Industrial automation powerhouse catches up in business automation after pandemic shakes up established processes, ISG Provider Lens report says
Enterprises in Germany have stepped up their efforts in advanced automation and digital transformation after new challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic revealed how far the country had fallen behind in business automation, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2022 ISG Provider Lens™ Intelligent Automation Services report for Germany finds that demand for intelligent enterprise automation (IEA) solutions is growing, while recent geopolitical events and economic uncertainties have led some businesses to rethink the way they invest in automation. Some companies are now looking for service providers to support end-to-end automation that can scale quickly.
“Enterprises in Germany are beginning to reimagine automation by looking more closely at the processes to be automated and whether they are delivering the expected outcomes,” said Chip Wagner, CEO of ISG Automation. “This type of next-gen automation is catching on with a few large companies and has strong growth potential in the next few years.”
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“Enterprises in Germany are beginning to reimagine automation by looking more closely at the processes to be automated and whether they are delivering the expected outcomes”
Germany has long been a leader in industrial automation but has lagged behind other countries in business automation, which suddenly became a critical need when companies were forced to adapt to remote work and other new capabilities during the pandemic, ISG says. Wariness about digital technologies, especially AI, and concerns about replacing human labor have slowed the adoption of business automation in Germany until a recent uptick in investment.
Poor returns on investment from earlier automation projects have also frustrated German companies, leading some to turn to enterprise-wide automation based on new integrated platforms that combine robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent document processing (IDP), conversational AI and other components, the report says.
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“Companies need a high degree of automation for the smooth execution and customer focus required to be competitive,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Service providers are helping German enterprises take the bold steps that are needed.”
Enterprises in Germany are also becoming more open to migrating from legacy IT to artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps), the report says. This trend is accelerating as cloud adoption grows, AI tools improve and companies look to strengthen cybersecurity. However, companies making this transition face several challenges, including integration issues, scarcity of talent and limited availability of data.
The 2022 ISG Provider Lens™ Intelligent Automation Services report for Germany evaluates the capabilities of 36 providers across three quadrants: Intelligent Enterprise Automation, Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) and Next-Gen Automation.
The report names Accenture, Atos, Capgemini and TCS as Leaders in all three quadrants. It names Cognizant and Infosys as Leaders in two quadrants each. Arvato, CGI, DATAGROUP, DXC Technology, IBM, NTT DATA, PwC, T-Systems and Wipro are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.
In addition, Deloitte and Wipro are named as Rising Stars — companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition — in one quadrant each.