lower
costs, and more help with implementation and
integration—and they’re willing to look at new
vendors to achieve their aims.
process automation
Take the next step
Automation and robotic process automation technologies are help-

ing organizations across a range of industries speed development,
reduce costs, improve business agility and enhance the customer
experience. Respondents are convinced that automation will
continue to play a major role in the future of their organizations.
Find out how far your automation journey

can take you.
process automation
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2021
IBM Corporation
Route 100
Somers, NY 10589
Produced in the United States of America

December 2021
IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks of International Business
Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product
and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A
current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at “Copyright and
trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.
This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be

changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country
in which IBM operates.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT

ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT.
IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the
agreements under which they are provided.
29
process automation
Appendix
R ETURN TO PAG E 5
Automation priority level compared to 12 months ago

Total n=604, RPA users n=189, non-RPA users n=415
37% Much more
43% Somewhat more
17% No change
2% Somewhat less
Figure 1
Q1. Compared to 12 months ago would you say that automation is?
Q1a. Why is automation less of a priority than 12 months ago?
Q1b. Why has your focus on automation stayed the same in comparison to 12 months ago?
Q1c. Why is automation more of a priority now than 12 months ago?
Appendix To table of contents

R ETURN TO PAG E 8
Top automation/RPA SW use cases

Not using, not likely Likely to implement

Currently use
to implement in next 12 months
IT operations 8% 37% 65%
Digital/data security 7% 38% 63%
Workforce utilization and optimization 11% 28% 53%
Network optimization 11% 33% 52%
Customer experience optimization 13% 34% 50%
Financial management and planning 14% 39% 49%
Marketing analysis 16% 37% 48%
Risk and compliance 15% 36% 48%
Logistics analysis and optimization 16% 34% 47%
Customer self-service 15% 27% 46%
Supply chain analytics and management 16% 32% 46%
Fraud/anomaly detection 15% 30% 45%
Sales forecasting 16% 31% 43%
Production and inventory forecasting 19% 34% 43%
Contact center optimization 21% 34% 41%
Product development optimization 18% 30% 41%
Human resources optimization 19% 35% 41%
Physical security 29% 34% 37%
Predicting mechanical failures/preventive maintenance 22% 31% 37%
Product recommendations or offers 24% 32% 34%
Figure 2
Q7. For what use cases is your organization applying [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA USER] automation
software today, and in what areas are you most likely to apply new automation tools in the
next 12 months?

R ETUR N TO PAGE 9 R ETUR N TO PAG E 10
Use cases by organization size Use cases by role
Top automation/RPA SW use cases (% currently using)
A/B Significant difference at the 95% level
Role Size
IT LOB LE MM
TOTAL
(A) (B) (A) (B)
IT operations 65% 70% 59% 66% 60%
Digital/data security 63% 63% 62% 62% 64%
Workforce utilization and optimization 53% 53% 52% 56% B 45%
Network optimization 52% 57% B 47% 56% B 45%
Customer experience optimization 50% 50% 49% 52% 45%
Financial management and planning 49% 43% 55% A 47% 51%
Marketing analysis 48% 47% 49% 48% 49%
Risk and compliance 48% 52% B 43% 50% B 41%
Logistics analysis and optimization 47% 48% 46% 49% 41%
Customer self-service 46% 47% 44% 47% 42%
Supply chain analytics and management 46% 46% 45% 48% B 39%
Fraud/anomaly detection 45% 47% 42% 48% B 38%
Sales forecasting 43% 39% 48% A 42% 46%
Production and inventory forecasting 43% 43% 43% 46% 37%
Contact center optimization 41% 43% 38% 42% 37%
Product development optimization 41% 41% 40% 43% 35%
Human resources optimization 41% 41% 41% 41% 40%
Physical security 37% 37% 37% 40% B 31%
Predicting mechanical failures/preventive maintenance 37% 36% 38% 40% B 30%
Product recommendations or offers 34% 33% 35% 35% 31%
Figure 3
Q7. For what use cases is your organization applying [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA USER] automation
software today, and in what areas are you most likely to apply new automation tools in the next
12 months?

R ETUR N TO PAG E 11
Extent automation has met expectations

26% 5 Completely Been able to meet expectations with

your current automation products?
42% 4
24% 3
6% 2
2% 1 Not at all
24% 5 Completely Been able to scale your automation

projects to the degree you’d like?
42% 4
24% 3
9% 2
2% 1 Not at all
18% 5 Completely Achieved your desired ROI from

automation projects?
45% 4
30% 3
5% 2
1% 1 Not at all
Figure 4
Q3. To what extent has your organization …

Satisfaction with automation/RPA solutions currently using

Total
15% Extremely satisfied
48% Very satisfied
32% Somewhat satisfied
3% Not very satisfied
1% Not at all satisfied
RPA users (A)
B 22% Extremely satisfied
50% Very satisfied
24% Somewhat satisfied
Non-RPA users (B)
12% Extremely satisfied
48% Very satisfied

A 36% Somewhat satisfied
Figure 5
Q13. How satisfied would you say you are with the [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA USER] automation
solutions your organization currently uses?
Q14. What is driving your satisfaction with your current [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA USER]
automation solutions?
[IF Q13 = 1–3] What could be improved?
[IF Q13 = 4–5] What is going well?

Where the bots are
Purpose of bots (among those using RPA with a bot in production)
45% IT operations
35% Digital/data security
30% Workforce utilization and optimization
26% Customer self-service
25% Customer experience optimization
24% Product development optimization
23% Customer center optimization
21% Supply chain analytics and management
20% Fraud/anomaly detection
19% Logistics analysis and optimization
17% Human resources optimization
17% Physical security
15% Production and inventory forecasting
15% Predicting mechanical failures/preventive maintenance
10% Product recommendations or offers
10% Financial management and planning
Figure 6
Q8. You mentioned that you currently are using RPA in your organization. Approximately how many
bots do you have in production? (n=189)
Q9. What is the purpose of the bots you currently have in production? (n=181)
Q10. [Ask of those who indicated they use RPA in S4] What proportion of your RPA bots are being
used for back-office processes vs. front office processes? (n=168)

Agreement level on automation statements

Do not agree Agree

Disagree Neither Agree
at all completely
Provide many benefits to development teams 0% 2% 11% 49% 38%
The effort and expense of adoption is worth it 1% 2% 12% 50% 36%

Creates better collaboration among team members 1% 3% 16% 48% 33%
Helps attract talent 1% 5% 22% 47% 26%
Keeping up with the pace of innovation is challenging 1% 7% 21% 47% 23%
Not using/expanding use may have negative financial
3% 8% 23% 44% 22%
consequences
Decisions often derailed by executive disagreement
5% 19% 27% 32% 16%
or inaction
Are overkill for most of our needs 14% 31% 20% 22% 15%
Implementation of is overwhelming 6% 21% 23% 35% 14%
Figure 7
Q6. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements related to automation?

Agreement level on automation statements (% agree completely)
Role Size
IT LOB LE MM
TOTAL
(A) (B) (A) (B)
Provide many benefits to development teams 38% 44% B 31% 42% B 30%
The effort and expense of adoption is worth it 36% 39% 32% 38% 31%
Creates better collaboration among team members 33% 36% 30% 36% B 27%
Helps attract talent 26% 29% B 22% 25% 26%
Keeping up with the pace of innovation is challenging 23% 26% 20% 22% 27%
Not using/expanding use may have negative financial
22% 23% 20% 24% 18%
consequences
Decisions often derailed by executive disagreement
16% 18% 13% 16% 16%
or inaction
Are overkill for most of our needs 15% 17% B 11% 14% 15%
Implementation of is overwhelming 14% 17% B 11% 15% 12%
Figure 8
Q6. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements related to automation?

Degree to which benefits of automation/RPA are experienced

Don’t know/ 1 5
too early Not 2 3 4 Significantly
to tell experiencing experiencing
Improved data quality 3% 1% 3% 17% 38% 38%
Reduction in manual errors 4% 1% 5% 18% 37% 34%

Increased accuracy of work 4% 1% 4% 20% 40% 32%
Faster customer service 4% 2% 3% 22% 37% 32%
Increased capabilities for
4% 2% 4% 19% 41% 30%
data collection
Increased workforce productivity 4% 1% 6% 20% 39% 30%

Improved customer experience 5% 2% 5% 24% 36% 29%
Improved customer satisfaction 7% 1% 5% 23% 37% 27%
Reduction in expenses on
5% 3% 8% 22% 34% 27%
human resources
Enhanced DM support to ID best
6% 1% 7% 24% 36% 25%
actions to resolve issues quickly
Ability to scale to add or reduce
5% 2% 8% 23% 40% 23%
quickly as needs fluctuate
Ensure policy compliance 7% 2% 6% 25% 37% 23%
Shortened development cycles 6% 2% 8% 25% 35% 23%
Reduced reliance on IT by enabling
5% 3% 9% 27% 35% 22%
business users
Figure 9
Q11. To what degree is your organization experiencing the following benefits of [INSERT “RPA”
IF RPA USER] automation software?

Top challenges
Degree of challenges to adoption/expansion of automation/RPA software

1 5
Not Extremely LE MM
2 3 4
significant significant (A) (B)
challenge challenge
Talent with this expertise

is expensive/difficult 6% 12% 28% 35% 19% 55% 53%
to find
Concerns with
7% 15% 28% 36% 15% 52% 49%
implementation
Complexity of learning
6% 11% 32% 34% 17% 52% 46%
automation technologies
Other initiatives are
7% 14% 31% 30% 18% 49% 46%
higher priorities
Infrastructure is not
sufficiently integrated 9% 14% 30% 32% 14% 49% 41%
to proceed
Difficulty prioritizing
which use cases to apply 8% 15% 33% 31% 14% 48% B 37%
automation software to
Difficulty proving ROI 7% 18% 31% 29% 15% 44% 43%
Difficulty selecting the

10% 16% 31% 26% 17% 42% 45%
right provider
Lack of core KPIs assigned
9% 16% 32% 29% 13% 42% 44%
to define success
Not enough advocates in
our org./skepticism among 9% 20% 30% 27% 13% 39% 43%
sr. execs
Lack of industry standards 12% 20% 30% 25% 14% 39% 37%
Fear of vendor lock-in 13% 19% 31% 26% 11% 38% 36%
Figure 10
Q12. Please rate the degree to which each of the following has been a significant challenge in
successfully adopting or expanding the use of [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA USER] automation
software within your organization.

Likelihood to switch automation/RPA providers in next year

Total
14% 5 Extremely likely
20% 4
31% 3
19% 2
16% 1 Not very likely
RPA users (A)
B 22% 5 Extremely likely
21% 4
28% 3
16% 2
Non-RPA users (B)
11% 5 Extremely likely
20% 4
33% 3
20% 2
Figure 11
Q16. How likely are you to switch [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA USER] automation providers
in the next year?

Ranked importance of automation/RPA provider attributes

Ranked 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Technical support 6% 11% 8% 7% 8%
Competitive price 9% 7% 8% 7% 8%
Integrates easily with my business processes 11% 7% 8% 4% 7%
Easily scalable 8% 8% 6% 7% 7%
Ability to integrate with existing/legacy systems 5% 7% 7% 10% 7%
Proven return on investment (ROI) 8% 8% 5% 8% 6%
Ability to meet our regulatory and compliance
6% 5% 8% 8% 7%
requirements
Easy to do business with 8% 5% 7% 8% 5%
Integrates AI capabilities 7% 7% 6% 5% 6%
Industry expertise 7% 6% 7% 5% 6%
Process expertise 6% 5% 5% 6% 7%
Provides market leading security 4% 5% 4% 7% 6%
Used/trusted by many well-known companies 3% 6% 4% 4% 4%
Large portfolio of automation solutions 3% 4% 3% 4% 6%
Relevant use cases 3% 4% 4% 4% 3%
Existing relationship with the provider 4% 2% 4% 3% 2%
Use of agnostic approach (open standards/
2% 2% 3% 3% 3%
open source)
Figure 12
Q15. Which of the following attributes are most important in selecting an [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA
USER] automation provider? Please rank the 5 most important attributes from this list.

Ranked importance of automation/RPA provider attributes (% ranked in top 5)
ROLE
IT LOB
TOTAL
(A) (B)
Technical support 41% 38% 44%

Competitive price 40% 36% 44% A
Integrates easily with my business 38% 36% 40%
Easily scalable 37% 41% B 32%
Ability to integrate with existing/legacy systems 36% 33% 39%
Ability to meet regulatory and compliance requirements 34% 33% 36%
Proven return on investment (ROI) 34% 35% 33%
Easy to do business with 33% 31% 36%
Integrates AI capabilities 31% 33% 28%
Industry expertise 31% 31% 30%
Process expertise 29% 28% 31%
Provides market leading security 26% 30% 23%
Used/trusted by many well-known companies 22% 24% 19%
Large portfolio of automation solutions 20% 18% 21%
Relevant use cases 19% 19% 18%
Existing relationship with the provider 16% 17% 16%
Use of agnostic approach (open standards/open source) 14% 17% B 10%
Figure 13
Q15. Which of the following attributes are most important in selecting an [INSERT “RPA” IF RPA
USER] automation provider? Please rank the 5 most important attributes from this list.

Driving factors for switching vendors (among those who are likely to switch in the next year)

(A) (B)
Improved functionality to meet our needs 29% 43% A
Ability to customize/flexibility 36% 36%
Looking for a better price 30% 39%
Ability to handle end-to-end projects from strategy to implementation 38% 29%
Need better customer service and support 28% 35%
Looking for improved product performance 31% 32%
Ability to support and integrate our broader technology needs 31% 31%
Enhanced security capabilities 34% 27%
Need something easier to use/learn 28% 29%
Regulatory and compliance knowledge 25% 29%
Need for global deployment/support 31% 24%
Industry-specific knowledge/offerings 30% 24%
Leading-edge/innovative offerings or features 25% 26%
Better cadence of refreshes/updates 29% 23%
Desire for compatibility with other infrastructure 21% 24%
Desire to consolidate to another platform and/or suite or products 29% 18%
Moving to a cloud platform/cloud services provider 33% B 16%
Breadth of ecosystem 24% 20%
Figure 14
Q17. [ASK IF Q16=4-5] What factors are driving you to switch vendors?

Where automation solutions are deployed

76% Private cloud
53% Public cloud
14% Non-cloud infrastructure
Figure 15
Q22. Where do you deploy your automation solutions?

Same or different vendors used for automation/cloud solutions

Total
Always use the same providers for

25% automation and cloud solutions
67% Sometimes use the same providers
9% Always use different providers
RPA users (A)

Non-RPA users (B)


Figure 16
Q21. Do you use the same or different vendors for automation and cloud solutions?

Preference for single vs. multiple automation solutions (platform vs. best of breed)
Total
23% 5 Prefer single vendor (platform)
33% 4
22% 3
13% 2
9% 1 Prefer multiple vendors (best of breed)
RPA users (A)
34% 4
20% 3
14% 2
Non-RPA users (B)
32% 4
23% 3
13% 2
Figure 17
Q20. Do you prefer to buy automation solutions from a single vendor (platform) or from multiple
vendors (best-of-breed approach)?

Automation and RPA in The Enterprise

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Automation and RPA in The Enterprise

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Automation and RPA in The Enterprise

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Automation and RPA

Results from research conducted in 2021

About the research

4 Automation for a world

5–6 Embracing automation

7 Automation and robotic

8–12 Automation in action

13–14 Where the bots are

15–21 Perceptions, benefits

22–27 What businesses want

28 Take the next step

Automation for a world

Automating business processes isn’t a new concept; what is new

Applying automation to simplify routine or mundane tasks

Through robotic process automation, organizations are capitalizing

Survey results overview

Respondents say their organizations have made automation an

See Figure 1 for complete data.

RPA user, IT, US, large enterprise

Non-RPA user, LOB, US, midsize business

Respondents revealed where automation is being deployed

Most common functions where automation or RPA solutions

Key prioritization areas:

Challenges in adopting or expanding the use of automation and

Survey respondents reported that despite these challenges,

Robotic process automation uses rules-based software to

Primary use cases today and what organizations are planning

Respondents were asked how their organization is using auto-

63% Digital and data security

52% Network optimization

41% Sales forecasting

See Figure 2 for complete data.

Use cases by organization size

Breaking these answers down by company size, some differences

62% Digital and data security

50% Risk and compliance

64% Digital and data security

49% Marketing analysis

46% Sales forecasting

45% Network optimization

See Figure 3 for complete data.

Use cases by role

With a few exceptions, respondents in both IT and LOB roles

63% Digital and data security

57% Network optimization

52% Risk and compliance

62% Digital and data security

49% Marketing analysis

See Figure 3 for complete data.

Satisfaction with current automation products

Respondents were also asked about their satisfaction with the

68% 66% 63%

Meeting Able to scale to Achieved

See Figure 4 for complete data.

Decision makers were asked about their satisfaction with the

See Figure 5 for complete data.

What people said:

RPA and automation technologies received enthusiastic praise from

RPA user, LOB, US, midsize business