As a journalist at iTnews:
“IT is the last bastion of manual labour in the enterprise,” declared BMC Software’s vice president of software consulting, Mary Nugent.
In Sydney for BMC’s Business Advisory Forum this week, Nugent explained how a rise in demand for standards and regulatory compliance has created a market for process automation technology.
The rapid growth of the IT industry during the previous decades has contributed to what Nugent described as a siloing of processes, infrastructure, and functions.
Process automation could allow organisations to visualise and improve their infrastructure, and free up staff for more stimulating, innovative job functions, she said.
“There is kind of a refresh going on in IT right now; customers have taken the idea of management as far as they can, and now you can really see the momentum increase [for automation],” she told iTnews.
“There’s a lot of things that we can do in IT that are low hanging fruit for automation,” she said, highlighting workflow engines as an example.
BMC typically consults with organisations in the banking, telecommunications, and retail industries to determine how work is being done, the overall needs of the business, and the perspective of the IT department.
Consultants are then able to suggest and deploy process automation technology.
For example, Nugent described BMC’s recently-acquired Run Book Automation Platform, which uses “predictive intelligence” to promote a more efficient use of labour and drive alignment to business objectives.
The platform detects IT issues and assesses them against a dynamic threshold before notifying staff. The tool also is able to remediate certain issues automatically.
Citing a need for IT professionals to become more aware of the overall needs of the business, Nugent warned of the costs associated with indiscriminately “throwing manpower at a problem”.
While she noted a cultural aversion to process automation from IT staff who fear being made redundant, Nugent said such barriers could be overcome with team building exercises and by motivating staff with more stimulating tasks.
“When you look at business and IT, there’s a bit of a disconnect,” she said. “It’s been a long time since IT has really documented how things get done.”
“Throwing labour at it [problems] will run out of steam,” she said, noting a skills shortage in the IT industry currently.
“It’s [process automation] not about putting people out of their jobs; it’s about freeing up manpower for innovation,” she said.
