Over the past 18 months, organizations awoke to the need for digital innovation and transformation as an existential issue. Business leaders recognized that software is central to digital innovation. As the need to quickly create more apps grew, demands on IT skyrocketed. So did the IT application development backlog. Technical debt is a part of software development.
Many agencies that handle mission-critical functions still rely on outdated and legacy software applications that have evolved into complex and costly solutions over time. These legacy systems sit at the heart of daily business operations—and have a negative impact on efficiencies, stakeholder satisfaction, and overall mission outcomes. While most stakeholders agree that modernization is needed, they also know it’s a complicated undertaking.
A year of virtual meetings, homeschooling, and social distancing has taken a toll on all of us. According to a 2021 article from the Kaiser Family Foundation, around 40% of Americans have reported symptoms of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health providers worldwide are struggling to meet increased patient demand while navigating increased telehealth needs.
In the previous episode of Digital Masters, EY’s Gurdeep Batra gave us the inside scoop on how hyperautomation is transforming the $89 trillion global wealth and asset management industry. But the good times, says Batra, are changing fast as the devastation of the COVID-19 crisis, increasing regulation, and ever-changing customer expectations squeeze revenues and boost operating costs to an all-time high.
Low-code application development went mainstream in 2020—and it continues to pick up speed. Forrester predicts that by the end of 2021, 75 percent of development shops will use low-code platforms (up from just 44 percent in 2020)[1]. Unfortunately, many IT teams are only scratching the surface of low-code’s power. Why? Because they’re running low-code projects with traditional high-code development practices. That’s like putting a minivan engine in a race car.
When I joined Appian as CMO last December, the world was in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, the low-code automation market was exploding as companies reacted to massive change, and Forrester was predicting that 75% of application development would be using low-code platforms (up from 44% in 2020) by the end of 2021. In other words, the time was ripe to update the Appian brand for the coming decade of change.
From hyperautomation to the remote-work revolution, the post-COVID world is changing at blazing speed and organizations everywhere are struggling to keep up. In the financial services industry, for example, the largest wealth and asset managers are struggling to keep a lid on rising operating costs amid fast-changing regulations and customer expectations.
We’ve been speaking with many auto and equipment finance organizations over the last year, and they all say that their technology landscape is growing more complex by the day. The Auto and Equipment Finance Orchestration solution that Accenture has built with Appian seeks to address this.
As COVID-19 vaccinations continue to roll out, organizations across industries prepare to return employees to the workplace. It’s a journey fraught with anxieties, uncertainty, and unknowns. In a recent poll of Appian webinar participants, a mere 17% reported that their companies feel fully prepared to reopen facilities, and only 51% said they felt even “somewhat” prepared. The good news is that a safe return to the workplace is not uncharted territory.
Hyperautomation is about making humans more human. So said automation expert Arjun Devadas in the first episode of this two-part post on hyperautomation. (Read part one here). Devadas—who serves as Senior Vice President, Professional Services & Operations, Americas at Vuram, a hyperautomation services company—debunked a few myths and spilled some pragmatic tea on how to get the most out of your hyperautomation journey.
When the COVID-19 crisis hit, guidelines for responding to a global pandemic probably weren't in your company’s disaster recovery playbook. But that probably changed after the pandemic fired up a remote-work revolution that has also accelerated business process automation across industries. Yes, we’re almost on the other side of the pandemic. But future crises are unavoidable. And the next one could be worse than the one we’re experiencing now.
Every year Deloitte comes out with its annual Tech Trends, which provide “insights and inspiration for the digital journey ahead.” They aim to identify opportunities that are likely to transform businesses over the next 18-24 months. This year we couldn’t help but picture the important role that Appian can play in helping our customers capitalize on these trends. Let’s discuss two of these trends.
Business leaders are increasingly turning to IT organizations to help drive digital transformation through automation and innovation across lines of business. These leaders are selecting, implementing, and maintaining technology investments that support their businesses, while keeping IT costs down. Unfortunately, escalating technical debt and a lack of skilled talent are preventing IT from being as impactful as it could be.
