FEBRUARY 2020 IT IN FOCUS
SPONSORED BY OCHIBA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION
Automation is nothing without the right information to back it up
CONTRIBUTOR OCHIBA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
As we begin the 2020s, we’re entering a new era
in Business Performance Automation. Sure, task
automation has been building over the last 20 years,
but we now have the tools to deliver it business wide.
With the Business Technology Platform from SAP you
can now achieve true intelligent automation.
Furthermore, this technology is now available for SMEs,
not just blue-chip companies. When an ERP system, such as
SAP Business One, works hand in hand with the SAP HANA
Database you have the engine for Intelligent Technologies and
Predictive Analytics to create Business Process Automation.
In most businesses today the processes are complex and
still require too much manual intervention. It’s this manual input
that leads to ine ciencies and errors. However, removing these
steps often leads to systems becoming overly complex and
integration becoming a weak point. If any one of the integration
points changes or is upgraded the system breaks.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) accelerates the digital
transformation of business processes by automatically
replicating tedious repetitive tasks to free up humans for
more high-value tasks. SAP’s intelligent RPA is able to automate
scenarios including SAP and non-SAP applications. This
brings the level of business automation possible to a new level
and within reach of the average SME in the UK. This has been
made possible thanks to built-in Machine Learning and Artifi cial
Intelligence driven by SAP HANA. It doesn’t matter if the process
is part automated (for example a digital assistant to a human)
or a fully unattended process – the self-learning bots are key
to the automation.
The use of Conversational AI means computers can now
simulate real conversations across di erent business areas,
from warehouses and production to providing management
information. So, it’s possible for actions within the ERP system,
such as stock re-ordering, to be driven by Conversational AI.
However, there are practical environmental restrictions of an
o ce environment that are currently holding
this back.
Conversational AI means SAP Business
One users can ask for reports in language
that makes sense to them. For example,
“Show me the top 20 lowest sales margins
by product group for 2018 and 2019”, could
be said in 20 di erent ways by 20 di erent
people, but that’s not a problem to the bot
executing the request. The bot may o er
several variations of the result, but quickly
learns what it is that you want.
In Attended Mode, the bot is helping
humans by automatically adding
commentary, 360° views, images and data
to whatever they are viewing. It’s not just
commenting on the data on the screen, it
also looks at the underlying data that isn’t
seen but is driving the results.
Unattended bots continuously monitor
and perform tasks to learn from the results.
This results in semi-automated processes
becoming fully automated over a short period
of time. This takes automation to a whole new
level and SAP Business One users can easily
benefi t from this technology.
The new decade will see the repetitive
business processes that have traditionally been
manual, becoming more and more automated
within their ERP system. Human intervention
will start to become a rarity. If your business
is not currently utilising an ERP product that
can provide this level of Intelligent Business
Automation, then it’s time to consider SAP
Business One.
www.businessoneexperts.co.uk – 0114 299 9430
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