Intelligent automation will play a critical role in shaping a new, technologically-enabled, post-pandemic future of work, according to new research by Pegasystems, the software company empowering Digital Transformation at some of the worlds leading enterprises. The global study, conducted by research firm, Savanta, surveyed over 3,000 global senior managers and frontline IT staff for their thoughts on technologys future role in a significantly altered business landscape.

The research found that preparedness for future pandemics or similar disruptions was still the main focus for many, with an overwhelming majority (84%) of respondents identifying it as a high priority an unsurprising figure when you consider that nearly one in three (31%) said they were either totally unprepared or not very prepared for the impact of COVID-19. It also found that intelligent automation has emerged as one of the key technologies used to future-proofbusinesses against disruptive events.

A total of 76% of respondents said the pandemic will cause them to increase their intelligent automation investment. Meanwhile, 74% of survey participants agree that further external shocks that temporarily remove people from the workplace will result in more intelligent automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) investment, while 76% also say that unpredictable mass illness and/or self-isolation will drive increased business demand for intelligent automation. Over half (51%) of respondents also said they would increase investment in AI and cloud solutions to guard against the business impact of future pandemics.

More broadly, the study found that technology will have a profound effect on the way we work in the future, with 86% of respondents expecting technology to either significantly change or produce quite a lot of change in the way people in their organisation work over the next five years. Tellingly, 0% of respondents said that technology would drive no change over that period.

Additional findings highlight how other types of technology could also profoundly change the way we work, our job satisfaction and who or what we work with:

We talked to the experts who offer their best practice advice on how automation can provide business advantages and how such capabilities are secure.

David Shepherd, Global VP of Sales Engineering at Ivanti: As the business landscape continually evolves, its important that enterprises can keep up and investing in automation is key to achieving this. The current global pandemic has placed more impetus on businesses to digitally transform in order to continue supporting their employees while they work from home, in the same way as they would be supported working on-premise. The shift to fluid working has increased the demand on IT and security teams, which they must continue to meet at the same level as before, even though they may have less resources available.

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the remote working shift and will likely continue to do so as the equilibrium between remote and office-based working is eventually reached. Remote working places much more responsibility in the hands of employees to protect their corporate networks, which has led to a rapid rise in cyberattacks an increase of 63% according to the Information Systems Security Association. Whats more, with cybersecurity pros moved from security onto other tasks, such as IT support to enable the smooth transition to remote working, this invaluable business practice risks being left to the wayside.

This is where automation comes into play. However, due to the current complexity and dynamic nature of IT and security, it needs to be taken further than basic workflow automation and conversational bots. Businesses should therefore invest in hyper-automation in order to secure their assets and infrastructure, which Gartner defines as the combination of multiple Machine Learning, packaged software and automation tools to deliver work. With hyper-automation, businesses will be able to self-heal, self-secure devices and self-service end-users proactively, predictably and continuously.

Promoting a shift-left approach with hyper-automation and moving problem resolution as close to the end-user as possible can do much for cybersecurity. At its peak, hyper-automation can enable devices to autonomously self-heal and will help businesses react more quickly to real threats. Hyper-automation means autonomous discovery can take place to continuously monitor for changes to the IT environment, giving security teams maximum visibility. Algorithms will then use this information to anticipate and prioritise threats responding to the most critical first and proactive and adaptive remediation will take place autonomously in response to this information.In practice, this capability can respond to a critical patch being released by identifying those devices that need it installed, prioritising it above other updates and proactively installing it before any vulnerabilities are exposed.

With the addition of hyper-automation, security teams can take advantage of automated and predictive analytics to keep on top of their business cybersecurity, despite battling with limited resources. Ultimately, this means security alerts will be responded to faster, and security teams will face less pressure as devices self-heal without alerts or tickets crossing the desks of staff.

Mark Anderson, Senior Director, Global Solutions Architecture EMEA, Equinix: Discussions around robots taking over human processes traditionally conjure up images of a dystopian world where machines reign supreme. While this may be the basis of countless Hollywood scripts and science fiction novels, the reality of using robotics to automate human processes is far more useful.

Machines that automate everyday processes today often focus on simple tasks like packing boxes and monitoring inventory. Because these robots are pre-programmed and assigned specific tasks, supply chain issues can arise when they encounter previously unseen variables. To embrace the next generation of robotics and machine automation, companies across the technology sector have been investing in the development of complex machines capable of leveraging applied sensor-based technology and AI capabilities.

Maximising the future of automation is dependent on a distributed, hybrid multi-cloud IT architecture with low latency and ultra-secure connectivity for the exchange of highly sensitive data. This type of infrastructure provides unrivalled computing power and storage resources to enhance autonomous machine capabilities far beyond the current level.

The term cloud robotics is often used to describe the technology that improves the core AI models in the cloud with insights gathered by connected robots at the digital Edge. This ultimately allows machines to offload all data-intensive tasks to the cloud including image recognition, mapping systems, Machine Learning and software updates. This convergence of IoT, AI and their supporting IT architectures can infuse greater intelligence into robots and will be vital in optimising the autonomous capabilities of machines and delivering better business outcomes.

Cloud robotics will be key in realising the true potential of Industry 4.0 (the next phase of the Industrial Revolution), which aims to improve processes via increased automation, machine-to-machine communication and Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. Ultimately, this maximises efficiency in the overall manufacturing process. The advent of 5G is set to accelerate the true realisation of Industry 4.0 as enterprises from a wide range of sectors look to take advantage of its increased download speeds.

Equinixs flagship cloud connectivity platform, Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric), directly, securely and dynamically connects distributed infrastructure and digital ecosystems on Platform Equinix. Via ECX Fabric, enterprises can quickly add connectivity to hundreds of cloud providers, network providers and other ECX Fabric participants, ensuring access to the systems and applications they need to remain competitive.

This solution also provides a superior level of security because it is based on interconnection the direct and secure transfer of data between businesses, away from the public Internet. The highly secure, scalable nature of interconnection will be fundamental in delivering the next generation of automation as companies look to move, store and process data at the digital Edge to bring about better business outcomes.

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Editor's question: What are the advantages of using automation technology and how are such capabilities secure? - Intelligent CIO ME