A recent KPMG survey on intelligent automation, highlighted in the Wall Street Journal’s CIO Journal blog, confirms a key challenge we see with our customers: The real barrier to scaling automation isn’t technology; it’s business limitations.
The survey, which polled 80 large enterprises, revealed high ambitions. While many are testing pilots (24%) or looking closely at intelligent automation solutions, nearly half (49%) plan to operate automation at scale within just three years.
However, the report highlights a major gap in readiness. KPMG found that nearly two-thirds of businesses cited a lack of IT expertise, and more than half have not yet formulated clear goals to measure the success of automation deployments.
From Successful Pilots to Enterprise-Scale Programs
This is why so many businesses struggle to move from successful RPA pilots to enterprise-scale programs. They see the tangible impact of initial bots and recognize the massive long-term potential, but they also realize that just buying more technology won’t break the barrier.
To successfully bridge the gap from pilot to production at scale, enterprises must build a new capability. This requires a holistic automation strategy that allows them to:
- Efficiently build a pipeline of prioritized automation opportunities.
- Manage the complex, cross-functional dependencies of large-scale automation.
- Focus limited resources on the highest-impact initiatives.
- Connect RPA technical design decisions directly to business impacts.
- Build reliable budgets that accurately account for both RPA investment and cost savings.
The Path Forward: A New Mindset
Scaling from 10 bots to 10,000 requires a fundamental mindset shift. The focus must evolve from validating technology to building a sustainable enterprise capability.
Successful enterprise automation programs start by unifying fragmented RPA efforts into an integrated program with clear, quantified business objectives. From there, leaders must establish a structured process to:
- Capture new opportunities.
- Build a prioritized pipeline.
- Manage delivery for maximum business impact.
- Credibly measure post-deployment ROI at scale.
Breaching the automation barrier requires more than just RPA bots; it requires a new layer of enabling technology for program management and benefits realization.
If you’d like to learn how Shibumi provides the platform for enterprise automation, we invite you to explore our solutions or contact us to schedule a discussion and demo.