Automation vs Hyperautomation: A Comparison, Differences Explained

We’re all used to the idea that certain office processes are automated. Computers direct us to the right department on customer service calls or send automated confirmation emails after we make a purchase.

Automation is all around us. However, thanks to developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), automation can now go further to help your business drive greater efficiency and cost savings. And this can be systematized to automate as many IT and business processes as possible. This is often called hyperautomation.

But where’s the line between mere widespread automation and more extraordinary hyperautomation? Let’s examine the differences and how an ecosystem of hyperautomation can enhance your business processes.

What is Automation (including Intelligent Automation)?

Automation is the name of the game for boosting efficiencies in your back-office processes and workflows. Automation uses tools like robotic process automation (RPA) to complete repetitive tasks faster and more accurately than humans. Intelligent Automation takes RPA and advances it by combining it with advanced technologies like AI to execute tasks more efficiently – and intelligently. Your business likely already automates certain tasks to enhance productivity in this way allowing you to increase customer satisfaction, and lower costs, and risk.

Benefits of Automation

Automation can bring a number of benefits to your business, including:

• Lowering operating costs

• Reducing human error

• Improving employee productivity

• Increasing efficiency

Examples of Automation

Automation can be applied to a vast range of business processes and operations. Some of these include:

• File organization and transfer

• Data entry

• Report generation and distribution

• Organizing and responding to emails

• Scheduling meetings

Automation Use Cases

Within the wide variety of processes automation can be applied to, several industries have been able to leverage automation for specific use:

• Customer service: Automation can form the front line of customer service, categorizing queries and offering the first response.

• HR: The collection and organization of employee data can be automated. Automation can also assist in the recruitment process, finding and sorting applicants to streamline the employment process.

• Manufacturing: Order processing, inventory management and quality control are all able to be streamlined and optimized by automation in the manufacturing industry.

• Banking and financial services: Automation can assist financial services by automating customer onboarding, compliance processes and filing processes.

What is Hyperautomation?

The next evolution of automation is hyperautomation. In the world of automation technology, hyperautomation is akin to hiring a general contractor to assess, supervise and implement as many new, automated digital workflows as possible.

Benefits of Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation is a framework for end-to-end full process automation. It can:

• Add strategy, scope and sophistication to your operations.

• Move beyond mere efficiency to simplifying higher-level actions like discovery, analysis, design, monitoring and assessment.

• Help you maximize the cost-saving, productivity and efficiency effects of automation.

Examples of Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation’s usefulness depends on which tools you add to your hyperautomation platform and how you use it. For instance, you could automate many of the tasks listed above by using the following tools in your platform:

• Process/task mining software. Identifies automation opportunities and bottlenecks by building a digital twin of your organization.

• Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS). Develops automations for integrating software applications.

• Application Programming Interface (API). Simplifies the integration of automations into your hyperautomation network.

• RPA platform. Your engineers would use this platform to develop and deploy automation bots. It would be managed by and housed within the hyperautomation platform.

• Analytics and reporting. Assess the ROI for automated processes, including identifying the most used or prone to error.

• Process modeling. Serves as a central repository for all current processes which you use to design future automated processes. A robust process modeling solution will help you introduce change management and automation governance.

A wide variety of tools can be used in a hyperautomation strategy. It’s important that you assess and implement the hyperautomation tools best suited to your business needs.

Hyperautomation Use Cases

Hyperautomation combines advanced technologies such as AI, ML and RPA to increase the range and sophistication of automation used across the enterprise. The business applications for hyperautomation are vast. The list below gives some examples of how it can streamline and optimize your business processes and tasks.

Bookkeeping

• Accounts payable. Receive, process and pay invoices from suppliers.

• Travel and expense. Collect and extract data from receipts, verify compliance, and complete payments.

Sales and Customer Service

• Order to cash. Act on customer queries and receive and gather information from emails or other means of customer communication.

• Customer service operations. Understand, classify and respond to customer input.

• Lead generation. Identify businesses browsing digital apps, target ads, and send them automatic emails.

Documentation and Data

• Insurance and workplace claims. Intake, assessment and settlement of insurance and workplace requests and complaints.

• Document processing. Extract, validate and enrich data; generate and process documents such as invoices, receipts, paychecks and medical and prescription records.

• Insurance and loan underwriting. Collect and extract data, evaluate and score risk, and provide options and recommendations.

• Customer and employee onboarding. Verify and screen identities, complete regulatory reporting, and activate accounts.

Security

• Data redaction. Redact personal identifiable information (PII) from medical and insurance documents.

• Fraud prevention. Validate records and detect unusual patterns.

Why Isn’t Standard Automation Enough?

It’s a matter of efficiency. In many cases, traditional automations need human monitoring and scaling, as well as the lengthy process of evaluating your systems and processes. Hyperautomation shifts all that work onto the metaphorical shoulders of a hyperautomation platform. This makes it much easier to spot opportunities for automation and create new digital workflows quickly and easily.

What Type of Automation is Right for Your Business?

If you’re looking to increase efficiency, your competitive position within the market, and your product’s quality and consistency, hyperautomation can be crucial. By introducing a hyperautomation platform for your automations and processes, you can:

• Reduce your automation costs.

• Align your business and IT processes.

• Enhance your company’s security and governance.

• Improve your ability to measure the ROI of your automations.

• Establish priorities for future automations.

• Streamline back-office and customer-facing operations.

• Improve the quality, speed and accuracy of your operations and processes.

• Improve revenue and increase market share.

Making the move from simple, task-oriented automation to hyperautomation that can facilitate decision-making and streamline your entire operation is a no-brainer.

Get started today with Sutherland Prodigy, our advanced hyperautomation platform. It combines analytics and business intelligence to transform disparate back-office operations into new, effective digital workflows.