Category Archives: Automation

Zeus Kerravala is the founder and principal analyst with ZK Research, and provides a mix of tactical advice to help his clients in the current business climate.

A couple of weeks ago someone asked me to define the term digital transformation. I didnt want to give a long technical answer, so instead I gave the one word answer of speed.In the digital era, market leaders will be defined by which organization can adapt to market trends the fastest. This means the whole company must move with speedbusiness leaders need to make decisions fast, employees need to adapt to new processes quickly, and the IT department must make changes to the infrastructure with speed.

However, IT moving faster does not mean trying to execute the same manual processes 10 percent faster, as that would just lead to more errors. Nor does it mean throwing more people at the problem by adding to the IT staff. IT in the digital era means a complete re-think of operations with automation at the heart of the strategy.

To better understand why this is needed and possible to do today, I interviewed Pablo Stern, general manager and vice president of ITOM for ServiceNow, at the companys recent Knowledge17 event in Orlando last week.

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Why is it time for businesses to take a serious look at their IT operations?

Pablo Stern, GM and VPof ITOM, ServiceNow

We are at an IT inflection point, so there is some urgency for businesses to look at their IT operations. Software is powering our world. Businesses need to realize that software and IT can be used to competitive differentiation. Against this backdrop, we have a number of IT challenges, such as the growth of the hybrid cloud, bimodal IT, device proliferation, data explosion and security threats, making it harder than ever for organizations to control their IT operations. It's either focus and change or go extinct.

With more organizations having mission-critical services, it makes sense for ITorganizations to be proactive versus reactive when it comes to eliminating/preventing service outages. So, what is holding IT organizations back?

The problem isn't lack of desire. The biggest issue is that IT organizations and budgets haven't grown at the pace of the technology they are servicing. The situation with IT isnt pretty right nowmore critical business services, more infrastructure, more silos and increased complexity with less visibility. All this translates to more and bigger service outages that are harmful to the business. The tools of yesterday require so much handholding and manual effort that IT is stuck being tactical. They want to be a strategic partner but are ill-equipped.

How is the intersection of hot technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and automation going to change IT operations?

Intelligent automation is the game changer for IT operations. With machine learning you can synthesize large quantities of data and quickly find insights. Predictive analytics allows you to see ahead by looking backwards. Automation allows the operator to take their hands off the wheel. When combined, IT can quickly assess the landscape, predict what will happen, and take action automatically.

For example, at ServiceNow, we've announced that we leverage anomaly detection and predictive modeling to help IT understand, predict and automate themselves out of service outages. Now, IT truly becomes the strategic partner to the business.

With more businesses investing in hybrid cloud environments, IT departments are facing new sets of challenges, such as increased overhead to deploy, manage and optimize infrastructure. How is ServiceNow going to help deal with this?

Hybrid cloud environments bring a dual challenge to business. The end userwho is trying to leverage these capabilities to get their job doneand ITwho is trying to regain control.At ServiceNow, we give the end user a self-service portal that allows them to deploy and manage their business services. In parallel, we empower IT by giving them complete visibility to their hybrid cloud environment and giving them the tools they need to reduce risk and manage cost. This puts the end user in the driver's seat and enables IT to be strategic. It's a win-win.

There is currently a tremendous amount of fear from IT about automation replacing their jobs. By moving to an automated environment, isnt IT just putting them out of work?

Absolutely not. IT should consider automation their friend. Its a tool to help them do their job better. IT departments are drowning right now in a sea of data, complexity and manual processes, and the problem is only going to get worse. Over the next five years, billions of new devices will be added to the network, all spewing out more data, which will accentuate the problem even more.

Businesses desperately need IT to build new skills, such as data science, analytics and other areas, but IT cant do it if theyre spending all their time doing tasks that could be automated. IT can shepherd in a new era of efficiency, managed by IT, and increase capacity by 10x magnitude. Automation isnt the enemy but rather the salvation for IT.

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IT departments should automate operations now - Network World

Google is putting out a new free marketing tool to help businesses and marketers process more data more easily, with the help of automation.

Called Google Attribution, the tool can help companies better target groups of consumers with content that appeals to them.

Instead of a marketer having to look separately at data from Google Analytics and advertising tools AdWords and DoubleClick, they can use Google Attribution to look at data from those tools together.

Analysis of that data is also automated, the goal being to show users more useful insights into why ads and marketing efforts are effective or not.

Currently in a testing phase, the tool is starting to be rolled out as part of the annual Google Marketing Next conference in San Francisco, where Google announces new products and improvements for advertisers and marketers. Googles revenue comes overwhelmingly from advertising.

A major theme at the conference will be machine learning, so expect to hear more out of the conference about Googles plans to continue automating advertising and marketing tools.

Google has also announced that it is adding new local ads options to YouTube. Now when users of the video platform search topics related to items that may be sold locally, ads with information about a local seller such as address, distance from the user and phone number may pop up. These ads are already in Google Search.

The addition is notable because YouTube is a fast-growing source of ads revenue for Google, and local ads are valuable to Googles most prevalent category of advertisers.

Digital advertising platforms like Google rely more on small businesses than big brands for revenue. Small- to mid-size companies a category of advertiser that especially benefits from local search ads are responsible for 70 percent of digital ad spending, according to GroupM data cited by MoffettNathanson Research.

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Google is adding more automation to its tools for marketers - Recode

This is part of NRNs special coverage of the 2017 NRA Show, being held in Chicago, May 20-23. Visit NRN.comfor the latest coverage from the show, plus follow us on Twitterand Facebook.

Scheduling, delivery and automation were key topics at tech exhibits at the NRA Show, particularly for operators looking to trim labor costs and improve efficiency.

Heres a look at whats new in tech from the show floor:

A new self-service kiosk from BrightSign and Felbro Displays

Delivery and takeout marketplace Grubhub announced an integration with point-of-sale provider Oracle Hospitality that allows restaurants to manage in-house, delivery and takeout orders from one device.

The integration removes a common pain point. Previously, staffers manually put Grubhub orders into the POS system, which took time and left room for error. With the integration, Grubhubs website and apps will also have automatic access to menu updates and pricing changes, and financial information will be consolidated, eliminating the need for staff to juggle information from multiple devices.

The integration includes users of the Breadcrumb POS by Upserve and Toast.

As a result, Toast introduced new takeout and delivery features, as well as a free food-cost calculator that can help operators know what to put on their menu with data from other restaurants in the area and pricing.

OpenSimSim unveiled a free, cloud-based scheduling tool that allows real-time notifications to workers mobile devices, a template for easy schedule creation, and message board and chat capabilities.

Workers can update availability, ask for time off, swap shifts or apply for extra hours. The scheduler has been beta tested in the San Diego restaurants Urge American Gastropub and Pardon My French Bar & Kitchen.

Noodoe showed off its tableside service block, with five customizable calls to action.

Autec's sushi robot

Guests can flip the block to the icon facing up to, say, call their server, or ask for water or the check. The block sends a wireless signal to a digital wristband worn by the server. The wristband vibrates and lets the server know what the guests need and at which table.

The Noodoe block can also be used in the kitchen to allow line cooks to call food runners when a plate is ready. Its also good for private dining or out-of-the-way tables, said Steve Kuo, Noodoes founder. The service block is in use at the California restaurants Cicciottis and Bubs At The Ballpark.

OpenTable has joined forces with QSR Automations DineTime to allow guests to book reservations or get on the waiting list for casual-dining restaurants.

OpenTable offers reservations for more than 42,000 restaurants around the world, including many high-end concepts, while QSR Automations is a kitchen and restaurant management platform for about 80 percent of the largest casual-dining chains. With the partnership, guests can use OpenTable to estimate wait times and add their names to waitlists.

Startup Alley has more interactive exhibits with video games, ping pong and beer pong.

Digital signage specialist BrightSigndebuted a new self-service kiosk, developed in partnership with Felbro Displays.

Self-serve ordering at kiosks has the potential to be the next big thing in restaurant-based digital signage, said Jeff Hasting, BrightSigns CEO, in a statement. Similar to how digital menu boards reinvented the restaurant experience over the past decade, kiosks will be central to restaurant design in the years ahead as proprietors further explore the use of technology to enrich the customer experience.

Autec displayed several models of its sushi robot, a machine of sorts that can make 400 sushi rolls in an hour. Humans must insert the seaweed and the machine rolls out a perfect layer of rice. The human adds the filling fish and wasabi and the robot rolls it into a perfect sushi roll. Another machine cuts the roll into bite-sized pieces.

Zuushas been known for automated scheduling in the quick-service segment, but this year theyre moving into full-service restaurants, offering a labor management program that shows labor and corresponding sales hour by hour throughout a shift, or even down to 15-minute increments. The platform is compatible with NCR, Toast, Micros and Revel systems.

Correction: May 22, 2017 An earlier version of this story misspelled Zuus. It has been updated.

Contact Lisa Jennings at[emailprotected]

Follow her on Twitter:@livetodineout

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The latest in tech: Scheduling, delivery and automation - Nation's Restaurant News

Between 6 million and 7.5 million retail industry jobs are vulnerable to automation within ten years, according to an exhaustive study released this week.

The report, by Cornerstone Capital Group, concluded that the jobs of as many as 47% of the 16 million Americans currently working in retail could be made redundant by highly-automated e-commerce and other innovations. In-store roles most vulnerable to automation include cashiers and order clerks while salespeople and freight handlers are slightly less exposed.

Jobs that require a personal touch like store greeters would also be insulated from direct replacement by robots or apps. But increasing competitive pressure could still make such jobs too expensive for stores to justify.

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Cornerstones study points out that while sales roles are just as likely to be filled by women as men, 73% of retail cashiers are womenand that job is considered one of the most easily automatable in the entire economy. Amazon , for instance, is developing a convenience store format called Amazon Go that has no cashiers. The plan is for sensors and intelligent vision to automatically detect what customers have in their carts and then bill them when they walk out the door.

But details are still being kept under wraps, and in March, Amazon delayed the store's opening while it hones the technology.

Cornerstone lays out two strategies retailers can take in dealing with the shifting landscapewhat could be termed as the low road and the high road. Lower-end retailers can use technology to increase convenience and volume, while high-end shops should focus on technology that enhances the customer experience. If more retailers ultimately focus on using technology to support highly skilled workers and enhance service, it may mean fewer layoffs and even higher pay for staffers.

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Thats essentially the split that strategy expert Howard Yu laid out in a recent piece for Fortune , citing the Apple Stores amazing customer service and mobile card-swipe machines as an example of the high-end approach most likely to preserve jobs. But the recent struggles of department stores like Macys, which have long focused on customer experience and good service, calls into question just how broadly applicable that model might be.

Meanwhile, stores at the lower end of the market are more likely to use technology to eliminate workers, with serious consequences for smaller U.S. cities. Wal-Mart , for instance, has a 25% share of the retail market in U.S. cities with populations under 500,000, suggesting major consequences if it automated a high proportion of jobs.

And of course, predictions about retail automation have fallen short before. Grocery stores began aggressively pursuing self-checkout in the early 2000s, but the technology proved unwieldy and frustrating for customers. Fifteen years later, self-checkout takes up a few lanes at most in any store.

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Retail Automation: Nearly Half of all Retail Jobs Could Be Lost ... - Fortune

Robots really mean skyrocketing economic growth and higher-paid jobs, a new think-tank report reveals.

In a slap in the face to conventional wisdom, Robert Atkinson, president of the DC nonprofit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), and lead author of False Alarmism: Technological Disruption and the US Labor Market, 1850-2015, told The Post the US economy could dig itself out of economic malaise and quintuple US growth from the present anemic 1 percent or so.

And, he added, it could wipe out the almost $20 trillion in staggering federal debt at the same time.

The answer is in the steely embrace of anonymous robots and advanced automation, Atkinson said, explaining, Technology is the big fix.

Just how big? Every 1 percent increase in US productivity brings $50 billion extra to the federal treasury, according to Atkinsons calculations. By that measure, a 10 percent jump in productivity translates into a half-trillion dollars annually.

I agree with President Trump productivity growth is an important component of controlling our debt, Atkinson said. Yes, we are going to have to raise taxes; yes, we are going to have deal with entitlements. But it is an easier nut to swallow if you raise productivity through technology.

Tech-driven innovations have sadly eliminated major categories of jobs and disrupted societies throughout history, Atkinson said. In the 1960s, for example, the US economy lost 40 percent of its telephone operators. However, technology ultimately created many more jobs elsewhere at higher wages, thanks to streamlined activities and more goods and services at lower prices, the ITIF says.

In a doomsday study, the Bank of England estimates that 47 percent of all US jobs may well be replaced by technology in the coming 15 years, eliminating 80 million positions.

Contrary to the doomsayers, Atkinson said tech disruption has abruptly slowed, asserting that it is dismantling fewer jobs today than in any decade since World War II. People see Uber disrupting the taxi market, robots assembling cars and artificial intelligence reviewing legal documents, and they assume no occupation is safe, Atkinson said. But when you look, you find we are actually in a period of relative tranquility.

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Automation actually improves the economy, tech insider says - New York Post

Miami Herald

Goodbye, Card Sound Road toll booths. Automation is on the way Miami Herald A $2 million project to convert the Card Sound Road toll booths in North Key Largo into an automated system could break ground Aug. 1. The Monroe County Commission last week approved a $1.79 million construction contract, along with an $263,700 ...

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Goodbye, Card Sound Road toll booths. Automation is on the way - Miami Herald

Automation is the focus in many data centers, and the term has achieved the sort of buzz that cloud did a few years ago. Everyone is scrambling to adopt IT automation trends. In some cases, IT pros are unsure even what or why to automate, but that doesn't stop them from going full speed ahead.

This complimentary guide helps readers determine the pros,cons and key considerations of DevOps by offering up 5 important questions you should be asking in order to create a realistic DevOps assessment.

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IT personnel have a huge range of products designed to help them automate data center tasks, but taking that first step can be daunting. While there are plenty of resources available to help you get started, they won't answer the most basic question: Why are you looking to automate?

There are a dozen Automation benefits to explore, ranging from cost savings to speed of delivery. While accurate for some shops, many people see these potential advantages and don't stop to ask whether automation will actually help their IT environment. Your business is unique, and so is your data center. Your specific situation may or may not benefit from automation.

Like cloud computing, automation is one of the most important technologies to come along in years. Automation, however, is only worthwhile if it brings business value to your environment; otherwise it becomes a drain on your resources.

As you start to look at IT automation trends and tools, consider what it is you're doing in your data center. Will automation even help? If you look at your IT functions and processes and find very few repetitive tasks or duties, then automation products may not be worth the cost.

If you choose to adopt automation, it will certainly change your data center, its processes and, yes, even some job duties.

Not everyone needs automation. This is especially true if many of your data center's functions are customized. Since no one knows your data center and its processes as thoroughly as you do, evaluate what an IT automation tool can do and see if it makes business sense for your data center -- and not simply technological sense. Everything you do should have a business value. This value may come in the form of better security, more efficient resource consumption or quicker response times. Simply adopting technology because marque IT organizations are setting IT automation trends doesn't necessarily add business value.

Automation is a powerful tool, but it's still just a tool. It has the power to vastly improve your data center operations, but it's important to establish a good foundation before rolling it out widely. It can be a bit hard for IT folks to start small, but this approach can pay off in big ways.

Among IT admins, automation can be a scary topic for various reasons, including the fear of automating yourself out of a job or of automation running amok. In reality, these fears are often overblown. If you choose to adopt automation, it will certainly change your data center, its processes and, yes, even some job duties. But IT pros don't have to be afraid of automation if they do it right. Starting small and gaining ownership is a huge piece of a much larger puzzle.

Of course, it is possible to push automation from the top down, but it will be more beneficial to start at the bottom and let it grow. Not only does this help minimize the damage if something goes wrong, it allows you to engage the people whose tasks automation might claim, such as patching, software maintenance and deployment, and let them champion these new processes. This helps free up staff for more important tasks and establishes a base of people familiar with the newly arrived IT automation tools.

The challenge with IT automation trends, just like any other idea that has the ability to make substantial changes in your data center, is knowing how and where to get started. While management may want to see large-scale improvements from an expensive automation tool, it can be better to start small. This is good for both the overall health of your business and the IT staff. While patching and maintenance items -- such as account resets, reboots and file system clean-up -- may seem minor, they help introduce staff to the process and set expectations. This will help establish a path to more involved automation projects, where the stakes are higher and which come with significant payoffs.

Each successful automation deployment will continue to expose more staff to the advantages of automation and build on previous success. When this happens, automation will no longer be something to add or install into your data center; it will be the foundation upon which you build.

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Site reliability engineering takes automation to the extreme

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Look closely at IT automation trends before rushing in - TechTarget

Do androids dream of taking your job?

Nearly 40 percent of jobs in the United States may be vulnerable to automation, computerization, artificial intelligence, robots and other machines within 15 years, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. USC experts in manufacturing, technology, labor, education and business discuss the continued growing pains for work and society in the age of automation.

As more sophisticated products are created that do not rely on cheap, human labor, automation will increase both profits and the wages of jobs where human workers are still needed.

Automation assists humans in overcoming their inherent limitations in speed, strength, size, accuracy, consistency and reaction time. It also helps in realizing products that have complex shapes and small feature sizes, and which also require high accuracy. People would never be able to create these products on their own.

Finally, automation can be leveraged to create innovative products that cannot be made using manual operations.

SATYANDRA GUPTA Smith International Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the director of the USC Center for Advanced Manufacturing

Automation is never going to stop.

The Luddites had a similar thought a century ago when they tried to destroy the machines. Taxing them is a more refined approach, though it wont necessarily be any more effective than the Luddites hammers were.

Today, the problem is technology is changing very rapidly and companies are coming up with very innovative ways to replace people, and its happening quickly enough that we dont have enough time for people in society to adjust in real time.

The problem is that automation often takes away jobs that are very good matches for peoples unique skills, and then its very hard for that person then to have another job that pays as well.

There are robots that are being deployed right now in parking lots that are taking the place of security guards, and security guard has been one of the last safe places for somebody who doesnt have an advanced college degree who, in the past, might have gotten a job on a manufacturing line that now doesnt exist anymore either. (Adapted from comments to BBC Radio)

ALEC LEVENSON Senior research scientist at the USC Marshall School of Business Center for Effective Organizations

Artificial (i.e. machine) intelligence will play a more prominent role in learning environments shared by people and computers.

The challenges include human-machine communication and the ability of computers to interact with people using natural (spoken and written) language, images, animation or perhaps video.

Some learning systems may be more effective with intelligent computers working along with people to offer real-time support and predictive analytics.

People and computers will literally need to educate each other, and the emerging collaborations and interactions will be unprecedented.

ANTHONY MADDOX Professor of clinical education and engineering at the USC Rossier School of Education and the USC Viterbi School

Supply managers must have the foresight to recognize that employees who fear new technologies may be resistant to adopting or investing in them. Thus, communication about job stability as well as training programs can help C-suite personnel integrate new technologies into employees work functions and assist supply managers in overcoming that resistance.

In addition, conversations throughout the organization about how new technologies will increase both employee and organization efficiency and productivity and how that benefits employees can assist in overcoming employee anxiety.

By helping employees embrace a holistic view of the organization and its evolution, employees gain a vantage point from which they can review an organizations entire logistics network. (Comments excerpted from Inside Supply Management)

NICK VYAS Assistant professor of clinical data sciences and operations at the USC Marshall School and the director of the USC Center for Global Supply Chain Management

A USC professor studies how robots can assist emotional, physical and social rehabilitation. Will the next two decades see them become the best managers of our well-being?

The annual Robotics Open House gives visiting schoolchildren a chance to see how the next generation of robots will change the world.

Two USC schools launch a new center to advance the research of AI and solve social problems ranging from climate change to homelessness.

April marks National Autism Awareness Month, and USC experts weigh in with the latest developments in research, treatment and more.

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Invasion of workplace automation: What happens when a robot has ... - USC News

SMC: Why Nomura Sees 36% Upside for the Automation Stock Barron's SMC (6273.JP) shares have rallied 18% this year but Nomura sees further upside for the Japanese industrial automation equipment maker. Analyst Katsushi Saito says SMC is a cyclical growth stock with very stable earnings. Saito has a buy rating on SMC ...

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SMC: Why Nomura Sees 36% Upside for the Automation Stock - Barron's

New details are emerging on a proposed open process automation architecture, an interestand now an initiativethat manufacturers across most industry segments are supporting in an effort to add flexibility into industrial control. An open approach would also enable their technology infrastructure to scale and evolve, as well as avoid vendor lock-in.

While discussions of the need to create a standards-based, open and secure interoperable control system have been happening for a while, last year, the Open Process Automation Forum was officially formed. The group brings together end users, suppliers, academics and system integrators to map out a blueprint of what the future system should look like. To do that the group has had to have a whiteboard moment, meaning, erasing the current control picture and reinventing what a DCS or PLC looks like in a federated environment where different vendors offerings will work together.

The problem with the current set up is it is rooted in decades of legacy systems that are difficult to integrate to meet the current business needs. But we are entering the fourth industrial revolution where digitization of systems is required to support todays business drivers that include speed, safety, agility and the need to incorporate Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

The business of industry is moving into a real-time realm, said Peter Martin, vice president of business and innovation at Schneider Electric Corp., during his presentation at the ISA Food and Pharmaceuticals Industries Division (FPID) Symposium this week. Just as an example of the dynamic nature of business, Martin points to the price of energy, which changes every 15 minutes. Therefore [business] requires control technology.

The problem is, executives dont know how to deal with real-time control, but industrial engineers do. It is time for us to step up, Martin said.

And thats what the Open Process Automation Forum intends to do.

Dennis Brandl, founder of BR&L Consulting, who is part of the team defining the new requirements for this next-generation system, provided a glimpse into what that might look like using modern technologywhich consists of CPU, memory and networking processing power that are thousands of times faster than what was available in the 1980s and at a fraction of the cost.

It is a system that gets any information from any source with history from any device and any place, optimized for situational awareness, Brandl told a group of attendees at the ISA event. It will be capable of handling things weve not even imagined yet.

Brandls unofficial name for such a system is the Federated Automation Logic Control on Open Network Systems (FALCONS), which is based on distributed control nodes (DCN), a single-channel I/O module that supports both real-time application processing and interfaces with other network protocols. The system is a collection of DCNs with I/O and without I/O, and a DCN connection to the cloud for centralized applications. The set up would provide an execution environment of potentially tens of thousands of nodes.

A modular system allows paced, online, component-by-component migration toward any new platform, Brandl said. Every time you pull [a DCN] out and put a new one in you have more power, speed and capabilities. The system evolves naturally without ever having to do shutdowns.

The DCN infrastructure would consist of: High speed IP-Based wired and wireless Ethernet switch fabric supporting layer 3 switching, VLANs and QoS to enable network flexibility and segmentation. And, even the smallest single point device would have at least a 2GHz multi-core processor, 1GB of memory, 10MB to 1GB network support and multiprotocol support. In addition, a real-time virtual machine enables a shadow mode that would check software patches or updates before they become active to ensure they wont break the system.

The other big gain, Brandl said, is not from a better PID loop. We are darn good at keeping systems under control. Rather, it will come from higher levels of activity including data collection, production execution management, scheduling, tracking and performance analysis. It provides an environment for control at all different levels to close the loop of control.

The systems, too, would take care of communication and DCNs can pick up configuration from a neighboring DCN upon startup.

Timing for delivering this will happen in two stages. First, ExxonMobilwhich was been leading the effort toward an open, standards approach to controlhas a contract with Lockheed Martin to deliver a proof-of-concept using existing technologies by the end of this year. At that time, the specifications for the new architecture should be available with products rolling out in 2018/2019 timeframe.

While it may seem like an insurmountable task to deliver such an open and secure system, Schneiders Martin said it is certainly possible in this age of unconstrained automation.

If we can figure out what the problem is, we have the technology to solve it, Martin said. We can provide control functions in new ways that create incredible value. So technology is not the constraint. Imagination is.

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Industry is Reinventing the DCS - Automation World