IBM was named a leader in three recent analyst reports that evaluate robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent automation services providers.

Intelligent automation solutions are proving their value as they’re increasingly adopted to help reduce costs, enhance customer experiences, improve employee productivity and create new revenue-generating business models.

In 2020, the IBM Institute for Business Value reported on a comprehensive survey of 1,500 executives from around the world to find out more about the value of intelligent automation initiatives today and in the near future. Conducted in collaboration with Oxford Economics, the study highlights a subset of organizations that plan to allow intelligent machines to perform cross-enterprise or expert work in the next three years.

“Not only are automation achievers leading the way in automation programs, they’re also successful in the wider business arena. They rate themselves higher in responsiveness and productivity, and they outperform peers in profitability, revenue growth and efficiency. They expect continued success in the next three years, predicting improvements that only widen the gaps.”

Despite the proven potential, buyers of intelligent automation solutions can face adoption and implementation challenges from data quality issues to internal skills gaps. That’s where automation services providers come in with the technical expertise to help where you need help – planning, building, running, managing, measuring.

Three analyst reports recently came out that short-list robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent automation services providers. If you’re in the market for such services providers, these reports can help you compare and evaluate them. It’s no coincidence that IBM was named a leader in all three.

The Forrester Wave™: Robotic Process Automation Services, Q2 2022 – The 15 Providers That Matter Most and How They Stack Up

The Forrester Wave™ evaluation highlights RPA Automation Services Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders and Challengers. It’s an assessment of the top vendors in the market. It doesn’t represent the entire vendor landscape.

Evaluation highlights on IBM:

• “IBM Consulting has a full complement of RPA services and supports packaging them into established ideation and delivery methodologies, such as IBM Process Excellence and IBM Garage. The firm is well suited to harmonize the development and operational management — the “build and run” — of RPA bots through its Automation Operations Command Center on the Extreme Automation Platform, even in large, complex managed services or BPO environments.”
• “Reference customers cited IBM Consulting’s unique approach, centered on process alignment and reengineering, as critical to the success of their RPA program. With a complete offering and ability to balance systems integration and BPO work, IBM Consulting is well suited for a variety of deployment scenarios.”

Get the full evaluation.  

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Intelligent Automation Services 2022 Vendor Assessment

The IDC MarketScape (doc #US48061422, May 2022) evaluated intelligent automation services vendors across 52 scored criteria and collected feedback from 79 customers on their perception of the key characteristics and capabilities of these vendors. Key findings include the following: “Nearly half (47.9%) of the buyers said they achieved 25% or greater improvement in measurable KPIs from their intelligent automation services engagement.”

Assessment highlights on IBM:

• “Buyers rated IBM highly for its ability to achieve desired business outcomes, optimize the ratio of onshore and offshore efforts on an engagement, integrate IBM’s team with their internal team, offer flexible pricing models and communicate the value of the services, solutions, methodologies, and tools they are currently consuming. IDC considers IBM’s end-to-end life cycle of intelligent automation services portfolio, breadth of technology alliances, and strategies around platforms, infusing enterprise intelligence in delivery, workshops and stakeholder alignment, sales and distribution, innovation and R&D (both internal and external), and employee skills as key strengths.”

Get the full assessment.  

Everest Group: Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) – Solution Provider Compendium 2022

This report provides a snapshot of the IPA offerings and capabilities of 28 leading IPA solution providers to help existing and potential buyers assess the solution providers on the capabilities they desire.

Report highlights on IBM:

• “It’s packaged solution offerings support holistic processes in areas such as O2C, asset management, recruitment administration, and financial crime detection.”
• “It uses partner-provided and proprietary process mining capabilities and a design thinking approach to run a dedicated process excellence practice.”
• “IBM leverages its R&D center, research labs, and internal CoEs to build solutions comprising technologies/tools such as cloud, data, automation, and AI.”

Read the full report.

In conclusion

As organizations continue to explore intelligent automation solutions to achieve business objectives, technology and services providers can ponder this common theme that emerged from the buyer interviews and surveys IDC conducted for their study. It was some variation of “we wish our vendor would provide us more insight into what else we could be doing with intelligent automation.”

The art of the possible and the practical.

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