Nearly nine in 10 IT professionals say process automation has helped drive business growth over the past year, according to the State of Process Automation Report 2022 released by Camunda. But, while eight in 10 say process automation has grown in priority over the past year, the report concludes that organizations still face challenges that can slow adoption. The second annual State of Process Automation Report surveyed more than 600 IT decision makers in North America and Europe.

"The State of Process Automation Report shows how organizations are generating tangible ROI from their process automation investments, achieving higher levels of operational efficiency and freeing up overworked staff members to concentrate on higher-value tasks," said Jakob Freund, chief executive officer at Camunda. "The report also uncovers several ways that organizations can remove blockers and get the most from their process automation initiatives, including bringing IT and business into closer alignment and embracing cloud-based, open architectures."

The majority of survey respondents said process automation is taking on an increasingly important role in their organizations.

• More than 90% describe process automation as vital for digital transformation
• One in three say they are achieving 100% or better one-year ROI from process automation
• Nearly nine in 10 say their organizations plan to increase investments in process automation over the next two years, with 46% planning significant increases.

But the survey also showed that impediments to adoption still exist. Just 12% of respondents say they've been implementing process automation as planned this year, citing a reliance on outmoded technology, lack of knowledge of how to get started, and confusion over industry terms such as hyper-automation and robotic process automation (RPA).

Findings indicate that process automation is being used for a wide variety of tasks across organizations - everything from connecting Internet of Things (IoT) devices' information flows to performing telco/voice interactions. For the second straight year the IoT topped the list as the most popular use case for automated processes, being utilized by 47% of respondents' organizations. Other popular use cases include websites and customer portals, APIs and packaged enterprise applications.

IT leaders cited a number of business drivers for pursuing process automation initiatives. A desire to deliver better customer service was the top priority for the second straight year, listed by 32% of all respondents. Other top drivers included a corporate/strategic push for digital transformation, saving money and reducing errors in business processes.