A new global research by Pegasystems, conducted by research firm iResearch, surveyed 1,000 respondents in C-level, vice-president, and director positions from 12 nations and multiple industry sectors on the maturity of intelligent automation projects today.
The study found that the technology is developing at a breathtaking pace and identified three areas crucial for any organisation to consider to become an intelligent automation leader.
- Secure executive buy-in: The vast majority (81%) of intelligent automation deployments today are led by only one individual at the C-level, and these projects may not be reaching their full potential. The 18% of respondents that report across-the-board C-suite buy-in of such projects demonstrate greater collaboration between the business and technical sides of their enterprise, stronger governance, more cross-department strategies, and more platforms on which to build out new applications.
Businesses running projects with the full support of the C-suite also tend to view low-code and intelligent automation as a means to digital transformation, with 72% of these organisations running low-code projects that are either considered intelligent or mature. This compares to just 51% of companies whose projects are only CTO-driven and 48% of businesses with only CEO-led projects and whose projects are at a minimum considered integrated. - Develop as many champions as possible: Securing support from the top isn’t enough. The research shows the importance of engaging both IT and multidisciplinary business units for true transformation. Fifty-three percent of respondents who had both the support of the entire executive suite and active participation by all key decision-makers in IT and business operations in their intelligent automation projects reported full collaboration in application building across all business functions, resulting in applications that work with everyone in mind – not just one siloed department. By contrast, barely one quarter of respondents with a single C-suite intelligent automation champion report the same level of business-wide collaboration in the creation of low-code applications.
- Implement a strong governance framework: When implemented properly, low code can bring business users into the intelligent automation development process. However, just 30% of respondents have a formal governance structure in place for all their intelligent automation projects to help minimise risk of inconsistencies and maximise business outcomes. This again underlines the importance of executive buy-in; almost half (49%) of projects that are driven by the entire C-suite reported as more likely to have formal governance structures in place to ensure the health and success of all projects, compared to 26% with CEO-driven projects, and just 24% with CTO-led projects.
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