MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How to Establish an Automation Center of Excellence

Automation technologies can offer considerable value to organizations, but only if they are implemented strategically, on a large scale, and in support of business goals. They also require the businesses using them to actively monitor performance and make adjustments over time.

Because of the complexity of the technologies and the need to think broadly about their capabilities, sophisticated users of automation — whether financial services firms, data management companies, or hospitals — are creating automation (or sometimes “intelligent automation”) centers of excellence (COEs). A COE is a dedicated team of individuals who set standards, provide consulting and development assistance, and monitor the technology’s progress.

About the Author

Thomas H. Davenport (@tdav) is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, a visiting professor at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, and a fellow of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy.

Gina Schaefer is a managing director with Deloitte Consulting LLP and leads Deloitte’s U.S. intelligent automation practice.

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