Australia is on the brink of a tectonic economic shift not seen since the advent of the PC in the 1980s as software automation affects every business — and every worker — over the next two decades.
Automation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and code-less programming systems are among technologies lifting the burden of mundane tasks from workers’ shoulders while boosting customer experiences and productivity, and bridging widening skills gaps.
McKinsey & Co, estimates that automation will force up to 5 million Australians — 37% of today’s workforce — to switch jobs by 2030 while annual productivity would rise 50%–150% in the same period. And while the management consulting company warns up to half of jobs could be automated in the next eight years, GDP could rise alongside by $170b–$600b a year.
While business process, customer and worker experience activities are among the most popular areas for automation, the shift to cloud, inspired global environmental intelligence company, Envirosuite Ltd, to boost their digital IQ.
Inexorable trend towards smarter system gathers pace at Envirosuite
Facing the closure of its Melbourne data centre, Envirosuite invested in a new ‘smart’ software platform powered by AI and ML to improve its enterprise service management.
Patrick Quin, Manager – Operational Excellence at the business that helps customers from airports and utilities to miners and agricultural facilities to improve their environmental management, said its new Micro Focus SMAX platform helped double productivity of its support agents with significant improvement during the first nine months of its operation.
“Through improving our documentation [and] upskilling [agents] we've doubled the number of customers that we support and increased the number of products they cover — but with roughly the same number of people. That would not have been possible without automation,” Quin said.
SMAX, or Service Management Automation X, is a software platform that deploys AI and ML technologies to help businesses track their IT infrastructure and deliver services to users. SMAX, which is compliant with the popular Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), also optimises business processes outside of the IT function, said Glenn Jacobi, Micro Focus Software Account Manager.
“We want to apply proper change management across the enterprise. So it’s these mundane, manual tasks that SMAX can help with,” Jacobi said.
“We've applied AI and machine learning innovations like virtual agents to streamline processes. So it's about making ITIL processes more efficient and helping the [agents] get to a conclusion faster.”
To learn how automation can transform your business today, watch how Envirosuite deployed Micro Focus SMAX software to boost its service delivery and improve business processes.
