In our age, where we need technical help with whatever work we do, we already seem to have indirectly embraced business process automation. From the personal assistant tools on smartphones to IBM’s Watson computer system, we have made use of these advanced machines to make our jobs and businesses easier and smarter. We are so aligned and associated with machines and we all love to interact with them just the way we do with fellow humans. There is practically no difference!
Now, let’s address the obvious question that comes to our mind – will excessive cognitive dependence and interaction with machines, eventually make us vulnerable to them, and turn out to be disadvantageous for businesses? Let’s find out.
Through proper management, we can make machines think the way we do, but only to the extent that they think what we want them to think.
Following are the risks and challenges involved in business process automation implementation that businesses may face:
Integration with Multiple Processes is Tedious Task
Sometimes, it gets extremely difficult to integrate the process automation with different processes and tools. This can pose a significant challenge for online businesses, more so for the small and medium ones. You also need to shed out a good amount of money to get a consultation from an IT consultancy in order to get guidance on choosing the right solutions.
Fear of Losing Out Human Jobs
The fear of job cuts lurks along with the emergence of business automation. There is a significant chance of losing jobs for employees who are engaged in manual, repetitive tasks. Instead of taking help from humans, businesses can bank on automation to generate sales, product improvement and so on. But the lack of thorough human judgment sometimes can increase risks for the company rather than gain.
Constant Monitoring
Last but not the least; business process automation needs thorough monitoring and that means a good amount of financial as well as resource investment. Moreover, glitches may need to be rectified on a regular basis, which may again lead to a good expenditure for the business.
Nevertheless, business process automation, if dealt with closely and according to the company’s goals can produce clear and tangible long-term gains.
