Process Automation - Untapped Opportunity for Government Agencies

Government and public sector organizations today are under constant pressure to generate more value, enhance their operational efficiencies, and attract and retain skilled employees—all while  facing increasing levels of risk and public scrutiny.

Within such a dynamic environment, leveraging automation is key to transforming an organization’s operating model. The challenge is that implementing and monitoring controlled, automated processes can be complex, costly, and require specialized resources. Many organizations perceive developing automated processes as “a moving target” requiring constant improvements and new emerging technologies.

Conversely, this presents the opportunity for organizations to apply custom, targeted solutions focused solely on their needs with the help of a team experienced in implementing such bespoke solutions.

In 2020, FedScoop surveyed federal and state government IT, business, and program executives on their organization’s automation environment maturity. A large majority of respondents to this survey foresee considerable value in using automation—with 48% of respondents reporting already-implemented tools have saved them 5,000 to 100,000+ hours of work, allowing their staff to focus on higher-impact efforts.

While many government and public sector organizations see enormous potential for automation to enhance their management of internal processes and controls, far fewer have moved forward with integrating automation into their activities. FedScoop concluded that 42% of federal and state agencies have yet to implement any automation; additionally, of the 58% that have begun exploring automated solutions, about half are still conducting a pilot program or have implemented automation within the past 12 months.

Integrating automation technologies into an organization’s existing activities in a way that limits excessive interruption of operations and offers tangible value is challenging.

This article discusses process automation, key usage factors, and weigh approaches to integrating automation into current operations. Whether you are new to the concept of using automation or want to enhance your approach, this paper will give you a strong place to start.

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This article is co-authored by Farhan Bandukda and Ian Carchman.