Summary Bullets:
- Intelligent process automation (IPA) is the natural evolution of business process automation when coupled with AI, low-code and RPA solutions, and intelligent business process optimization.
- IPA is used by operations teams, business users, and developers to significantly reduce repetitive tasks associated with the deployment of modern apps in a multi-cloud environment.
A new breed of AI-infused automation technology, referred to as intelligent process automation (IPA), is the result of enterprise operations teams citing complexity and the lack of automation as key barriers to cloud-native app development and modern application deployments. GlobalData defines IPA as the natural evolution of business process automation when coupled with AI technologies (e.g., machine learning and natural language processing), low-code and RPA solutions, and intelligent business process optimization. It is used by operations teams, business users, and developers to significantly reduce repetitive tasks associated with the deployment of modern apps in a multi-cloud environment.
Operations’ ability to automate repetitive business processes is a key objective among enterprises in order not only to speed the time to service, but also to help reduce manual errors that plague DevOps initiatives and contribute to processes inefficiencies. The industry is evolving now beyond mere automation of manual processes and progressing this year into advanced technology which couples new automation solutions with machine intelligence based on analytics and business intent to provide visibility into the state and usage of application and infrastructure resources to help companies deliver greater customer experiences. These advancements aid in network/cloud and application architecture planning and investments. Software automation enhancements are taking place in various forms throughout the ecosystem of infrastructure, software, and cloud providers.
Most notably, the process automation market has matured through AI innovations following organizations’ move into the cloud era to ensure support of continuous integration and a robust delivery pipeline. Advancements in business automation which address modern app development/deployment activities are the result of redefined automation technology and a consolidation with low-code application platforms and robotic process automation (RPA). Traditional business process management (BPM) providers, such as Red Hat, are evolving solutions to include machine learning intrinsically as part of predictive decision models, allowing for auto-generated rules based on historic data (versus user-generated rules). Low-code platforms, now enhanced with AI, have allowed for a broader group of shareholders to participate in the automation process under a DevOps model and microservices-based application development.
GlobalData has just released Part I of an IPA state-of-the-market Advisory Report, detailing how vendors are attacking this market from different market segments including low-code, RPA, and BPM; providing a working definition of IPA; and highlighting key vendors participating in these evolving markets. For more, please see: “Intelligent Process Automation is Ground Zero for DevOps (Part I),” March 17, 2020. In Part II of this series, GlobalData will expand upon vendor strategies, summarizing specific solutions pertinent to this growing market segment.
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