Automation is forging a new frontier in business operations. Across sectors, businesses are experiencing a revolution, the most profound since the shift from paper files to electronic records. Emerging technologies, like robotic process automation (RPA), smart workflows, and artificial intelligence tools such as machine learning and natural language tools, are radically improving efficiency, eliminating errors, and reducing operational risks. And one of the involved concepts to scale organizations is agile automation.
The Mckinsey research highlights the immense potential of automation, suggesting that across industries, more than 30 percent of the tasks that make up 60 percent of today’s jobs could be automated. In sectors such as finance and insurance, where workers spend more than half their time collecting and processing data, automation is an obvious solution.
Yet, despite the encouraging results from pilot projects and technology demonstrators, many companies are struggling to scale their automation efforts across the entire organization.
Challenges with existing approaches:
The challenges to implementing automation at a scale are multifaceted. The immaturity of some technologies, unforeseen weaknesses exposed in real-world environments, and the complexities of building workable roadmaps for thousands of processes involving tens of thousands of employees all contribute to this struggle.
However, one of the major hurdles faced by organizations is software development and implementation. Traditional software-development methodologies such as the “waterfall” approach, where analysis, specification, design, coding, and testing are conducted sequentially, often fall short when applied to complex automation projects. These methodologies often lead to delays, cost overruns, and scalability issues.
This realization is leading more companies to explore agile development approaches.
Agile methodologies, which emphasize cross-functional teams, focused development efforts, and continual testing, have shown promising results in other areas of software development. Yet, the application of agile to automation projects is not without its unique challenges.
Agile methodologies like Scrum, which leverage quick iterations to develop features, can struggle in automation contexts. Process automation can’t always be broken down into discrete, stand-alone chunks or “stories.” The components within a process are often tightly coupled: they either work end-to-end or don’t work at all. The disruptive nature of process automation and the difficulties of identifying an individual with the necessary knowledge and connections to act as the “product owner” are also obstacles in an agile environment.
Recognizing these challenges, some companies are tailoring and evolving the Scrum framework for process automation, birthing a new variant known as “agile automation.”
Characteristics of agile automation for large-scale applications
Team structure
Agile automation employs a flexible team or “pod” structure comprising developers, testers, IT staff, and business stakeholders. Each pod is co-led by a product owner with automation expertise and a subject-matter expert from the business, ensuring a balance of technological and business knowledge.
Upfront design
Agile automation requires an upfront design effort to fully define the process before development begins. This effort guarantees that the automation project will integrate seamlessly with the wider business, comply with regulatory requirements, and allow stakeholders to prepare for the forthcoming change.
Trigger-driven user stories
Instead of conventional user stories, agile automation uses “trigger-driven stories.” This approach separates processes into manageable parts, enabling teams to work in parallel and thus accelerate development.
Release management
To minimize disruption, agile automation decouples the release of prototype and production software. Production releases follow a controlled schedule, while prototypes are released more frequently into a test environment.
Program support
A dedicated program office provides much-needed support, expertise, and good practice guidelines, especially in the early stages of these transformative efforts.
The journey of agile automation at scale is just beginning, but initial results are promising.
As companies venture into this new frontier of agile automation at scale, they need to be prepared to adapt, iterate, and learn from their experiences. The path may not be straightforward, but the potential benefits — greater efficiency, lower costs, and enhanced business operations — are worth the journey.
