The importance of Alkalinized Water…and some 2023 Automation Trends

2023 is here, and you’re deeply entrenched in formulating your enterprise automation strategy.  As we make business decisions to quench our need for operational efficiencies, let’s not forget the importance of alkalinized water.  We should all be water connoisseurs…after all, 60% of our bodies are made up of water. 

So what’s with this trend of alkalinized water? 

First, an oversimplified science lesson.  pH measures how acidic or basic a solution is on a scale of 0-14.  Water is neutral, with a pH of 7.0.  A value less than 7 is acidic, and over 7 is basic – also known as alkaline. 

Looking at the infographic above, our Starbucks and lemon waters have made our bodies more acidic.  Our body is programmed to operate at a slightly alkaline pH of 7.4, so alkalinized water helps restore this balance.

Why does this matter?  If our body’s pH is too acidic, we feel fatigued and nauseated, and our kidneys and lungs start to work less efficiently.  But we also need acids — without stomach acids, we cannot break down our food.  It’s a delicate balance.

So what does this have to do with automation? 

No enterprise decision is unilateral.  We’re always balancing the pros and cons of a solution.  Some common topics have been:

• What technology do we buy?
• How do we minimize technology debt?
• Digital Modernization vs. Digital Transformation?
• Build vs. Buy
• Process-led vs. Technology led?
• Citizen Led vs. IT-led

In our recent newsletter, we discussed how all these decisions revolve around just one thing – the coalescence of technology and people.  This year we’ll dive into this topic in more detail, but the following table shows technology-driven versus people-driven solutions and initiatives.

Below are some Automation predictions for 2023 that we will track will help reach a pH balance between technology and people.

1.    More diversified results across the organization

Process technologies have thus far primarily benefited companies’ finance and accounting processes. And with a reason since more structured activities and easier-to-manipulate data facilitated implementation. However, the scenario has changed now. Advancements in technologies like Cloud, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Analytics are now enabling the successful deployment of process discovery across the organization. Consequently, Automation Anywhere is yielding diversified results in workflow improvement, customer experience, and compliance.          

2.    Automation tech stack bolstered with the addition of Intelligent Orchestration.

RPA can transform an organization, and RPA orchestration can do the same for RPA. Tech stack has now got a shot in the arm with the addition of automation orchestration that will further assist companies in scaling RPA programs and achieving meaningful ROI. When there is an RPA Supervisor, scheduling issues and coding problems can be dealt with more effectively.  

3.    Adjacent technologies to complement RPA solutions

There are bound to be gaps that RPA needs to address. Consequently, innovators will be keener to introduce newer technologies in other areas like Machine Learning, Intelligent Document Processing, and Natural Language Processing. So as these adjacent technologies complement RPA solutions, businesses will be able to deal with the complexity of new business problems.

4.    Partial Automation shall also suffice.

In this new year, the need for full Automation of complicated use cases necessitating digitization of human-enabled inputs is likely to diminish. Automation programs could yield significant returns through a combination of partial Automation and human intervention. Partial Automation is any day better than no automation, and the arrangement, as mentioned above, can cause the overall effort to decrease by almost 40%. 

5.    Unattended process automation in manufacturing

In 2023, there is likely to be a greater demand for unattended process automation in the field of manufacturing that should serve as a way out to rake in more profits in the wake of the mounting economic pressure. Millions of jobs will no doubt be affected worldwide. At the same time, unattended process automation will provide the same amount of or perhaps more opportunities to engineers, researchers, IT specialists, and many more.

6.    Automation to improve the employee experience

In 2023, Automation could enhance employee experience considerably by simplifying complex processes. Faulty processes and ineffective systems cause employee burnout. So, it is high time automation ceased benefitting manual and repetitive tasks only. As the focus shifts to complex procedures, organizations will realize the significance of improving their employee experience overall rather than just worrying about reducing costs and saving on working hours. Employees this way won’t just survive but also thrive.   

7.    Automation to fix healthcare issues

Healthcare has been plagued by an issue that needs to be resolved urgently. While the proportion of the elderly is rising, the healthcare labor force is shrinking. The monthly resignation rate of 3% is indeed alarming. Culling out patient information from hundreds of thousands of claims can be exacting. But when you have Natural Language Processing tools with domain expertise and the Document Understanding feature integrated with them, they can automatically extract data through intelligent Automation.

8.    Implementation of one base technology

2023 could perhaps be the right year for cloud-first companies to implement one base technology, which can interact with the numerous technologies already in use. When such organizations need to expand their capability, the tool or a complementary product can serve their purpose. When the underlying technology of businesses evolves, IA tools can adapt to the changes, thereby upgrading the businesses’ technology and the remaining infrastructure.   

If the above trends are followed by organizations globally, one cannot even imagine what the scenario will be like when we reflect on this subject one year later. And the way technology is advancing, newer trends will have emerged, and all the developments we have discussed could become passé.