Author: Apratim Ghosh

An Entrepreneur, leader and technologist with over 18 years of experience. He is very focused on providing Technology and Advisory services to companies and has helped startups from different verticals to create technology platforms.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has transformed how businesses automate repetitive manual tasks, enhance productivity, and optimize various operations. These compelling factors have driven many company leaders to hire more RPA developers in recent years.

A study by Precedence Research predicts Robotics Process Automation Investments are expected to reach USD 23.9 billion by 2030. (1)

With a plethora of RPA tools available in the market, the onus of choosing the right tool lies with organizations. So, how do you choose the right one to streamline your process automation services? Let us take a look at Gartner’s Magic Quadrant landscape for Robotic Process Automation to help you make more informed decisions around RPA vendors.

Gartner magic quadrant

Leaders

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant provides a qualitative analysis of RPA vendors based on their ability to execute and completeness of vision. The four quadrants of this landscape are-

Challengers

Visionaries

Niche Players

Despite these factors, we would advise you to consider the unique needs and requirements of your organization when using the Magic Quadrant to choose RPA vendors. To help you in this quest, we will take you through a list of pros and cons of these RPA tools to make your selection process simple.

Let us delve into UiPath first:

PROS:

1. User-Friendly Interface– UiPath provides an intuitive user interface, making it accessible to technical and non-technical users. Its user-friendly interface speeds up the automation implementation process in cloud and on-premises architecture. 

2. Product Strategy– UiPath is renowned among RPA clients. It gives way to an integrated low-code platform with enhanced capabilities like IDO, process mining, cloud delivery and PaaS. It caters to a broad range of roles within the process automation lifecycle including IT staff, business techs and integrated teams.

4. Process Mining– UiPath is a powerful tool worth its price. It independently operates to identify the best automation candidates and provides extensive discovery results. 

CONS:

1. Price Point– Its powerful capabilities come with a higher price tag, making it less accessible for smaller businesses with limited budgets. However, UiPath provides a simplified starter package for new customers, which may reduce the cost of entry for customers.

2. Automation Capabilities– Although UiPath has numerous capabilities, many competitors are entering the current market that exceeds or matches these features, especially in complex orchestration, decision automation and case management.

Now let us take a look at Power Automate- 

PROS:

1. Native Integration: If your organization relies heavily on Microsoft tools and applications, Power Automate can be an ideal choice due to its seamless integration with the Microsoft ecosystem.

2. Pricing Flexibility: Power Automate offers various pricing plans, including a free tier , which makes it more attractive for smaller businesses and those looking to start their automation journey without a significant financial commitment.

3. AI Capabilities: Power Automate leverages Microsoft’s AI capabilities, such as AI Builder, to enable more advanced automation scenarios with natural language processing, image recognition, and more.

Microsoft Power Automate Process Mining with integrated generative AI aims to boost productivity with greater process insights, minimized complexity of processes and consistent process improvement with automation and low code applications.

CONS :

1. UX Factor– Businesses and IT users may find it tedious and perplexing to constantly navigate between Teams, PAD and Power Automate. 

2. Learning Curve for Non-Microsoft Users: Users unfamiliar with the Microsoft ecosystem might have difficulty adapting to its interface and functionalities.

What To Choose?

Lastly, UiPath and Power Automate are powerful RPA tools with a unique set of strengths. It is essential to assess the organizational needs, conduct a thorough evaluation, and even consider running a proof-of-concept to determine which one of these tools aligns best with the business automation goals. 

For more insights on Power Platform functionality, please refer to our detailed white paper on Power Platform Automation.

More companies are realizing how much potential and opportunities software can have. It is an understatement, but software solutions have been integral in the success of a lot of businesses in different industries in today’s digital world. Don’t get left behind, let our InovarTech team guide you throughout the software industry.  

Established in 2017, our company has been one the leading specialized companies that offer in 2017. We specialize in Cloud Transformation, building Cloud-Native applications, M365 solutions, Analytics, and Business Process Automation. And today, we are reaping the fruits of our hard work and commitment to the industry by introducing to all of you our latest The Manifest award. 

We’ve been named as one of the most-reviewed software developers in Hyderabad by The Manifest and we are proud to share this with you. This recognition is a testament to our team’s dedication to delivering the best software solutions and services to our clients. We are honored to be one of the recipients of this illustrious award and we can’t wait to celebrate with you. 

For those who don’t know, The Manifest is a B2B marketplace and business blog website that aims to gather and verify the hard data, expert insights, and actionable advice that you need to build your brand and grow your business – to provide the practical business wisdom that manifests in your success. 

Our team would like to extend our gratitude to our clients for supporting our business and for helping us win this award. There wouldn’t be a Crowns InovarTech without all of you. 

 
Let’s talk about your idea and how we can make it into reality! 

The term “Internet of Things” has become a buzzphrase over the last ten years or so, and it looks like we’ll be hearing even more about it in the coming years. But there are also a few people who are not quite sure about this, many people scratch their heads and ask, “What is this, and why should I care?” That’s why we’re here. 

Let’s begin with the basics.  

What are IoT based applications? 

The IoT is a network of Internet-linked devices or applications that gather information and send it along to some central data server, where the information is processed, collated, distilled, and used to make a host of tasks easier to perform.  

Benefits of IoT applications 

1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency 

Using artificial intelligence IoT can continuously crunch streams of data and discover patterns that are undetectable by traditional gauges. AI has the capability to forecast operation circumstances and identify parameters that need to be changed to get optimal results. 

2. Improving Precision Cost 

Human minds are restricted in their ability to perform multitask at the same time and more prone to make mistakes.  

But IoT can break down enormous amounts of data that are sent and received via tools. As the entire system is machine and software-driven, tasks can be completed without any human intervention, which eliminates errors and improves accuracy rates. 

3. Maintenance and Predictive Evaluation 

Intelligent IoT applications are the foundation of predictive maintenance. Anticipating analytics is a type of analysis that examines existing data and, depending on the findings, predicts potential future events. Businesses are currently using IoT applications to notify any accidents or concerns, such as equipment failure, in a computerized manner without human intervention. 

As a result, the likelihood of losses is decreased as circumstances are recognized even before they fail to result in significant cost savings for huge corporations.  

4. Improved Client Services and Satisfaction 

Large volumes of customer data can be used to provide them with a far more personalized experience based on their preferences and to answer their questions correctly. 

5. Increased Scalability 

Mobile phones and high-end computers are the most prevalent IoT ecosystem, on the other hand, involve low-cost sensors that generate massive amounts of data. Before sending data from one device to another, the AI-powered IoT ecosystem analyses and summaries it. The compressed and manageable data now can be accessed through a considerable number of IoT-connected devices.  

Future vision 

A Gartner report predicts that connected devices across all manner of technologies will hit 20.6 billion. Many of the innovations mentioned are already in place to one extent or another. One thing’s for sure: there’s no going back. The IoT offers an unprecedented degree of control and efficiency that no industry can ignore. 

So, there will be much to see and implement and if you are also looking for the same customized solution then, let’s get into a call with our experts. We would love to hear from you!  

With every progressive step of technological advancements, the priorities of CIOs are also changing. Process transformation and automation have gained much of leaders’ attention in recent times. Automation, the use of machines to perform work, most commonly refers to using the use of computer technologies to perform the tasks humans would otherwise do as part of their jobs. The use of computer-based process automation is widespread, with organizations deploying a broad range of software automation tools to help them reach the automation goals they set as part of their larger digital transformation objectives.

According to the December 2020 Global Intelligent Automation (intelligence AI) Study from Deloitte, *73% of organizations worldwide use automation technologies. That’s a significant increase from the *58% of organizations using such technologies in 2019. Gartner reported that organizations’ interest in a process of transformation is accelerating, demand for robotic process automation (RPA) software witnessing the growth of **19.5% from 2020.

But, RPA is not the only process automation technology that companies are leveraging to drive goals, efficiency, and digital transformation. The diversified business sector embraces certain other automation options such as business process automation (BPA) and digital process automation (DPA). Each of the three technologies offers benefits, and each has distinctions that separate it from the others.
What is robotic process automation (RPA)?
RPA technology mimics the way humans interact with software via a UI to perform high-volume, repetitive tasks. The technology creates software programs, or bots, that can log in to applications, enter data, calculate, and complete tasks, and copy data between applications or workflows as required. But RPA doesn’t inherently have intelligence or decision-making capabilities. Hence, the work best suited to RPA is rules-based. These are discrete tasks done the same way over and over, with no deviations that require human decision-making. According to Gartner, RPA represents a major portion of the automation market. Experts believe that the primary benefits of RPA are increased efficiency, lower costs, and reduced errors. RPA bots can perform tasks faster and with consistent accuracy and reliability. They can work round-the-clock without taking breaks.

Another reason for RPA’s growing popularity in the enterprise is its relative ease of use. RPA works with an organization’s existing infrastructure and applications. Also, because many vendors offer low-code/no-code RPA platforms that require little to no programming experience, business users can harness RPA, creating their own bots with minimal help from their IT departments. As such, business users are driving much of the RPA adoption.

What is digital process automation (DPA)?

DPA is a software technology used to automate a process and optimize the workflow within an automated process. A big focus of DPA is to improve employee and customer experiences by taking friction out of the workflow. The software is used to create efficiencies and enhance UX experience in various areas of the enterprise, from IT service requests to onboarding new employees and client intake.

Organizations use DPA to automate a process from its beginning to its end. Typically, DPA is used for the longer and more complex processes than the tasks that can be effectively handled by RPA. These processes can contain multitudes of decisions that, if using RPA, would create bots that are too long and too difficult to maintain.

As per a ***Forrester schema, DPA is divided into two types: DPA-deep, and DPA-wide, which is closely related to RPA:

What is business process automation (BPA)?

BPA automates workflows within an organization; as one step in the business process is completed, the BPA software then automatically triggers the next step. BPA software is used to automate complex, multistep business processes that are usually unique to an organization and are part of the organization’s core business functions.

Size of the business process automation system (BPA) market worldwide from 2016 to 2021

BPA’s holistic approach stems from the technology’s capability to work across the multiple enterprise applications and systems required to complete a typical business process. Organizations often first analyze and improve a business process with a BPA approach before automating it, which is different from the mimic-as-is tactic typically used in RPA.

Reworked, optimized processes using BPA remove human hands from the workflow; with human workers no longer involved in the automated process, they’re not introducing individual workarounds or unauthorized changes to the workflow. Consequently, enterprises use BPA in their digital transformation efforts for the accuracy, efficiency, and reliability it brings to each automated process.

Experts Opinion on – RPA Vs BPA Vs DPA

Some experts use BPA as an umbrella term for a wide range of process automation technologies but there are varied opinions on that concern as well.

According to Gina Schaefer, intelligent automation lead at Deloitte Consulting LLP said- “DPA, BPA, and RPA — are practically interchangeable.”

She further added – “Digital, business process and robotic process automation are essentially the same. When applied appropriately, these refer to comprehensive end-to-end process automation. Specifically, these terms refer to the use of scripted automation software to mimic human actions in the execution of rules-based ‘swivel chair’ type tasks, typically where an individual accesses and processes data from multiple applications.”

difference between RPA, BPA and DPA

InovarTech is ready to improve your automation experience. With our smart forms and streamlined workflows, you will be ready to tackle process technologies and know-how to adapt them to your institution. Reach out to us today to get started. You can take comfort in the fact that we know process automation and how to implement them effectively. Let us deliver high-volume processes to your doorstep.

Resources:

*– https://searchcio.techtarget.com/tip/Process-automation-technologies-evolve-RPA-vs-BPA-vs-DPA#:~:text=Another%20difference%3A%20While%20RPA%20and,as%20they%20do%20their%20work.

**– https://www.information-age.com/rpa-revenue-reach-nearly-2-billion-2021-gartner-123491711/

***https://www.forrester.com/report/RPA+DPA+BPM+And+DCM+Platforms+The+Differences+You+Need+To+Know/-/E-RES145378

Business process automation now becomes the new norm at the workplace to cope with a fast-paced economy and growing challenges for modern business. While a few organizations may very well consider automating their IT tasks, RPA likewise means to help them rehashing the way they work together, uplifting their consumer loyalty and fortifying employee work values. The necessity of bringing automation has given a boost to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions. But AI (Artificial Intelligence) comes into the center stage as entrepreneurs craving more assistance from robotic process automation. Near future, it would be hard to imagine the RPA solution without AI integration.  

According to Forester’s 2019 predictions, the combination of RPA and AI is becoming the new strategic

investment in the corporate world. AI and RPA are emerging automation technologies with enormous potential. The combination helps businesses in achieving tremendous growth in such a competitive market. 

You may curious why a business should combine these two technologies? 

The reason is simple- RPA has no capability of cognitive awareness, and AI brings it in the customized solution. This combination of AI and RPA adds up to intelligent process automation (IPA). In interest to machine learning algorithms and RPA, IPA also incorporates process management software, natural language processing, creation, and cognitive agents, or “bots.” According to McKinsey, IPA can – 

Make an improvement in ROI in triple-digit percentage. TMR (Transparency Market Research) has predicted RPA will be prevalent in the corporate world that its market to reach up to $16 billion by 2024. On the other hand, AI focused on imparting intelligence in the machines and connected devices through speech recognition, decision making, and predictive analysis. 

As AI is gaining ground swiftly across the world, it can be integrated with other emerging technologies like IoT and Blockchain to realize the futuristic concepts of smart cities and secure transactions sequentially. McKinsey foresees AI to deliver around $3.5 to $5.8 trillion in value to the world per annum.  

How AI enhances RPA services 

AI and RPA combination enables modern enterprises to leverage the benefits of both these technologies in accomplishing incomparable tasks with higher efficiency. It is like something beyond the range of a customized RPA solution because it develops to perform the same and repetitive type of work.  

At the point of a substantial change is anything but a reasonable alternative for companies, RPA can go about as a facilitator to enable organizations to grow and include value. It also permits them to appear with strategic frameworks around investment they’ve efficiently made into their custom frameworks. The assimilation into AI is the following stage of this granular, more responsive type of change, with more business exercises either completely or partially automated by progressively refined means. It is known as cognitive RPA or CRPA.  

RPA alone imitates human action through different AI capabilities, machine vision, speech recognition, and pattern identification capacities and can deal with organized, semi-organized, and unstructured data. However, infused with machine learning gives robots a chance to figure out how to process and enhance tasks that ensure probabilistic conduct.  

AI integrated Robotic Process Automation solutions bring the capability of gathering and sharing valuable information with different systems for better decisions. Customized RPA solution can utilize data fetched by AI and performs the complex task with ease. Adding up, AI, commonly with cognitive technologies and ML (Machine Learning), enables robotic process automation by preceding a human response in the workflow. 

The humble bot 

Organizations aren’t looking for just a bot. They have been looking for a platform with orchestration and integration where, they could readily adopt modern technologies and combine them with intelligence. Now, most organizations are strategizing to automate most of the steps of a business process and then applying a different level of intelligence. Hence, when picking vendors for their bots, the enterprises keep their eye towards that future.  

Just like, Germany’s ZF Group, an automotive supplier has started applying intelligence to its business processes just over a year ago and created a bot to answer the most repetitive questions. According to the company’s IT manager around their corporate communication, they have a lot of repetitive work. Furthermore, they receive a lot of emails with repetitive questions coming into their inboxes. Automated integrations and orchestration were their first goal, and they also wanted a platform with built-in checks and balances. Finally, they choose a bot platform that offers a management, governance, and language support layer underneath the bots, called stateful network for AI process (SNAP), which will stop a bot if it demonstrates anomalous behavior.  

Real-time Decision support system  

Decision points are another way to add intelligent decision points into a traditionally automated business process. Nevertheless, cognitive technologies and machine learning direct out to be even more severe. In general, when AI technologies are integrated with RPA stages will automate the emotional and judgment-based process. 

Just like American Fidelity Assurance, an insurance policy provider turned to UiPath, an enterprise RPA vendor, and AI platform Data Robot, to add intelligence to its processes. A system that can manage and execute real-time decisions through AI is the best option for automating complex decision processes. Applying high-level analytics and machine learning those systems to become intelligent and continually adjust and discover from new, contextual data. They set up a real-time decision-making system in form of RPA that helps to transfer highly complex problems in real-time applying AI-based analytical decision-making. 

For investment firms, real-time decision-making can analyze thousands of business inputs, constraints, and options and arbitrate between multiple internal targets and trading decisions. It can apply an analytical constraint-based optimization approach to models across thousands of possible actions – whether it be specific content, an offer, a price, a sort order, or a recommendation – and determine the best outcomes for the organization. sometimes it qualifies those choices upon certain criteria from profitability, risk, or revenue perspective.

Sometimes, the traditional approaches to RPA may hit a decision point that is too complex for simple automation. Considering the facts, organizations are also looking at using AI for process mining to automate process discovery rather than have business analysts figure out what happens in the company.  

Process mining  

RPA-Robotic Process Automation is transforming the system many organizations function. Process Mining enables companies to holistically experience their methods and recognize process advancement possibilities to boost efficiency and overcome costs. Its 360° view of processes enables hyper-automation—standardizing and accelerating enterprise automation using technologies, such as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).  

The conventional way to business process management involves business analysts talking to managers and employees, carrying audits, then creating charts that illustrate the organization’s various business processes. 

Sumeet Vij, director of the strategic innovation group at Booz Allen Hamilton, has mentioned how clients are presenting process workflow automation and how things happen, bottlenecks are different. When it comes to process mining, machine learning helps people experience a picture of how things are actually happening. New tools will update the processes and spot anomalous behavior in real-time with the evolvement of business.  

 Sometimes, a business process may be viewed as charts, such as Visio diagrams, and managers can drill down into the process, down to the level of individual transactions.  

Business process analytics  

Some organizations have sufficient business process data that they can instantly view the overall picture of what’s happening and make analyses and forecasts. Organizations are taking the exhaust from the RPA process and trying to capture that, learn from it, and make those processes smarter.  

Seann Gardiner, senior VP of business development at Data-Robot (an AI platform provider), mentions if a company has a strong focus on process-level automation and can manage that data, then it might be ready. But strong leadership is also mandatory to make the process successful. Business leaders who believe in automation and an AI-first mentality can make the organizational changes needed.  

The use-cases of intelligent automation will likewise keep developing as new AI procedures and solutions enter the marketplace, drastically changing the future working environment. It can perform even complex and unique business actions like humans as an advanced solution. However, there is no point in believing that this combination will replace humans as they remain the controller of the RPA +AI combination by building the rules and manage the operation. The combination of RPA and AI had aimed to bring a digital transformation in the companies and adding more value over the period.  

For organizations to use this innovation completely, they initially need to see how these solutions can change their procedures and apply strict governance to settle on beyond any doubt their decision-making is paramount. If organizations attempt to actualize these connected yet granular solutions over their companies, it will enable them to drive a double speed change and pursue new heights in Business and IT maturity level.

Gartner VP analyst Stefan Van Der Zijden has mentioned “For many organizations, legacy systems are seen as holding back the business initiatives and business processes that rely on them,”  

When we say legacy application, the first thought that comes to our mind any outdated technology that needs to be replaced or updated. One recent study reveals that more than one-third of all businesses continue using legacy apps that have not changed for over 15 years.  

Legacy systems are not so reliable in keeping up with modern workflow and workloads. Sometimes, those applications also can’t handle the sheer volume and power required for new work processes, which makes them more likely to crash periodically. Companies have to spend enormous amounts of time and resources on keeping legacy apps functional or updating them to meet present needs. At some point, it is incredibly expensive to maintain and continue using these legacy apps.  

Business facing problems from Legacy applications  

The best approach to modernize legacy applications depends on the problems you are trying to solve. The added grunt of the Covid-19 pandemic has made it a necessary process to switch into a newer, more advanced environment to aid operations, IT, and their business in general. Modernization also paves the way for improving efficiency, optimized functions, and reducing costs. The sprawling digital adoption has made the situation more imperative for IT leaders to find effective ways to revive legacy systems. Knowing the risk-to-reward ratio before acting is now one of the main challenges for them.  

Before delving into the ways of solution, let’s have a look at the four main factors that drive the need for modernization. If you check all the boxes below, then it is time for you to modernize your legacy applications—  

  1. Are the market trends moving towards modernization?  
  2. Is the demand for demographics shifting towards newer technologies? 
  3. Do you have growing pressure on legacy systems to keep up with the changing needs of any project?  
  4. Are you facing the inconvenience of use in work from home settings? 

How to make the best approach for application modernization? — This is the thought that comes to your mind when you have already decided to renew your application. Here is the three-step evaluation provides direction in determining the best approach of application modernization depends on the problem that needs to be solved.  

Phase 1: Six drivers for evaluating legacy system  

Application modernization starts with the six main drivers. The legacy application is responsible for creating Complexities, concerns, or impediments results of its technology, architecture, or functionality.  

Business prospection is one of the vital success factors for every business. Business prospection divides into three different categories called — business fit, business value, and agility. If, a legacy software/application can’t meet the new requirements imposed by digital business, then application modernized is the foremost option to fit properly and needs to be upgraded to provide greater business value. Business agility is one of the organizational methods, helps businesses adapt quickly to the first market changes. Sometimes, lack of application agility in keeping pace with the demands of digital business may be a cause of risk liability.  

The remaining three drivers come from the IT perspective, which involves cost, complexity, and risk. Sometimes organizations face a lot of difficulties from the high cost of ownership. If you are dealing with complex technology infrastructure or security compliance – if your support or scalability are being compromised, then it is high time to modernize your legacy application. 

Phase 2: Seven paths to evaluate modernization  

Once the opportunity is selected and the problem identified, look at modernization options. The below options will help you choose the best-suited approach to ease the process and avoid business compliances. The below seven paths will guide your legacy app in modification.  

1. Encapsulate: Leverage and extend the application features by encapsulating its data and functions. The process makes the application available as a service through an API.  

2. Rehost: Without modifying the code, redeploy the application in different infrastructures, including physical, virtual, or cloud infrastructure.  

3. Replatform: Organizations can migrate the application to a new runtime platform by making minimal changes to the code, but not the code structure, features, or functions.  

4. Refactor: Restructure and optimize the existing code (although not its external behavior) to remove technical debt and improve nonfunctional attributes.  

5. Rearchitect: Businesses can alter the code materially to shift the application to new application architecture and exploit new and better capabilities.  

6. Rebuild: Redesign or rewrite the application component from scratch while preserving its scope and specifications.  

7. Replace: Eliminate the former application component altogether and replace it. At the same time, consider the new business requirements and specifications.  

Phase 3: Choose the best approach with the highest value and effect  

Now you have multiple options for modernizing your legacy application but, you need to choose the best approach that will have the highest effect and value to your organization. An organization should map the bespoke seven options based on their influence on technology, architecture, functionality, cost, and risk. 

Influence of factors (technology, architecture, functionality, cost, risk) on seven pillars 

Basically, modernizing legacy software or applications means making the best decision between rearchitecting, rebuilding, or replacing. Rebuilding or replacing provides the best results with higher costs and risks, whereas rearchitecting has medium cost and risks. The key is to weigh all options to help identify the extent to which each will have the desired effect — with the minimum effort and maximum positive impact.  

Now, it may be a question- how could an organization implement those processes to get rid of their legacy application. For those who don’t have the proper IT infrastructure or development support for modifying their existing system, consult with a Digital transformation Services company will be a well-rounded choice for them. An IT consulting company will support them with an A-To-Z application modernization roadmap.   

Application modernization roadmap 

A roadmap seems to be one common path that all the enterprises follow to successfully transition. But it is essential to remember that each organization has its journey, with personal goals and budgetary needs. The very first step is to break down monolithic applications into groups and small microservices. To rebuild from this point, cloud development service providers can guide you in the right direction with few general steps like  

Roadmap for legacy application modernization 

Some companies even try to explore ways of integrating with a digital workplace without making any changes to their existing application. I am hoping the above-mentioned strategies will help you to draw a positive solution in the future and apply the best approach by modernizing your legacy system with new technology.

Jeanne W. Ross (MIT Sloan’s Center for Information Systems Research) says-

“Clearly, the thing that’s transforming is not the technology — the technology is transforming you.”

Staying relevant has never been difficult – difficult was, to be adapted to the rapid pace of innovation, drive by the number and variety of new technologies, and most importantly, step forward with the growing economic pressures after the global pandemic. From the “big bang” to the “e-commerce boom” we have surely come a long way. But now digital transformation is probably the real buzzword for e-commerce businesses and global industry leaders.

We could start this article with a definition of digital transformation and why it’s essential for running an e-commerce business in 2021, but that would be boring (as most people aware of digital transformation and its benefits) – so we won’t. Instead, we decide to focus on the two principal aspects—

  1. What are the driving forces behind the digital transformation in ecommerce?
  2. How will digital transformation drive the future of e-commerce?


Before we dive too deep into this topic, I think it’s valid that first answer the question:

How does COVID-19 affect e-commerce businesses? 

The standardized lockdown rules across the globe and the growing hesitation among consumers to go outside and shop for essential goods have tilted the nation towards e-commerce. Consumers have switched from shops, supermarkets, and shopping malls to online portals for the purchase of products, ranging from basic commodities to branded goods. Since the norm of social distancing has been initiated scope of online purchases and online businesses skyrocket. Many people have embraced the concept of online retail, and the surge in FTUs (First Time Users) on e-commerce sites is visible.

(Source: Statista.com)

As per the statista report, the market opportunities for online commerce in world are expected to touch $740 billion by 2023 from $468 billion in 2017. Based on the data available, the growth in the countries like Indian, Philippines, Malaysia are going to beat other established markets like US, Mexico, China by 2034.

On the downside of things, lack of productivity during the nationwide lockdown resulted in the loss of jobs, pay cuts, and finances. Shutting down shops and family-based businesses has made many people sway towards online retail to meet their financial requirements.

In that situation, digital transformation isn’t jargon extracted from a pretentious keynote speech, it becomes an essential part of staying in business. Now, B2B and B2C companies compete against their online rivals to take a slice of the e-commerce pie, and companies who don’t keep up quickly go bust. The above facts work as a catalyst behind the adoption of digital transformation strategies in e-commerce.

The driving force behind the digital transformation

1. Shoppers are looking for new products online

According to salesforce, 87% of shoppers look for product information and helpful reviews online — even if they plan to make their final purchases in a brick-and-mortar store. Consumers always expect to find up-to-date information and brand contact information quickly and easily.

2. Consumer expectations continue to rise

Modern consumers are now expecting to personalize experience across a range of channels. Have you heard of Omnichannel Marketing? People are enjoying apps and hope their shopping basket to travel from device to device. Hence, you need to cater to your customer base to grow your bottom line.

3. A robust online presence of brand to show value

The majority of growing brands now choose direct-to-consumer, rather than wholesale marketing strategies. The main point behind this: cut out the middleman and make more profit, and consumers get to communicate directly with brand manufacturers. Strong online presence and robust branding are the primary weapons to create a roadmap for success in that type of marketplace.

Now, you have enough reasons to implement digital transformations on the e-commerce platform. But reasons aren’t enough, you also need to know how to implement digital initiatives in your every business touchpoint. Below we describe in detail the digital trends, which will make your work much easier.

 How digital transformation will shape the future trends of e-commerce.

Digital transformation does not have an endpoint, so you won’t have a chance to sit back, dust off your hands, and say, “Right— that’s it.”

Keeping up a digital vision and mindset is the most vital aspect of your organization’s digital transformation. Hence, you should keep a track of your customer expectations to modify your tactics and meet the need of your customer demographic. Instead of worrying many entrepreneurs try to approach change management with a sense of adventure and opportunity so that they can invest in new business processes and reap significant rewards. Let’s look at the principal ways of digital transformation change in e-commerce in the coming future.

1. Technology in the frontline

Only the will to achieve digital transformation is not enough. E-commerce sectors need to acquire and successfully deploy the right technology if their efforts are not to be in vain. To achieve success, e-commerce industry should improvise their IT infrastructure and software — management and maintenance skills must also be in place. Skill shortage in the IT part means rather than looking inward, B2B companies are increasingly having to explore possibilities outside the enterprise for technology provision. This puts a greater emphasis on cloud-based infrastructure and solutions, managed services, and automation.

(Source: centerity.com)

Automation is not necessarily direct AI-related technology — is a necessary step in the development and delivery of digital transformation for e-commerce at this stage. Some widely using automation processes are natural language processing (NLP), and cognitive automation, robotic process automation in conjunction with AI, and others. Here I want to highlight the top five ways to leverage automation for e-commerce business—


2. Significance of big data and analytics in enhancing personalization

Big data is one of the substantial parts of e-commerce digital transformation. Giant retailers use this technology to provide consumers with highly personalize shopping experiences.

You know how they make this magic?

Online giants are using machine learning to modify site algorithms based on previous consumer activity because they recognize that familiarity boosts the bottom-line. May in the future, it will be easier for people to opt-out of personalization. But, for now, companies continue to push personalization on the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, like thermostats, doorbells, and artificial intelligence (AI) tech (think Amazon Alexa or Siri). With all these approaches, data is becoming a larger and larger component – and therefore a challenge – for many organizations.

(source: iot.electronicsforu.com)

Data analytics initiatives require a clear understanding of the objectives they’re put in place to achieve and the resources available to implement them. Stakeholder and user requirements may influence the selection of software and services. Hence, the business should choose their technology or solution partners with these considerations in mind.

3. Cloud to cater to the changing market demand

There is myriad of advantages e-commerce is drawing from cloud computing today. Most importantly, cloud in e-commerce enables the business to look big virtually and operate extensively. To make it clear, I want to highlight four crucial aspects:


4. Headless and API-driven strategy continued innovation

We have a ton of favorite sites, but do we have any idea how those sites work? We hope online at free time, fulfill our midnight cravings, and go back to work. Behind the scenes – our order preferences travel faster than the speed of sound through a headless commerce system and file neatly into its database.

Using API in E-commerce to collect product information

(Source: ecommerceinsiders.com)

In a nutshell, headless commerce decouples a company’s e-commerce platform from its frontend. When uncoupled, any data entered a website’s backend travel seamlessly to a range of frontends via application programming interfaces (APIs) — for example, progressive web apps (PWAs) and content management systems (CMSs). In order to leverage these techniques, companies add content to a compatible backend and couple on APIs – or customized frontend (like reaction button). Is it sounds too complex?

Check out few additional reasons behind use headless commerce:

Flexibility: Headless commerce is SEO friendly, and it is flexible and agile across a range of devices.

Personalization and customization: Businesses can control the consumer experience from start to finish by using a headless commerce tech stack, streaming data from one central database to a collection of APIs.

5. Content and digital web presence

Content and the creation of brand narratives can boost the processes of building a stronger digital presence while fostering brand recognition.

Content and storytelling can help reach customers and create more brand loyalty, as well as establish companies as thought leaders and experts in their field. Through a clear content program, a brand can drive product offerings with a briefing on necessary aspects and influence purchasing decisions of customers. This is an area where manufacturers and distributors need to incorporate a broader Customer Insight/experience strategy to maximize outcomes and increase revenue.

Digital web presence is often how customers experience the brand for the first time. This is also a route for improving customer experience and increase website conversion rate. According to a statistic, most consumers leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Digital UX and UI is playing an important role to help users navigate through the website, find their requirements, and develop a trustworthy connection with the brand. Many organizations are still developing and improving the functionality of their websites and eCommerce platforms, both on the user and internal sides. Websites can drive additional growth and revenue – but they can also play a role in capturing more data, sourcing out leads, and boosting customer engagement.

6. Digital transformation at an organization level 

Digital transformation is moving beyond eCommerce and marketing, to embrace the organization. It’s looking at what leadership is involved in decision making, undergoing internal process changes, and even creating new job responsibilities and titles.

New recruitment practices for digital transformation are seeking out software engineers, user experience experts, and data scientists to acquire the needed skill sets and embed the right innovation mindset across the board.

Apart from that increasing mobile shopping experience, the wide spreading of alternative payment methods, direct to consumer strategies are accelerating the digital revolution in the e-commerce industry. From understanding how buyers make decisions (and who those decision-makers are) to opportunities for more personalized content and messaging in all funnels, digital transformation technologies and data management help enable more effective e-commerce business techniques. Now, this is the time to align all business digital touchpoints with business goals, and digital strategy consulting companies are here to help you navigate through all these digital strategies. For more information and consultation feel free to reach to digital consulting service company Inovar Consulting.  

With sprawling digital adoption fueled by emerging technologies such as cloud and AI, the enterprise IT landscape will be largely modernized over the next three to five years. Even as business leaders continue to look to CIOs to provide technology-driven differentiation in the marketplace, the enterprise applications ecosystem and its stakeholders will face new challenges. The demand for personalized micro-capabilities will soar, driving the need for continuous and rapid innovation – at scale.

As buyers increasingly play a direct role and assume an upper hand in the technology life cycle process, they will significantly impact how platform vendors, service providers, and developer communities evolve.

Those who foresee upcoming trends and adapt faster will outperform. This blog explores how enterprise applications are expected to evolve in the future and the impact it’s likely to produce beyond technology – for businesses as well as consumers.

Six trends shaping the future of enterprise applications

As technology disruptions upend our long-held knowledge on the value and ownership of enterprise applications, six major trends will define the future:

1. Hyper-contextual, micro-capabilities will lead to mass personalization at scale:

With cloud becoming the first choice for enterprise applications, the technology architecture of the future will be largely standardized across customers, allowing minimal customizations. Micro capabilities are basically Microservices or microservices architecture including cloud native architectural approach in which a single application is composed of many loosely coupled and independently deployable smaller components, or services. However, the key differentiating aspect of implementations will be highly personalized, contextualized micro-capabilities. These will not be a result of hard-coded customizations but will rather come from two different aspects: 

A. Cloud enterprise platforms’ capability to configure hyper-personalizationrelevant to customer’s market context and composable architecture, 

B. The evolving Apps marketplace publishing micro-capabilities through APIs. This means horizontal capabilities will be differentiated from micro-vertical capabilities and last-mile digital solutions.Security, data privacy, and regulatory concerns will ease significantly giving way to multi-cloud adoptions, except for some sector-specific applications that may remain on-premises with specialized capabilities built for a purpose.

Multi-cloud adoption

2. AI predictability will drive the selection of micro-capabilities:

Product assessment will be replaced with an outcome-drivenselection from a pool of capabilities, instead of standard modules-based subscription. Once business KPIs and expected outcomes are finalized, the enterprise platform’s AI engine will provide recommendations of relevant micro-capabilities to choose from libraries, based on customer’s market context, industry best practices, adoption of the capabilities across the customer base, and their historical success. AI predictabilitywill also be measured against outcomes.

3. Agile enterprise applications will reign:

Most application vendors will provide in-built agility in the life cycle of product capabilities developed. Upgrade frequency and features’ selection will be customized at source, even on multi-tenant architecture. Going forward, closed-loop systems will emerge to integrate user feedback directly into the product innovation cycle in near real-time, bringing the application implementation cycle closer to agile product development.

Agile Methodology in application

4. Businesses will be free from vendor lock-in:

Standardized technology architecture will eliminate vendor lock-ins, enabling organizations to switch vendors without risking a major change in application configuration implemented. It will be possible to have multiple products seamlessly delivering different micro-capabilities of a particular function or process for a customer. The adopted capabilities are expected to be highly portable across various enterprise platforms.

5. Buyer’s market will emerge:

With less fear of vendor lock-in and high portability, application vendors will offer new try and buy models without requiring any commitment for upfront investments. More mature vendors are also likely to offer outcome-linked subscription models, giving customers both assurance and flexibility to pay only when the desired outcomes are achieved. Business capabilities may also be priced based on outcomes.

6. The business experience will take center stage:

With digitalization becoming the norm in all business functions, the business experiencewill become sacrosanct. System of records will no longer be simply transactional; rather it will acquire strategic importance, as customers gain more direct access to back-office data and information. Likewise, the system of engagements will be under pressure to measure CX in terms of tangible outcomes. Such systems will, therefore, collaborate more with back-office functions and external ecosystems to adapt at the pace of business change. A zero-touch user interface will become a reality.

Analytics driven CX approach

The transformational impact on ecosystem partners

Let’s understand how the shift in enterprise application development impacts the key ecosystem partners:

1. Apps Marketplace will play an important role in developing micro-capabilities and shaping the enterprise landscape. Business capabilities will be published by various marketplace players, developers, and the crowdsourced community, leveraging individual experiences. Their API-driven approach for different products will further boost hyper-personalization and flexibility for customers. For instance, Salesforce is known for its leading AppExchange platform, where thousands of ISVs and developers have built enterprise products such as Vlocity for Industry Cloud & FinancialForce for PSA solutions. Many more will emerge going forward.

2. Cloud Platform services will be key to providing flexibility and scalability to customers. Integration platforms will become more API-based. Data, content & collaboration platforms will offer consumption-based pricing. AI & Analytics platforms will deliver enterprise business use cases that will be priced on outcomes. Blockchain and IoT platforms will have bundled pricing by consortia or based on customer impact. Low code, no code features will become de facto.

API based integration platform

3. Service Providers will play a challenging role as a core integrator of business capabilities – by processes, persona, and business needs. Some providers will also build capabilities in the Apps Marketplace which may remain IP owned by either the service provider or jointly with the client. With the democratization of application development, emerging citizen developers, and the growth in the crowdsourced community, the application development role of system integrators (SI) will be limited. 

However, service providers can emerge as a critical success partner for their clients as SIs will be largely looked upon as Advisors and Integrators who can assume the role of the true custodian of customers’ enterprise IT assets by leveraging multi-disciplinary teams with domain knowledge, experience design, and change management capabilities – all of which will assume higher importance. They will work closely with customers not only to implement business capabilities but also to assess best-of-breed application capabilities for their specific needs.

With increased technical debt due to legacy and fragmented cloud applications, architecture know-how will become a key differentiator. In an open enterprise, SIs will play a major role as orchestrators and channelize the consortia of Apps marketplace vendors, platform partners, and external services for their clients.

4. End customers will truly become Prosumers, directly influencing decisions related to products and service offerings, thanks to micro-capabilities offering hyper-personalization. Most customers will have personalized AI tools or assistants, and AI will be considered a new stakeholder that needs to be managed or influenced.

Human-Robot’s interaction or Cobots

5. Business users prefer role and persona-based application experiences that need higher personalization and context-driven functionalities. Cobot is one of its examples, where robots are intended for direct human-robot interaction within a shared place or work in proximity to humans. Cobots will be embedded into the applications, helping users with the automation of business workflows and physical actions together. Going forward, some business users will also become mature citizen developers. Take, for instance, Instabase that provides a platform and automation tooling to build cloud business applications. Many such platforms will emerge as a powerful marketplace providing numerous micro-capabilities that empower citizen developers and power users in DIY mode.

6. CIOs will shift focus from administering the IT landscape to attaining business outcomes and measuring the ROI of capabilities. With less fear of vendor lock-in and agile capabilities available at scale, IT will continue to act as a key enabler of business and IT architecture will become highly composable. With these changes, some of the business spend will shift from buying or managing enterprise platforms to partnering with advisors and integrators to drive superior outcomes.

We have already stepped into a new application-driven year, where enterprise applications will play the role of an innovative catalyst to drive the engine for business.

After knowing the above facts and benefits, it can be a question that where a business should get the proper enterprise application solutions for aligning the new tech approach with business goals. For them, Inovar consulting can be a fruitful solution with correct application-driven strategy and skillful resource. Check out how we have applied application strategy in our different projects and reach us for more information. 

Cloud migration typically refers to the process of moving digital assets- like Data, workloads, IT resources, or application from on-premises to the cloud infrastructure. According to Gartner, Inc. forecast, the worldwide public cloud service market has grown 17% in 2020 to a total of $266.4* billion.  But the problem is in migrating applications to the public cloud, IT teams are confronting two separate but related issues that add costs and complexity: refactoring and repatriation. Let us look at the reasons behind avoid refactoring and repatriation before we delve into the probable solutions for the cloud migration journey.

public-cloud-services

Why business avoid Refactoring 

Refactoring applications frequently happen when you are looking at custom-built apps. With the approach of refactoring, you will have to rewrite the code and completely re-engineer your application from scratch to make the application more cloud ready. APIs and integrations with computing, storage, and network resources are also included under the refactoring process. 

Refactoring turns legacy apps into cloud-native apps, makes it more feasible for developers to use modern tools such as containers and microservices, and saves money in the long run. Although this approach makes an application more scalable and responsive than on-premises counterparts, it takes a lot of additional time and resources, meaning your upfront costs are going to be much higher. The chances of risks are high because the IT team needs to be careful that they are not impacting the external behavior of the application while rewriting the code.

cloud-migration-options

IT team can apply the lift and shift method for moving an application from the data center to the cloud and avoid the process of refactoring completely. This method simplifies the migration process, saves time and cost, and accelerates the shift to the cloud. They can also use pervasive automation to make the lift-and-shift migration as seamless as possible.

Apart from that, IT consultants can leverage a cloud platform that tightly integrates on-premises infrastructure with cloud management software. By using the Microsoft Azure platform as a migration path, IT can build a cloud strategy that delivers agility and cost optimization. This holistic approach will not only help you navigate the journey successfully but also ensure that your organization releases new benefits including, agility, scale, and efficiency, especially when your workloads are running in the cloud. 

Why business avoid Repatriation

“Unclouding” or “repatriation” is the process of pushing back application workloads and data from the public cloud to local infrastructure environments within an on-premises data center. As mentioned by TechTarget, concerns about operating costs, availability, changing business needs, security and compliance, and cloud-based workload performance are the most common reasons for repatriation. 

Repatriation is also too expensive and time consuming that businesses want to avoid. Initially, the organizations go through the expense of migrating an app to the cloud then they realize it is spending too much money in the cloud and bearing other issues. Finally, they decide to go through the expense of migrating that application back to the data center. The whole process ultimately creates a lot of difficulties and confusion for the business.

cloud-repatriation

The cost of repatriation may vary as per the application, workload, and company infrastructure. According to a survey result, one company can save almost $75** million in infrastructure costs over two years by moving apps to the data center from the cloud. Moreover, it would reduce operational costs 66% by reducing downtime and increasing capacity by 25%**. Sometimes even IT experts face troubles understanding the complexities of the public cloud. AWS, Azure, and other public cloud vendors are even offering a gateway to the public cloud and back with solutions like AWS Outpost and Azure Stack. Businesses can consider using Azure Import/Export to securely import or export large amounts of data to Azure Blob storage and Azure files by shipping disk drives to an Azure data center.

Simplifying the cloud migration path The migration to the cloud does not have to be difficult if an organization executed proper planning. Choosing the right cloud platform can also increase speed and reduce risk. We hope the below three simple steps will help every enterprise in advanced migration.

Step 1: Assess your application inventory carefully

First, an organization needs to plan a proper assessment that will categorize the application portfolio into different groups (like modern apps, legacy apps, or everything else including, Java, .NET, web applications) and include an assessment of the dependencies or ecosystem around the application. In Inovar Consulting, we first communicate with our clients to understand the physical and virtual server configurations, security and compliance requirements, existing support, network topology, and data dependencies. It helps us to see where to begin for maximum results and create a proper strategy plan as per the present needs.

Step 2: Create a proper plan

The best way to avoid the costs and complexities of refactoring and repatriation is to do a thorough analysis of the applications. Before suggesting any migration path, we ask the below questions and encourage our customers to think beyond the applications.

  1. What are the business goals, and why are you considering the cloud?
  2. What is the architecture of the application? Does it follow the cloud-native principles for high availability?
  3. What are the interdependencies between each app and workload?
  4. What tools are being used to manage and enforce the security policies around the application?
  5. How much will the migration cost and, once it is completed, what will be the ongoing operational costs?
  6. How much you aware of the underlying topology and performance characteristics?

You have to prioritize the migration based on the answers to this question. For example, you may decide that the application is better served by incorporating public cloud services in a hybrid cloud model that involves a lift-and-shift migration. Or if the analysis determines that refactoring is mandatory then, it is vital to choose the right migration path so you can avoid repatriation in the future.

migration-to-cloud

Step 3: Migrate quickly to cover the cost

As per our past experiences, we have seen the most cost-effective path to the cloud often, that approach ends up costing more in the long run. The reason is during migration organizations are bearing two infrastructures, incurring costs on both sides. If organizations want to cover the cost and begin to realize savings, then speedy migration with mitigated risks is the best approach for them. The statistics show organizations can see 40 to 60%*** operational cost savings when moving enterprise applications to a managed private or public cloud service.

Taking the next step to the future

Refactoring and repatriation are complex issues for organizations. But in most cases, cloud migration suffers because enterprises do not have the experience, knowledge, or resources to undertake the analysis, set the specific requirements, and make the best decision for the long term.

Now, cloud migration has become most crucial for digital transformation and for embracing to future technology trends. Therefore, it is the best time to enlist the expertise of your trusted partners can have a dramatic impact on your success.

If you are still confronting with the questions Refactor? Repatriate? Lift-and-shift? Then, it’s time to reach us to find out how the combination of cloud-first strategy and Azure technology platform can simplify your cloud migrations.

References:

*Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Public Cloud Revenue to Grow 17% in 2020 Retrieved from Gartner.com

**Malachy. J, (2019) Psst. Hey. Hey you. We have to whisper this in case the cool kidz hear, but… it’s OK to pull your data back from the cloud Retrieved from TheRegister.com

***Pierrefricke (2019) 3 Steps to Simplify Application Migration to the Cloud Retrieved from Rackspace.com

“Cloud is about how you do computing, not where you do computing.”, rightly said by Paul Maritz, CEO of VMWare

The corona virus quarantine has made a lot of organisations across various industries establish remote operations and not all companies are able to handle the forced move to a virtual office. Before the impact of the Corona virus, only 62* percent of the workloads were in the Cloud but as per 87 percent of the IT decision makers, 95 percent of the workload will be in the Cloud by 2025. This acceleration was fuelled by Covid-19 acting as a catalyst for cloud migration.

The current state of remote work was largely unforeseen, no disaster recovery plan included anything for a mass outbreak of a virus. This transition to remote work on such a massive scale would not have been possible in the server-led infrastructure 15 to 20 years ago. Large enterprises can now deliver new services 30 to 60** percent faster through cloud migration. After several months into quarantine, organisations have started refining and optimising workloads into the Cloud. When and how businesses will be able to resume on-premise activities at the office remains a big question.

cloud-first

The cost of cloud migration was one of the major reasons for many companies to not migrate to the Cloud. But, the current circumstances have led some of the organisations around the globe to renew their efforts to get into the public cloud. It is time one stops thinking about everything being a corporate owned machine, in a corporate office, rather utilise the opportunity to focus on virtualisation of servers, storage and networks. At this crisis time, virtualisation needs to be brought to end-user devices and Mobile Device Management has to be something every company needs to think about.

Though corporate IT resources are built to offer high levels of security, quarantines mean that direct, in-person access to them is limited if not completely unavailable. Enterprises considering digital transformation prior to the pandemic might have only wanted to move up to 30-40*** percent of their existing infrastructure to the public cloud. But now, more than 70** percent of executives have indicated a belief that cloud will help them innovate faster while reducing implementation and operational risks.

Long term plans for organizations may include use of public cloud, mobile computing, and moving to 5G wireless network. This allows companies to operate anytime and anywhere, which is much easier for born-in-the-cloud companies. Large enterprises cannot move nimbly, but the circumstances have shown the need for rapid changes beyond static systems with datacentres. Organisations that embrace flexibility will be able to recover faster than their competitors.

cloud-migration-process

The entire process from start to finish, requires significant changes and change management with how an organisation’s teams interact, process and share their data amongst each other. The sweeping global transition to remote work has seen virtual collaboration tools thrown into the spotlight of economic activity and their demand has sky-rocketed.

“Beyond the emergency action needed at the start of the pandemic, many organizations have turned to mitigating risk through flexibility of infrastructure”, says David Linthicum, chief cloud strategy officer with audit and consulting advisor Deloitte.

While cloud adoption offers a powerful opportunity to unlock business value, there remains a distinguishable hesitation around a few challenges of this transition. Cybersecurity is the biggest concern and remains a significant barrier when companies think of migrating to the cloud. Security threats have increased substantially during Covid-19, and organisations need to recognise and respond. Advanced cybersecurity solutions are now available which can help boost the security architecture.

cloud-migration-architecturew

Cloud computing, which has been touted for its flexibility, reliability and security, has emerged as one of the few saving graces for businesses during this pandemic. Its use is critical for companies to maintain operations, but even more critical for their ability to continue to service their customers.

Cloud adaptation provides an avenue of growth which can help balance the economic challenges faced by various organizations. Cloud budgets today account for approximately 5** percent of the average IT budgets, a figure that is likely to double by 2023.

As organisations have started adjusting to the new reality of the pandemic, cloud adoption represents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for businesses in every region of the world. The world will eventually emerge from this period of remote work, but the way we do business will be transformed forever.

References:

*Sead Fadilpasic : Cloud migration set for major rise following pandemic, June’20. Retrieved from ITProPortal

**Luv Grimond and Alain Schneuwly : Accelerating Cloud Adoption After Pandemic, June’20. Retrieved from Jakarta Globe

***Joao-Pierre S. Ruth : Next Steps for Cloud Infrastructure Beyond the Pandemic, April’20. Retrieved from Information Week