1 year, 6 month ago by Timothy Cox
Bill Gates' futuristic vision didn’t just turn out to be true, it interestingly became a crucial phenomenon for enterprises to grow up operations and become profitable. Find out about this phenomenon and how it is changing the business landscape today.
Did you know that some predictions made by Bill Gates a decade ago turned out to be true? It was the 19th of May, the year was 2005, and a Microsoft Summit that many CEOs wouldn’t forget very easily. Bill Gates did a Nostradamus during that event when he said there will be software in future that will understand your needs and help enterprises to be more productive. He also mentioned workflow automation and electronic documents replacing paperwork, which would again boost productivity. 13 Years later, it turns out to be true! Surprised?
What is Workflow Automation?
It’s 2018 and workflow automation is one of the buzzwords that is doing rounds in B2B circles. Let’s say there’s firm that sends out teams with paper forms to collect data on the field. The teams return to the office by evening. These forms are reviewed by the manager who either approves or rejects the forms. If approved, he assigns the task to the next department based on the data collected. This happens every day.
Now, this firm decides to use one of the workflow automation tools to automate their data collection process. They start using a workflow app on their mobiles for data collection. Now, teams collect the data – the manager gets the notification to check the data in real-time. He checks the relevant data and approves it.
As soon as he approves, the next task is assigned automatically through notification and other details are sent to the concerned person. This is workflow automation.
Workflow automation is a series of repetitive actions that are automated and helps to increase in productivity.
A report published by Forrester Research gave out some interesting facts: ROI of a workflow solution was at 176% in just 3 years. Full-time IT users had a productivity gain of a whopping $258,000.
Why are Enterprises Embracing Workflow Automation?
Well, there are several reasons why enterprises are switching to workflow software or automation tools. Few of the key reasons are:
- Eliminate Errors
A right workflow automation solution leaves no scope for manual and human errors – this allows enterprises to save a lot of time that can be spent on other critical issues
A small mistake in the paper form can snowball into a grave mistake that has dire consequences for the company.
- Enhanced Communication
The communication takes place almost instantaneously through workflow automation apps. Imagine that you receive a notification as soon as the task is completed so that you can take the next action.
- Focus on Critical Aspects
Enterprises using workflow automation tools can cut down on monotony that employees usually face while doing repetitive tasks. This motivates them to work on better aspects of their jobs and increases employee engagement.
- Bring Down Costs
Enterprises dealing in data collection through pen and paper methods are spending loads of money. Money now spent on pen and paper can be saved. Storage space problem can also be completely taken care of as workflow automation tools offer cloud storage.
According to a report published by thinksmart, enterprises using workflow automation have been able to bring downtime and costs by 20-45%.
- Accountability & Transparency
Most of the enterprises love workflow automation apps or tools for the transparency it brings along. Different employees are assigned various roles and permissions based on the tasks they have to complete or make decisions like approval and rejection. Managers can define hierarchy and track the task completion and decision-making from start to end.
Non-approvals, late actions, and incomplete tasks can be easily viewed through mobile apps/tools. This promotes transparency in the organization.
- Scalability
Enterprises using workflow automation tools are able to scale their operations and grow. Workflow automation enables enterprises to focus on their competency, which offers them a strategic capability to get rid of bottlenecks and meet new demands.
- Sharing & Notifications
One of the key features that workflow automation tools offer is the ability to notify the stakeholders from time to time. Notifications could be through email, text message, pop-ups, etc. Managers, field teams, and customers can know the status of a particular project or task while on the go. Workflow automation apps can also offer features that can help teams to schedule tasks for a future date and set reminders. No more relying on human memory for task completion.
- Platform Integration
Enterprises can also integrate their workflow automation software with other platforms that they already use, or it could be their legacy systems. You can integrate with platforms like CRM, SAP, Salesforce, Zapier, PeopleSoft, Google Drive, etc. and make the flow of data from one platform to another very easy.
- Real-time Reports
Making reports have been a major pain point for enterprises. The data collected through paper forms are fed into systems manually, and then reports are made after organizing the data. But not anymore, because workflow automation tools can enable you to generate reports within clicks, and save you a lot of time. These reports can be shared easily through emails with the required audience.
Here are some interesting facts that will make you think harder about going the workflow automation way (especially if you are still working with pen and paper approach):
(Excerpts from reports published by IDC & PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Are you wondering which workflow automation tool to buy for your enterprise? Axonator is one of the most-trusted workflow automation apps for enterprises.
The platform requires no coding at all, and a complex workflow could be built for your enterprise just by dragging and dropping. This app can be made functional just in days, and it doesn’t even cost you a bomb – it’s way affordable and reliable. Well, there are various other features that Axonator offers as a robust workflow automation app.
Besides productivity & reduced costs, with Axonator’s workflow automation mobile app, some other critical benefits are:
- Reduce the Risk Exposure of Your Vulnerable Processes.
- Better Compliance of Your Processes.
- Quality Standards are Maintained.
- Scale-up High-volume Processes to Grow Better.
- Deliver Greater Agility.
To know more, get in touch with us at [email protected]
