How to Automate 80% of your Operational Support?

In the whirlwind of business operations, one aspect stands out as a critical pillar - operational support. It's the unsung hero that ensures smooth sailing of daily operations, providing the necessary assistance to all facets of your business. From customer to IT support, operational support is undeniably integral. However, it is also fraught with routine, monotonous tasks that often consume considerable time and resources.

This is where automation, and more specifically AI-driven automation, emerges as a revolutionary force within operational support. It empowers businesses to offload repetitive, mundane tasks onto automated systems, thus liberating human resources to focus on the more complex, strategic facets of operations. It's not about working harder, but working smarter.

In essence, it's about working smarter, not harder. It is estimated that 80% of companies will adopt Intelligent Automation by 2025. Don’t stay behind your competitors.

This article is proposed by Lampi, a confidential and collaborative AI copilot, aiming to provide AI to your business. If you want to discover more about Lampi, you can find more information in our blog or by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin!

The Importance of Operational Support in Business

At its essence, operational support embodies the core of business activities that ensure smooth, efficient, and uninterrupted daily operations. Whether it's maintaining customer satisfaction, overseeing system functionality, providing employees with requisite resources, or managing a help desk for seamless customer services, operational support takes varied forms depending on the unique needs of the business.

One of the primary goals of operational support is minimizing business disruption while optimizing efficiency, ultimately leading to improved customer satisfaction and a competitive edge in the market.

Why AI-Based Automation Is a Game-Changer for Operational Support

Operational support automation is the process of integrating digital tools and technologies into your existing operational framework, to manage repetitive or high-volume tasks traditionally handled manually. By using automation, businesses can heighten their efficiency, augment accuracy, and direct human resources toward strategic, revenue-generating tasks.

Let's consider the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, which stipulates that 80% of the output or results come from 20% of the input or action. In the context of operational support, it's often observed that a large portion of outcomes (e.g., customer satisfaction, smooth operations, etc.) can be traced back to a small subset of actions - often those that require strategic thinking and a human touch.

Consequently, it makes sense to automate the remaining 80% of tasks, especially if they are routine or mundane, enabling your team to focus their efforts on the critical 20% that drives most outcomes.

Advantages of AI-based Automation

Enhanced Efficiency

AI automation facilitates the simultaneous handling of multiple tasks that would otherwise require a substantial investment of time and human effort. This facilitates swift, accurate completion of tasks, ultimately boosting overall productivity.

Cost Optimization

Significant operational expenses go toward labor costs. AI automation of repetitive tasks can save on these expenses, freeing up resources for growth-oriented initiatives.

Superior Quality

Automated processes, especially those driven by AI, are less prone to errors than manual ones. AI automation helps maintain consistently high-quality standards. Automation, therefore, helps maintain high-quality standards consistently.

Embarking on Your Automation Journey

Automating 80% of your operational support involves a meticulously planned, multi-step process. The route to successful automation consists of:

1. Identifying Automation Potential

Analyze your current operational support processes to pinpoint tasks ripe for automation. Repetitive tasks like data entry or time-intensive tasks like report generation are typically excellent candidates.

2. Selecting Suitable Automation Tools

Upon identifying which tasks to automate, the subsequent step involves choosing the right tools. This choice largely depends on the task type and the desired level of automation.

3. Implementing Automation

This stage requires thoughtful planning, potential workflow adjustments, and the inclusion of all stakeholders to ensure a seamless transition.

4. Monitoring and Refining Automation Processes

Following implementation, diligent monitoring is essential to confirm that the automation process works as planned. Performance metrics offer insights into the process's efficacy, enabling necessary adjustments to optimize the automation further.

Operational Support Areas for AI-Automation

Several operational support areas lend themselves well to AI-automation, offering substantial gains in efficiency and cost savings.

1. Customer Support

By automating customer support, businesses can enhance their customer experience while reducing the load on their support teams. Technologies such as chatbots for handling routine customer queries and automatic email responses to acknowledge customer communications can reduce response times and the need for constant human intervention.

2. IT Support

IT support automation can promptly address common IT issues, enhancing system reliability. RPA bots, for instance, can monitor IT systems round-the-clock, alerting the IT team of any anomalies. Routine IT tasks such as system backup and software updates can also be automated, reducing human workload.

3. HR Processes

Human resources is another area ripe for automation, with tasks like employee onboarding and offboarding, leave management and benefits administration being automatable. Automation tools can streamline these processes, eliminating manual data entry, reducing human error, and saving significant time and resources.

4. Financial Processes

Automation of financial processes like invoice processing, payment processing, and expense reporting improves accuracy and speed. Moreover, it offers better visibility into financial data, aiding informed decision-making.

The Path Forward: Embracing Automation in Operational Support

In a rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to adapt and evolve is vital. Operational support automation, inspired by the Pareto Principle, offers a path to heightened efficiency, cost savings, and improved service quality. By identifying the appropriate tasks for automation, leveraging the right tools, and continuously monitoring and optimizing these processes, businesses can transform their operational support, boosting productivity and fostering growth.

In today's business landscape, the need to automate and optimize operational support is paramount. We, at Lampi, offer comprehensive solutions to help businesses streamline their operations and automate routine tasks effectively.

At Lampi, we prioritize not only efficiency but also security. We have built-in robust measures to protect your data at all times, and all automated processes comply with stringent security standards.

Ready to take the leap into the future with AI? Meet Lampi to discover how our advanced AI solutions can transform your business.

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