The partnership shaking up business process automation.
How your organisation can benefit from automated business processes from Softcat & NexBotix.
Partnerships are at the very core of Softcat, helping them provide innovative technology solutions for businesses to succeed. NexBotix, is Softcat’s Elite Partner for Robotics Process Automation expertise and software, who together with Softcat, help customers achieve operational efficiency in their business processes.
This article lifts the lid on the partnership, explains how and why automation is changing how work gets done, and provides examples of how together, Softcat and NexBotix are delivering some very tangible ROIs.
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Why did Softcat decide to form a partnership with NexBotix?
JW: Automation is a growing market, with many clients needing help in this area, in order to drive efficiencies directly as a result of automating their business processes. It was important to Softcat that we partnered with real experts in this space were culturally a good fit and who would ultimately be able to work as an extension of the Softcat team.
The fact that you had your own platform and work with the biggest brands in the automation space was also key. It ensured that we had the perfect solution for what we deemed to be our ‘sweet spot’ of the mid-market, both commercially and technically.
What typically is the starting point for these mid-market customers?
CP: We regularly get approached by customers wanting to go down the automation route, but they don’t necessarily know where to start, or how to identify which processes will be suitable for automation. Particularly in the mid-market it is common for a business to need some help understanding their own businesses processes and this involves us working closely with their teams and becoming an extended part of their organisation. By working so closely, our team really gets to understand the process and ultimately provides the customer with an even better business case for automation.
Can you provide some detail of how the partnership is currently helping a live client?
CP: An existing project we currently working on is the law firm, MewBurn Ellis who approached us about automating their business processes after attending on of our joint customer events. As a customer already of Softcat, they had identified in their IT roadmap that they wanted to use automation in their invoice processing, and so the Softcat/NexBotix partnership seemed the perfect fit to start a conversation.
The end goal was to streamline their complex invoicing process which involved the use of four different systems, by introducing automation. Our solution used AI assisted OCR to extract the data from their invoices, automated data looks ups and three-way matching, before posting that data onto their finance system.
JW: The interesting thing about this customer is that it wasn’t just about saving money but also about improving the service level agreements that they had with their end suppliers and reducing the backlog of work they had and eliminating errors – which is very typical in manual, complex processes.
How important is it for the partnership work seamlessly together?
JW: Being able to provide a client with joined up, expert resource is critical in a successful project. Traditionally Softcat teams would have existing relationships with the IT team in a client. However, for an automation project to deliver successfully, engagement and involvement from other parts of the business, such as finance, is critical. This is where the partnership pays dividends, as we focus very heavily of building relationships at the very start of the project, ensuring that we have the right people involved, from all sides, from the very beginning. This builds trust, utilises resources and expertise efficiently, and ensures buy in from key stakeholders.
CP: And what we’ve seen is that this allows us to quickly show to the end client the benefits of both working with the partnership and the solution. Often, we quickly are able to discuss additional processes within the organisation that may be suitable to automate, because we’ve been able to jointly engage with the right people and deliver a tangible and transparent ROI for the business. This can only be achieved with a cohesive team that really work together.
For existing customers who may buy multiples lines of business from us, commercially being able to bolt on something like automation to an existing contract, is also of course a benefit. It is critical to us that the partnership approach is seamless for the end customer and provides them with the benefits that they wouldn’t get from another single supplier.
And internally you’re working together also with NexBotix automating Softcat’s processes?
JW: Yes, Softcat are working with NexBotix themselves in two areas – automating their invoice processing and also in relation to their Managed Device Lifecycle offering, which is where customers put a new request in for some hardware or devices. In the latter case, the intelligent software bots pick up the new request information, check the stock, place the relevant order and then circle back to the customer. The automation of our invoice process is also underway, with the solution handling circa 20,000 supplier invoices every month. This means not only is it an exciting time for Softcat where in several areas, automation is helping the business scale and drive efficiencies, but we also fully understand how it feels to be the end customer.
What does the next 12 months look like for the partnership?
JW: From Softcat’ perspective we are continuing to see customers focus and put emphasis on the topic of automation and AI. This is great for the partnership as our joint approach and offering has now got to a stage after a few years where it is relatively mature, with some great customer case studies. We’re exciting about expanding our team internally so that we’re able to take that message to market and really drive home some of the benefits that automation can bring.
CP: We know that there a huge number of customers that we haven’t even scratched the surface with, who are looking to change and modernise some of their working practices. Automation and AI is a game changer in this area, and together in partnership with Softcat, we could really help them address this challenge. It’s certainly looks to be an year full of potential and opportunity for everyone involved.
