Automation & Transformation – Are they same?

Automation and transformation have become one of IT’s dynamic pair: Where you see or hear one, the other seems sure to follow. They both are often discussed in the same breath, but do they always go together? They’re certainly linked by their priority and popularity in IT and business circles. Both have been atop the strategic roadmaps of leaders for years now.

Let’s first try to check the relationship in clear definitions. Digital transformation is nothing but is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, primarily changing how you manage and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to constantly challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure. Whereas IT automation or automation or BOT’s, sometimes referred to as infrastructure or process automation, is the use of software to create repeatable instructions and processes to replace or reduce human interaction with IT systems.

You can have automation without digital transformation, but not the other way around. All kinds of automation get developed and executed for specific objectives or tasks, sometimes for interestingly simple reasons, like “Automating this makes our system more resilient, and automating this makes my job better.” But there’s no such thing as digital transformation without automation, however. This claim may involve some slight overstatement, and sufficient people can disagree. But digital transformation of the ambitious sort that most Fortune 500 boardrooms are now deeply invested in requires a massive technology lever to achieve, and that lever is automation.

Automation is the connective tissue of the digital business.  IT professionals are familiar with the concept of Day 2 operations, which basically asks of any major launch or change: What happens once we’re live?  Given that digital transformation is so often referred to as a “journey,” organizations and leaders should ask a similar question: What happens if we arrive? Or, what happens when we’re successful? Automation is a big part of the answer: If you’re hitting transformation goals, you’re likely rolling up new applications and services, new products, new data streams, and so forth. That’s a whole lot of “Day 2s” to cope with and disregarding that will likely erode any of the early gains. Automation is the adhesive that binds things together as digital transformation initiatives hit their stride.

“If digital transformations are the bricks that build new business opportunities, then automation would most certainly be the mortar that connects and binds it all together,” You might say all three of those terms – better, faster, cheaper – could apply to digital transformation or automation on their own. But as a duo, digital transformation is really about the “better,” while automation focuses on the “faster and cheaper.”

Let’s recall a key piece of our definition of digital transformation that sometimes gets vanquished by the industry hype: “It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.” We’re essentially at a point where the value and necessity of digital transformation don’t need a lot of explanation – everyone has seen the proverbial light. Along with artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics, and the cloud, automation is a core component of digital transformation. “Enterprise leaders understand that their organizations cannot remain competitive in the digital age without these technologies.” Indeed, they do. Some organizations are still figuring out the people and culture part, however, embracing these solutions is only half the battle.

As words, automation, and digital transformation sound indifferent to people. But the true – and nearly limitless – value of automation and digital transformation should very much be in human hands, with technology-borne tailwinds at their backs. While automating processes can be beneficial, the real value is how technology empowers people to innovate, build better products and services, and ultimately drive long-term value for all.

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Comments

  1. techGuyOctober 23, 2022 at 3:49 PM

    Well said, Digital transformation is about “better,” while automation focuses on the “faster and cheaper.”

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rajendra NandaOctober 23, 2022 at 9:57 PM

    A good researched article. Automation with AIML is the new Era of digital transformation.

    This is the key factor for organization future journey, indeed growth...

    Pleased to read this article

    ReplyDelete

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