Infor has announced a new RPA (Robotic Process Automation) solution built on Amazon Web Services as part of the new Infor Enterprise Automation (IEA). The solution delivers part of what Soma Somasundaram, Chief Technology Officer, and Infor describes as Hyper Productivity.
IEA provides customers with a platform that already provides automations out of the box. This connects Infor CloudSuites and other applications to one another. It combines those integrations with Infor Coleman’s artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) platform and its own RPA capabilities.
With prebuilt integrations, it enables customers to rapidly develop workflows to meet their requirements. The announcement delivers another facet to Infor, bringing a new component to the Infor platform. With prebuilt integrations, leveraging years of experience in connecting different applications. It means that for companies leveraging Infor as their ERP solution, not only are there already components to connect with other systems, but they can also quickly build new workflows linking their software architecture.
Customers will no longer need to look to third-party solutions to deliver hyperautomation. MidWest Wheel Companies, a MidWest truck parts distributor and an early adopter of IEA, has seen significant benefits. Using the solution, MWC can now process 500 signed paper picklist documents in five minutes. This saw a 95% faster customer service resolution. Notably, it achieved a value realisation in under 7 days.
Steve McEnany, Senior Vice President at Midwest Wheel Companies, said, “Infor Enterprise Automation allowed us to bring our entire proof of delivery system into one repository online, so our customer service team can give a quick response to a customer inquiry. With a 95% productivity improvement, our people can focus on servicing customers instead of searching for information in boxes or other applications. RPA bots process our pickup paper tickets, and Gateway APIs process our electronic truck delivery tickets from a third-party application, all without human intervention.”
Infor RPA, the final element of the IEA’s trinity
IEA is made up of three components. Infor RPA, Infor AI and Infor IPaaS. When combined, these create a powerful solution which will deliver front-end automation, decision automation, and back-end automation, respectively.
Massimo Capoccia, Infor’s Chief Innovation Officer, said, “We have a differentiated solution because we started by addressing the more complex back-end automation. With RPA, we now provide the front-end automation, which enables us to deliver a complete package for enterprise automation. This gives us an advantage over stand-alone vendors.”
That advantage is not just in the three components but what Infor can already deliver. This is not about three separate solutions. It is about an already meshed solution with already built business process workflows that are already proven.
Infor AI was launched as Infor Coleman in 2019. Since then, it has developed from advanced predictive analytics to prescriptive analytics. And a natural language interface supporting chatbots and other capabilities. Its use cases include inventory optimisation, next-best actions, predictions about potential issues and more.
The Infor IPaaS solution already has more than 2,000 pre-built BPM solutions. These are using APIs to connect and orchestrate simple and complex functionality. It achieves this with a high level of security using standards such as Oauth2. The platform connects CloudSuite applications, other cloud applications and on-premise solutions. Enabling organisations to connect systems internally and across their ecosystem.
The third element, Infor RPA, leverages bots to automate labour-intensive, rule-based processes. Among the tasks it is already capable of supporting are automated data entry, invoice processing, compliance checks, order processing, customer onboarding and document digitisation.
Rick Rider, Infor Senior Vice President of product management, said, “With Infor Enterprise Automation, we’re delivering all the required technology pieces in a differentiated way that connects all levels of automation, regardless of the apps in the composed ecosystem. We want to provide customers the ability to foster a creative culture of continuously enhancing their capabilities without having to introduce new contracts, new technology or differing platforms, which ultimately creates tremendous overhead in just progressing a single idea.
“Ultimately, we’re helping customers blur the lines among RPA, process intelligence, workflow automations, and connected machine learning-based insights. Our goal is to provide customers with a platform, which can help them, regardless of their situation, continue their automation journey without having to be hardcore developers or automation experts – or having a host of prerequisites or costs just to even get started on an idea.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
The benefits of the new solution are clear. Combined with the Infor ERP solution, IEA offers organisations working in the industry sectors that Infor targets another reason to select Infor ERP solutions.
If they choose Infor ERP, not only are they purchasing an industry-specific solution, but they can also quickly power up their implementation with Infor IEA. Arguably, it should not be seen as an add-on capability. Rather as an enhanced feature that is deeply integrated into the original solution purchased.
The pricing reflects this and, interestingly, will be based on usage. Infor believes that this is a simple and flexible pricing model. Stating it is “based on execution hours, which allows for unlimited bots and developers.”
This democratisation enables organisations to leverage the platform, and if the pricing model works, this enables them to build workflows quickly, but only be charged when value is delivered. Pricing of this nature is always tricky to get right. It is a form of value-based pricing, which is a hard nut to crack.
