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Vignesh Subramanian
Vice President of Product Development,
Infor
With RPA, Infor Completes the
‘Last Mile of Automation’
By Mitchell Beer
May 22, 2024 12:15 am EDT
The first thing you have to do to understand robotic process automation (RPA) is set aside everything you already know about robotics.
It’s an important insight that Vignesh Subramanian, Infor’s Vice President of Product Development, is hoping participants will absorb before attending sessions that touch on RPA during TUG Connects 2024.
“There’s a general confusion when people hear about RPA,” Subramanian explains. “They associate it with robotic arms, or with physical automation on the shop floor, or in a warehouse or manufacturing facility.”
But RPA is something different: it’s about using software bots, not physical ones, to automate repeat, routine business processes that underlie the actions that humans perform om a computer.
“The software can visit a website, pull in the information, make some API calls, open up applications. It’s everything to do with the front-end automation where a bot is performing actions and substituting for yourself.”
Subramanian divides the rapidly-expanding field of automation into three categories: integration platform as a service (iPaaS), decision automation through artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and RPA. Infor had a “very strong set of solutions” in the first two areas for some time, before launching its own RPA solution in October 2023.
With that announcement, he says, Infor has “completed the last mile of automation” as “’one of only a very few independent software vendors that offer all three types of automation.”
It’s a milestone that translates into a powerful advantage for the Infor user community.
Until now, companies would build their automation solutions piece by piece. “Now, because we provide all three, they can mix and match from our own suite to solve their complete business challenge,” Subramanian says, citing use cases like automated invoice processing or compliance requirements .
“It can all be done within our own stack, and that’s what we call Enterprise Automation, with sole focus on solving customer’s problem regardless of the technology used.”
Beyond the technology, Infor also now provides content and templates to address specific, recurring business problems. Subramanian says they have executed many pilot projects showcasing the effectiveness and these customers have seen immediate benefits, with the following metrics to prove the point:
- 12,000 hours saved per year and 96% faster customer resolution with proof of delivery automation;
- Increases of 10% in revenue and 5% in gross margin through customer profitability insights;
- 86% faster activation through customer creation master data automation;
- 90% faster vendor selection and 30-day value realization with vendor insights.
Process automation works best when companies choose the right processes to automate, Subramanian says. “You don’t want to be boiling the ocean, chasing a heavy-handed technology to solve a small problem.” Infor has developed a four-point rule to guide the decision on when to automate:
- The business process has a well-defined trigger, like an incoming invoice or email;
- The input and output for the automation are clearly defined;
- The process itself is guided by a clear set of rules, “because machines can’t handle exceptions unless you tell them how to”;
- The routine recurs frequently enough to be worth the effort to automate.
Infor is certain that the package of best practices, tools, content and implementation help for automation, frees up precious time of their customer’s workforce resulting in improved employee satisfaction and return on investments.
