Double down on automation: Forrester on scaling it end to end

Theresa (host, FlowForma)00:00

Hello everyone, and welcome to today's webinar hosted by FlowForma, an award-winning process automation tool. We're delighted to be joined by special guests from Forrester Research to discuss how organizations can double down on process automation to reap an overwhelming competitive advantage. First, Bernhard Schaffrik, Principal Analyst at Forrester, whose research supports CIOs and technology leaders with their broader transformation challenges. And Gerard Newman, CTO at FlowForma, who has over 20 years of experience designing and delivering process automation solutions and ideates new concepts for our product roadmap. Bernhard, over to you.

Bernhard Schaffrik01:37

As an analyst you get to hear a lot from customers who are succeeding with automation and those who are struggling. What we see is islands of automation. Companies of every size have embarked on automation, which is a good thing, but there are lots of automation silos across an organization: industrial automation on the plant floor, chatbots for the IT help desk and customers, digital process automation for long-running processes, and RPA all over the place.

Bernhard Schaffrik03:24

There are downsides. The pandemic led to RPA being overhyped, because everyone wanted to get back into business while working from home, so RPA was used to rapidly digitize broken processes. Now I see lots of overly complex bots that almost nobody can manage when they break, and that get rebuilt from scratch. Different automation challenges need different technologies, and people chose their own, often unaligned. The bottom line is that end-to-end processes are still hardly getting automated.

Bernhard Schaffrik04:54

Automation users also tell us the technologies are expensive and they have to upskill many people. They want to secure the investment, they've developed an appetite for more automation, and they've automated the low-hanging fruit. Now they want the next realm: more complex tasks and sequences of tasks, in other words processes. So the question is how to scale automation to end-to-end processes.

Bernhard Schaffrik05:51

Automation scaling comes in two forms. One is more of the same: you've built many bots and want twice as many for similar use cases, or a process comes in a new variation and you reuse your skills, licenses and center of excellence. That's economies of scale, and it's about efficiency. The other is higher-complexity use cases, usually end-to-end processes with many tasks and lots of variability, which need a different response.

Bernhard Schaffrik07:24

For high-complexity use cases, it's economies of scope. You need additional skills, citizen developers or business developers, and process subject matter experts who understand the end-to-end process. You may need additional tools, such as task mining, process mining, integration tools, connectors and access to data sources.

Bernhard Schaffrik08:14

Why? When you automate the easy things, the remainder just gets difficult. Longer sequences of varied tasks, more people and roles involved, more data sources and IT systems to connect, and a higher degree of collaboration among the people whose work you're automating. It all adds to the complexity pile.

Bernhard Schaffrik09:17

Every year, for at least ten years, we've surveyed hundreds of technology executives responsible for digital transformation and automation. Until around 2020 or 2021, end-to-end automation of company-specific processes, the ones that may represent your intellectual property, was always out of scope. Now the majority of responses confirm that they plan to drive end-to-end automation: to automate large numbers of currently manual processes, and to reinvent existing processes to better support their digital business strategies. They're not shying away from the complexity.

Bernhard Schaffrik11:51

One of their most urgent questions is how to govern such scaled setups. Up to a point, scaling uses your professional developers or outsourcing partners. Beyond a certain threshold, especially for end-to-end process automation, you need citizen development: people without a professional IT background enabled to build and run automations. We see many examples where that works, if done right, and done right means an appropriate governance model.

Bernhard Schaffrik13:02

We see three levels. Organizational governance covers the compliance, legislation and industry regulations that apply to you. IT governance derives from it, with departmental policies on information security and data protection. Citizen development governance derives from IT governance and focuses on the do's and don'ts of building and running automations in a federated, democratized organization.

Bernhard Schaffrik14:17

When it comes to enabling citizen developers for end-to-end process automation, it starts with simple things like project management: tracking timelines, who is responsible for what, budget approvals. Then project qualification: do I need approval for what I'm building, how do I document it, could it conflict with other efforts? Then problem solving and solution planning. When the technology is intuitive, people jump right in, and then realize they didn't fully understand the scope or the underlying process.

Bernhard Schaffrik16:36

Journey mapping also matters, so people think in customer and employee journeys when creating requirements. And what are you allowing people to design: just the front end, or data components and data access too? Training and enablement are essential, and the technical governance of your automation platform should be able to enforce some of these aspects.

Bernhard Schaffrik17:16

Who should build and run which automations? At Forrester we've come up with a three-zone model. Zone one is autonomous citizen development, where the complexity of requirements is lowest, and compliance, security and architectural requirements are low too. Many companies give citizen developers a lot of freedom here and it works well. With generative AI and copilots, zone one is getting bigger.

Bernhard Schaffrik18:31

Zone two is a joint zone, where citizen developers are supported and scrutinized by professional developers, because security and compliance requirements are higher, and the process may need to follow architectural constraints to be composable, reusable and performant. Zone three has the highest complexity, compliance and security requirements. There's a place for both, and a great place for both to collaborate. When people who live the processes day in, day out work with professional developers, it's always a great experience for both.

Bernhard Schaffrik19:50

How are scaled automation organizations set up? At the very beginning there's a private team model: an executive with an idea and a few volunteers. That doesn't scale. The center of excellence model is by far the most frequent: a CoE in IT or elsewhere, and anyone who has had the training and certification can build and run automations.

Bernhard Schaffrik21:08

The holy grail, which we see rarely but many companies aspire to, is the federated or democratized model. There's still an IT CoE, but it's more about empowering and enabling than governing, and it builds almost nothing itself, because departmental champions and anyone they enable do the building. The organizations we see succeed with it didn't skip a step: they learned from a center of excellence, found the bottlenecks and frustrations, and moved to a federated model that needs less governance and more training and enablement.

Bernhard Schaffrik22:57

We've seen so many automation disasters because people rush at a technology and try to build fast. Some work, but some become customer-facing or employee-facing disasters that put your reputation at risk. So follow a four- or five-step path. First, discovery and analysis: understand the problem. I'm a fan of process mining and task mining, which give a fast, objective view of how the process operates, but they aren't mandatory.

Bernhard Schaffrik24:11

Then document: identify and write down the areas you intend to automate and the weaknesses of the process. Many weaknesses don't require any automation technology; you can just remove steps that are no longer needed. It doesn't have to take months. Then re-engineer: decide how you'll realize the improvements, whether RPA, a DPA solution orchestrating bots, document processing, generative AI, a chatbot or an API. Then automate: build and run it. And it's not a one-way street. It's continuous, because there's always a way to improve your company's central processes.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)26:06

Thank you, Bernhard. Let's move to an interview on three topics, starting with process innovation. Forrester research shows that companies driving a sustainable approach to innovation grow 2.5 times more per year than their industry average. Gerard, how can organizations kickstart their process innovation?

Gerard Newman27:15

The greatest source of process innovation is normally the people working in the processes. They know what needs fixing, streamlining and improving, so harness that. Sometimes it's hard for people to imagine what their future could look like, and sharing case studies from similar organizations inspires them. And build momentum: we see a light bulb moment with our customers when their first automated process goes live. That first process becomes an internal reference point that's much more relatable than anything from outside the business.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)29:05

Bernhard, what are your tips for creating and nurturing a culture that drives a continuous focus on process innovation?

Bernhard Schaffrik29:22

It's about nurturing a process mindset across the organization, and that has to start from the top. If top management keeps reinforcing functional silos, with efficiency targets and hierarchies tailored to functions, how can a process mindset grow? There are grassroots movements, through collaboration or journey mapping, but they won't get beyond a certain point. The organizations that manage it have built a process-oriented organization model alongside, or instead of, the functional one. And it takes upskilling, because thinking in end-to-end processes and spotting process weaknesses isn't taught in college or university.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)31:13

Gerard, how do you think organizations can define and measure innovation outcomes?

Gerard Newman31:25

It depends on each business's KPIs: money saved, time saved, better customer service or business growth. One customer stands out, a global leader in the commercial drinks industry, where innovation is core to the business. They put about 300 products a year through a well-defined innovation process, each taking up to six months. They automated that process with FlowForma and brought the end-to-end lead time down to about eight weeks. They applied innovation to their innovation process.

Gerard Newman32:56

So first, establish the measure that makes sense for your business. Remember to establish a baseline of the before situation, so you know what you've gained. And if your innovation process works well, it can make sense to put a structured process in place, with stage gates, and automate it to accelerate the innovation you bring into the business.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)33:34

Next, skill shortages. We're living in a world where many employees feel burdened by repetitive tasks, and process automation can quickly lift productivity. Bernhard, what digitalization strategy would you recommend to help with skill shortages?

Bernhard Schaffrik34:12

I'd love to see more digitalization strategies that don't focus only on the platforms and tools and assume everyone will adopt them. Focus on where the struggle begins: the people. You usually face three groups. The passionate volunteers. Those who are afraid or hesitant, perhaps about losing their jobs or adapting to a new way of working. And those who simply don't want to change. Each group deserves different messaging, enablement, training and support.

Bernhard Schaffrik36:03

Give the volunteers access to the technology as soon as possible and turn them into ambassadors and multipliers. They're more powerful than any strategy. Then focus on understanding the concerns and fears of the second group. It's time consuming, so many program teams skip it to keep to the timeline, but it's worth the effort. The unwilling group usually needs a different approach, and it's typically small, something between one and five percent of the workforce.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)37:46

Gerard, how can no code support this approach?

Gerard Newman37:54

Organizations know they need to automate mundane, repetitive tasks, but they're blocked because they don't have the right skills, usually IT skills, and IT departments are already backed up. No code lets the business take ownership, and business people are the best people to automate their processes. It's a cycle: the more you automate, sending emails, generating documents, handing off work, making decisions, the more time you give back, and the more skills become available in the business.

Gerard Newman39:11

One impressive example is Abingdon & Witney College. They automated administration processes they knew were heavy, measured the results of the first one, and then automated multiple processes quickly after that. The net result was 6,000 hours a year saved across their staff. That's equivalent to a few extra people available in the business to do higher-value work.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)40:11

Organizations that excel in automation outperform those that don't. Gerard, staff want self-service tools to work smarter and faster, so how do you recommend organizations govern this?

Gerard Newman40:51

It's one of the big challenges as organizations bring citizen developers into the equation. We live in a world of heightened security and compliance requirements, and not all organizations are willing to simply enable citizen developers without some sort of guardrails. The first step is agreeing a standard set of applications the business can use, so people aren't picking up tools at random. That's your first form of governance.

Gerard Newman41:48

After that, take the best practices of the software development life cycle and apply them to citizen developer initiatives. Give people a development environment where they can't interfere with production. Have someone else review and approve their work for security and corporate standards. Promote it to a test area for a wider audience, then to production. Those simple gates reassure stakeholders, but get the balance right, so governance doesn't block the people you're enabling.

Bernhard Schaffrik43:13

I fully agree. When people first ask for self-service tools, the natural reaction is to give them less to contain potential damage. I wouldn't recommend that. Start where the potential damage is limited anyway. We see companies pilot self-service citizen development with less governance in one department or team, telling people they have a high degree of responsibility and should ask before they hit the live button. It works very well. It's about mutual trust and the willingness to collaborate on both sides.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)44:58

Bernhard, what does the future of DPA look like, and what will the role of the citizen developer be in the next two to five years?

Bernhard Schaffrik45:10

I'm convinced of a very bright future for both. In the next two to three years, process automation will be spread across a federated spectrum of roles using common automation platforms, so almost everyone will be involved, empowered to contribute, or benefiting. A couple of years further out, business roles in sales, marketing, procurement and the lines of business will require low-code and no-code tools and skills. Then there's a pivotal point where it won't be called process automation any more. It will just be part of work.

Gerard Newman46:50

I'd absolutely agree. Citizen development will become standard in a business. It's a continuation of end-user development, like people building complex spreadsheets, but a step up, as staff become more digitally aware and want the challenge of solving their own problems.

Bernhard Schaffrik47:29

And so many companies run on Excel, because it's all people have to hand, and that's a risk. It's much better to give them the right tools, which provide governance and enforce access to the right data sources with the right privileges. Excel doesn't do that.

Gerard Newman48:50

FlowForma is one of the original pioneers of no-code process automation. The product is closely aligned with Microsoft 365, which makes it very accessible to the many businesses already using it. To automate a process successfully you need several elements together: capturing data through forms, automating decisions and routing work through workflow, and generating documents and emails. In FlowForma they're all in one place, in a no-code way, with a wide range of integration methods to tie into your other applications.

Gerard Newman50:07

We have a large customer base with hundreds of thousands of users across the globe, in healthcare, construction, oil and gas, transport, manufacturing and more, which is a positive endorsement that the application works across lots of different processes. And we love working closely with our customers, which is reflected in our G2 reviews.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)51:19

Over to the Q&A. Joshua asks: how can organizations prepare if there's pushback from individuals who want to keep their traditional ways and are worried about how technology might affect their roles?

Bernhard Schaffrik51:50

You can't prepare for everything, but you can dedicate time to the anticipated resistance and talk with people about the motivations behind it. In most cases you can provide good arguments why a concern won't materialize. Job losses, for example: reinforce in all your messaging that automation won't kill your job, it will make it easier and less repetitive. Then go right into the resistance you perceive and have conversations with people.

Gerard Newman53:21

I'd agree. Involve people from the start, communicate all the time so they understand the objectives and the expected outcome, and share examples that help set aside some of the fears.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)53:49

Theresa asks whether engineering companies find it easier to bring citizen development into their organizations. Gerard, we've seen organizations across many industries use no-code process automation.

Gerard Newman54:22

The beauty of no code is that it's accessible to people without in-depth technical skills, and digital capability in the workforce is constantly improving. People aren't fazed by the tools; they dive straight in and start solving problems. It's not just engineering companies. We've had lots of success with people focused on the business side, and the champion who takes it and promotes it across the organization is rarely a software engineer or an IT person.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)55:21

Are there any common pitfalls you'd recommend organizations steer clear of?

Bernhard Schaffrik55:33

It comes back to credibility and trust, which you can't overemphasize. Instead of trying to boil the ocean with long, overwhelming transformation programs, start with one to three small, incremental changes that demonstrate the value of automation. Let word of mouth spread, then build on it with more disruptive but still small implementations. That creates the trust and credibility you need for end-to-end automation across the organization.

Gerard Newman56:36

To me it's about momentum. Like a sports team building toward the final by winning games, you need wins under your belt to build enthusiasm so your automation journey doesn't stall. People sometimes start with their most complex process because it gives the biggest return. If they aren't mature in their process thinking, I'd advise starting with smaller processes you can get a quick win with.

Theresa (host, FlowForma)57:30

We're just on time. Bernhard and Gerard, thank you so much for joining us, and thank you to our audience. If you'd like a next step, visit flowforma.com/demo, where a process expert can show you the tool and advise on how we can support your business.