Workflow Automation Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Workflow Automation Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Workflow Automation Market is expected to witness a CAGR of 9.52% over the forecast period, 2022-2027. There is increasing adoption of artificial intelligence and related new technologies, such as computer vision, cognitive automation, and machine learning to robotic process automation. This convergence of technologies produces automation capabilities that dramatically elevate business value and competitive advantages for customers.

Key Highlights

• The growing demand for workflow software from organizations is leading to rapid investment in the development of more sophisticated and efficient software. According to the Pulse and Workato State of Automation Report 2021, over the next two years, 64% of business professionals at enterprise organizations are planning to build automation that focuses on improving employee experience. (Survey size - 100 IT executives across different domains, such as finance, HR, marketing, customer support, etc.)
• The increasing demand for workflow software by organizations is leading to rapid investment in the development of more sophisticated and efficient software. There is increasing adoption of artificial intelligence and related new technologies ranging from computer vision, cognitive automation, and machine learning to robotic process automation. This convergence of technologies produces automation capabilities that dramatically elevate business value and competitive advantages for customers.
• Ericsson’s Mobility report in June 2021 predicted 580 million 5G subscriptions by the end of 2021; by 2026, there might be 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions that may drive the growth of IoT devices. It is expected that North America will have the highest share of 5G subscriptions of all regions, amounting to 84% in 2026. Much of this IoT growth is likely to be credited to reductions in chipset prices and the expansion of cellular technologies, such as NB-IoT and Cat-M1.
• Unlike any new technology implementation, workflow automation can create risks for cyberattacks directed at both human and non-human accounts. As a result, process automation security is of critical importance. RPA bots often work on confidential data, transferring it from one system to another. If data is not protected, it can be leveraged, costing businesses millions.
• With the onset of COVID-19, the vulnerability of supply chains has been exposed. For most IT organizations, a fragile ecosystem includes providers of critical IT services. In addition, work-from-home mandates led the service providers to ensure that mission-critical enterprise customers have the necessary tools and technologies to enable the speed, security, quality, and overall efficacy of services provided.

Key Market TrendsIncreasing Adoption of IoT Across Industries

• The emerging applications and business models, coupled with the falling device costs, are instrumental in driving the adoption of IoT. Consequently, there is also a rise in the number of connected devices (connected cars, machines, meters, wearable, and consumer electronics).
• The quick adoption of Industry 4.0 policies in the manufacturing sector led to a new generation of process automation. Traditional SOPs are now being replaced by workflow automation. Almost anything in the world, ranging from sensors and machinery in production environments to cars and kitchen gadgets, is now being connected to networks, buoyed by the increased adoption of mobility and BYOD policies.
• IoT connectivity is beginning to feed a new level of intelligence for buildings by analyzing system-level data. It is being extensively used in energy services firms and companies providing fault detection and diagnostics. AI algorithms with access to building data solve more challenging problems that many complex systems have within larger institutional buildings.
• October 2021-Flowfinity Wireless Inc., a leading no-code platform for business process automation, announced the release of the Flowfinity M1, an industrial IoT Controller pre-configured to integrate seamlessly with Flowfinity Actions mobile data collection and workflow automation platform.
• According to Ericsson, the volume of 400 million IoT devices with cellular connections in 2016 is projected to reach the 1.5 billion mark in 2022. This robust growth is expected to be driven by the increased industry’s focus on deploying a connected ecosystem and the standardization of 3GPP cellular IoT technologies. Besides, the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic across the world has disrupted the retail market. Many countries entered a state of lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, with temporary closures of schools, bars, restaurants, and non-necessity retail stores. In most countries, food and local grocery stores have experienced shortages of supplies as people are stockpiling goods. Customers are not purchasing a non-utility product from an e-commerce website due to the fear of the spread of viruses through the packaging material.

Asia-Pacific Expected to Register the Fastest Growth During the Forecast Period

• With the increasing competition in the Chinese market, various industries in the country have been improving workflow through digital transformation. For instance, Dongfeng Nissan initiated its digital transformation program aimed to improve efficiency and speed up the process to market a line of new vehicles. The company launched its digital transformation strategy for promoting the better use of data aimed to improve existing workflows, streamline internal business operations, and promote overall efficiency. As part of the program, the company implemented robotic process automation (RPA) software, UiPath, to automate repetitive digital tasks.
• China Unicom's Intelligent Network Innovation Center worked with Huawei in 2021 to develop and deploy an AI-powered network management and operations platform based on Huawei's AUTIN system. The company deployed an AI-based network management and operations platform to use data to simplify and automate national network operation, planning, and management while improving cost-effectiveness, customer experience, and sustainability as it rolled out 5G networks and services.
• Automation is one of the most crucial parts related to the future of work approach, and Japan is innovating through AI. According to the Nomura Research Institute, the AI sector in the country will see a massive stride by 2035. Automation companies such as Abeja, NEC, and others innovate to bring more production efficiency to push Japan's GDP.
• Automation has been playing a major role in India's economic development. The country is currently witnessing a transition in most sectors through the implementation of technology and innovation. The National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (NSAI) highlighted that AI is predicted to accelerate India's annual growth rate by 1.3% by 2035.
• Southeast Asia and Australia are prominent regions in the Rest of Asia-Pacific. Southeast Asian companies are preparing employees for an AI-centered future and embracing new technologies. This would require enterprises to plug the skills gap through a proper upskilling strategy. Digitization would help the region to create globally competitive partnerships for local companies as well as improve the potential for global expansion and support a successful technology and knowledge transfer.

Competitive Landscape

The Workflow Automation Market is competitive and consists of several major players, such as IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Pegasystems Inc., Xerox Corporation, and Appian Corporation. These companies are leveraging on strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and profitability.

• September 2022 - airSlate, a global documentation workflow automation platform, launched the introduction of a novel affiliate program, which is now accessible on key platforms like Shareasale.com, Impact.com, and Partnerstack.com. With the introduction, airSlate has made a strategic investment in its community of partners, enabling affiliates to collaborate and market the company's market-beating eSignature and PDF editing products.
• December 2021 - Software AG joined IBM Z and Cloud Modernizations center to help IBM X clients accelerate their applications, data, and processes in an open hybrid cloud architecture.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

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