Daily Archives: May 17, 2022

As cloud migration gains acceptance, organizations seek better testing strategies for their SaaS-based solutions. With the frequent releases and updates of cloud-based applications, business enterprises look to cope with the requirements of faster and improved testing methods. This demands a high turnaround time for completing the software testing process.

In recent years, test automation has provided a viable solution for improving software quality and efficiency. With the advent of the Oracle Cloud, business enterprises are evaluating how Oracle Test Automation can provide end-to-end testing for their cloud infrastructure. More enterprises look to leverage the capabilities of the Oracle Cloud. For this transition, they need a reliable test automation tool to reduce the turnaround time and ensure continuous delivery.

The good part is there are multiple Oracle Test Automation tools available today. We shall look at three of these tools, namely, Selenium, OATS, and ACCELQ. Which of these three automation tools are best suited for organizations?

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Selenium Vs. OATS Vs. ACCELQ Choosing the Right Oracle Test Automation Solution - Security Boulevard

by Ty Trumbull May 16, 2022

Robotic process automation (RPA) software provider UiPath and airSlate, a workflow automation company, have announced a new partnership that aims to help small businesses digitally transform their organizations through RPA.

AirSlate offers a number of solutions including electronic signature offerings and document management solutions. The company has over 900,000 customers and 100 million users around the globe.

The UiPath automation platform, meanwhile, has been adopted by more than 10,000 organizations, including many of the worlds largest corporations and government agencies. The company recently announced the appointment of Google Cloud and SAP veteran Robert Enslin to co-CEO a title he shares with UiPath founder Daniel Dines.

The pair of companies say they hope to expand the range of options that small businesses have in order to become fully automated.

In some ways, the UiPath and airSlate partnership counters emerging RPA software providers in the SMB market. Examples includeRewstandElectroNeek.

Indeed, Rewst hired ConnectWise and Perch Security veteran Wes Spenceras president in February 2022. Earlier,Rewst raised $3.5 million from Florida Fundersin November 2021. Also,ElectroNeek in mid-29021 raised$20 millionin Series A funding.

Elsewhere,Ingram Microagreed to distributeUiPaths RPA softwareworldwide, the two technology companies confirmed in May 2021.

Those milestones suggest automation software is catching on with MSPs.

There are over 32 million small businesses in the United States, representing 99% of all companies. The partners believe there is an opportunity to streamline operations by removing mundane work and complementing workers in small businesses with software robots.

This process is known as robotic process automation (RPA), a rapidly growing segment that is being spurred on by customer demand. In fact, the global RPA software market is expected to reach $13.74 billion by 2028, up from $1.57 billion in 2020. The markets compound annual growth rate from 2021 to 2028 is expected to be 32.8%, Grand View Research predicts.

RPA software allows businesses to write code and bots that rapidly automate manual tasks across multiple departments from IT service desks to HR, finance, customer support and more. The fast-growing market segment is generating strong M&A activity. An expansive RPA M&A list is available here.

The partnership of airSlate and UiPath is leaning into that offering as it aims to add a new layer of automation to the enterprise IT stack.

Dhruv Asher, Senior VP for Alliances and Business Development, UiPath

Dhruv Asher, senior VP for alliances and business development, UiPath, commented:

Small businesses are the backbone of the global economy. airSlates impressive and efficient marketing model can rapidly attract global businesses worldwide. Through our collaboration, we will be able to enhance the automation potential for fast growing businesses, providing capabilities that can help smaller companies become large, more successful enterprises faster.

Borya Shakhnovich, CEO, airSlate said:

Now more than ever, we see huge demand from organizations of all sizes that need the agility and efficiency of the no-code airSlate platform to drive their business. This partnership with UiPath affirms the vision behind airSlate while exposing our solution to a broader enterprise market. The no-code revolution is only beginning, and partnerships like this will help power our team to innovate even more quickly, providing seamless business automation, and best-in-class functionality for our customers.

Disclosure: ChannelE2E Editorial Director Joe Panettieri is a member of Florida Funders.

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UiPath and airSlate Announce Partner on Robotic Process Automation for Small Businesses - ChannelE2E

These two Microsoft Dynamics powerhouses will support companies of all sizes to automate processes, increase efficiency, and improve accuracy while reducing cost and compliance risk.

DOVER, Del. , May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- SignUp Software a premiere AP Invoice Automation solution for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, and Dynamics 365 Business Central, today announced its partnership with Velosio to empower the delivery of full and embedded accounts payable automation and invoice processing solutions to Velosio's Microsoft Dynamics customer base.

SignUp Software and Velosio, a leading Microsoft Business Applications and Azure partner, have signed a partnership agreement to jointly provide SignUp Software's accounts payable (AP) and invoice process automation solution, ExFlow. This partnership will enable Velosio customers to improve AP automation efficiency for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain and Dynamics 365 Business Central. In FY22, Velosio and SignUp Software will collaborate on training and enablement initiatives while jointly executing a go-to-market strategy.

Velosio will become a full-service provider of ExFlow, SignUp Software's best-in-class AI-Driven AP automation platform and suite. These two Microsoft Dynamics powerhouses will support companies of all sizes to automate processes, increase efficiency, and improve accuracy while reducing cost and compliance risk. ExFlow is uniquely configured for manufacturing, retail & CPG, healthcare, services, finance, and other industries.

"We are very excited to announce and launch our partnership with Velosio, who we consider to be a premier Microsoft Partner organization. With our investments in extending and deepening our ExFlow solution and Velosio's industry knowledge, best-in-class delivery, and forward-looking leadership team, I am confident that our customers will benefit greatly in their financial automation journey," says Michael Medipor, CEO of SignUp Software North America. "We are poised to help our customers realize business outcomes at a faster pace as they automate their business processes today and well into the future."

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ExFlow is an accounts payable automation solution developed specifically for Microsoft Dynamics ERP platforms. Digitizing financial processes has become a key strategy for businesses in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-evolving business transformation environment that most organizations embrace. "ExFlow enables organizations to increase efficiency, transparency, and control in their AP Invoicing process, driving down costs while generating substantial process savings. Some customers have experienced 500% efficiency gain," Michael Medipor continues. "We see that ExFlow solves real tangible business challenges within our customers globally. Today, more than 1,200 customers rely on ExFlow to empower their AP Invoice process across the globe."

Velosio, the 2021 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central US Partner of the Year, provides support and services to thousands of clients in North America. SignUp Software's ExFlow can enhance the value of Dynamics 365 and provide clients with a modern, more efficient AP automation experience.

"Our team tailors the implementation of Dynamics 365 to the needs of each client, which is most often accomplished through configuration of the solution, Velosio IP or enhancements built on the Microsoft Power Platform," says Joseph Longo, CEO of Velosio. "We see a great opportunity to help our clients improve AP processing efficiency and accuracy with SignUp Software's ExFlow and are excited to establish this relationship."

About SignUp Software

SignUp Software (NASDAQ: SIGNUP) was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1999. Its accounts payable (AP) and invoice process automation solution, ExFlow was launched in 2003. ExFlow enables organizations to increase efficiency, transparency, and control in their AP Invoice process, driving down costs while generating substantial process savings. Globally, more than 1200 customers rely on ExFlow to empower their AP and Invoice processes in over 60 countries.

SignUp Software is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) that currently operates out of Sweden (HQ), Denmark, USA, The Netherlands, and Australia, with over 100 employees and 90 resellers across the globe. For more information please visit us at https://www.signupsoftware.com/

About Velosio

Velosio is a leader in deploying business applications through the cloud and delivering unparalleled client experiences. One of the largest Microsoft partners in North America, Velosio supports the entire Microsoft Dynamics portfolio, Microsoft 365 family and Azure services. The solutions portfolio includes ERP, CRM, Productivity, Business Intelligence and Power Platform, and extends to NetSuite and Sage. As the only Microsoft Cloud Distributor that specializes in Dynamics 365, Velosio also provides licensing and support to hundreds of growing Microsoft partners throughout North America. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Velosio serves over 4,000 clients throughout the US and Canada. http://www.velosio.com

Media Contact

Veronica Henley, SignUp Softwae, 3057760455, veronica.henley@signupsoftware.com

SOURCE SignUp Softwae

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SignUp Software and Velosio Ink North America Partnership to Deliver Integrated, AI-driven AP Automation for Microsoft Dynamics 365 - Yahoo Finance

Kongsberg Geospatial, developer of the TerraLens Geospatial Software Development Kit, has partnered with Iris Automation to enhance their Casia-G ground-based DAA system. Casia G is a ground-based surveillance system that continually monitors the airspace using a 360-degree optical solution to ensure UAS operation is safe from intruder aircraft. Iris Automation has recently received its second FAA Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver to conduct flight operations in Reno, Nevada using Casia G. Kongsberg Geospatial now offers an operator situational awareness display fully integrated with Casia G that will provide visual cues, alerts and warnings as Casia G detects an intruder or if loss of separation occurs.

Iris Automation pioneered Casia I and Casia X, the first on-board, autonomous commercial collision avoidance safety systems for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Casia G leverages the same AI and computer vision technology - but stationary - to detect aircraft as they approach your UAS operation. In achieving the FAA waiver, Iris Automation had to prove a performant sensor solution for conducting safe BVLOS operations, which will be unlocking the full potential of drones.

This revolutionary sensor capability is combined with the decades of Kongsberg Geospatial display experience in airspace management. The joint capability will allow for an "electronic observer" vs a human observer.

"We are so pleased to partner with one of the premier airspace visualization software providers globally and utilize the situational awareness capability that they designed specifically for our product, Casia G." Said Jason Hardy-Smith, CTO of Iris Automation.

"We are excited to be partnered with Iris Automation and assist with drone flights in the National Airspace. The ground-based optical DAA is a proven cost-effective solution relative to other ground-based DAA systems," said Jordan Freed, President of Kongsberg Geospatial. "We look forward to commencing BVLOS flights in Reno this summer."

Source:http://www.kongsberggeospatial.com

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Kongsberg Geospatial Partners with Iris Automation to Enhance Casia-G Ground-Based Detect and Avoid System - AZoRobotics

Automation software expert OneVision and ctrl-s have been chosen as solution providers by the albelli-Photobox Group, one of the leading players in the online European photo product and gifting market. With the solution for an automated end-to-end workflow, the albelli-Photobox Group increases plant efficiency, production capacity, and sustained long-term corporate growth.

Regensburg. As one of the fastest growing photo print service providers, a key objective of the albelli-Photobox Group is to streamline multiple IT solutions with one platform. For this purpose, a Manufacturing Platform project was initiated. The joint workflow automation expertise of OneVision and ctrl-s ensures the print service provider with an automated end-to-end workflow. The albelli-Photobox Group has started to implement the manufacturing software solution across three European production plants. The implementation is realized with a cloud-based virtual plant management solution. One interface provides complete visibility and the opportunity for continuous improvement across the board.

OneVisions Automation Suites and the Symphony Smart Factory Framework of ctrl-s are providing a state-of-the art solution that enables albelli-Photobox Group the flexibility to grow and sustain their position as one of the leading players in the online European photo product and gifting market.

OneVision Software AG is an international software manufacturer for automation of production processes in the printing and publishing sectors as well as numerous other industry segments. For almost 30 years, the companys automation solutions have helped more than 3,000 customers worldwide to achieve greater profitability. As a globally active company, the OneVision Group comprises entities in Germany, USA, Great Britain, France, Brazil, Singapore and India.

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albelli-Photobox Group Selects OneVision Software and ctrl-s as Automation Partners - WhatTheyThink

As the world is moving rapidly towards automation, in India many things are still done manually. A recent video shared by Erik Solheim, a former Norwegian diplomat, shows how many Indians complete their tasks with almost robotic precision and coordination.

In a 53-second video shared by Solheim, a group of men can be seen rapidly cutting and stacking cabbages. The undated video, which appears to have been shot at a wholesale vegetable market, shows the men filling a whole sack of cabbages in less than a minute.

While sharing the video, Solheim wrote, This is why India doesnt need robotic automation.. So far, more than six lakh people have viewed the video.

Commenting on Solheims tweet, many people argued that introducing automation in a country like India, where there is no dearth of workers, will only result in unemployment.

Making this point, a Twitter user wrote, In a country where the human capital is high, the biggest challenge is to get them engaged so as to earn & live, otherwise they would take Robbery, Drugs etc. In such a country automation needs to be moderated. Macro Economics is important.

Another person remarked, Automation needs to be done where there is a need. Like high risk jobs, jobs which need a lot of accuracy etc. There is no point in automating everything. If everything is done by a machine, it means less jobs for people > no income > no purchasing power. No sales.

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Watch: This video shows why India does not need robotic automation - The Indian Express

MQTT is becoming a popular protocol forIndustrial IoT (Internet of Things) data.Developed for connecting remotedevices to a central server, it is lightweight, efficient,and secure. However, IoT implementationsare growing larger and more complex, and demandis increasing for OT/IT connectivity. MQTT is nowbeing called on to aggregate and send diverse collectionsof data values over increasingly complexnetwork topologies.

To meet these challenges MQTT must getsmarter. As a transport protocol, MQTT specifiesthat messages are simply carriednot readlikea letter in the post. But that doesnt have to bethe case. What would happen if the letter carriercould read the mail? In other words, what if wegave an MQTT broker the ability to parse themessages it carries? It would be able to handlemessages more intelligently and include someinformation on the status of the data source orquality of the connection.

Data collectionA smart broker should be able to collect datain an intelligent way. For example, on largesystems data can come from a wide varietyof MQTT devices, each with its own messageformat. A broker that parses messages couldconvert these to a common message representationand make that available to all clients.Other data sources might include non-MQTTprotocols such as OPC UA, Modbus, DDE, andothers. A smart broker with protocol conversioncapabilities could act as a gateway for thisdata to any MQTT client or cloud ser vice.

Data consistencyIn real-time industrial systems, data consistencyfrom source to consumer is vital. Data thatsstale or out of correct time sequence can lead toincorrect decisions. Any disconnects or networkirregularities must be known.

Data can become inconsistent in several ways.If messages arrive at an MQTT broker faster thanthey can be delivered, some may be dropped. Ordata from multiple message streams may get sentto a client out of sequence. Also, if a data sourcegoes offline, the client may not know whether anunchanged value is current or stale.

A smart broker can ensure data consistencyby queueing incoming data in an intelligent way,passing on only the latest values. It can alsoparse timestamps on messages from differentdata streams to sequence them properly, as wellas pass along data and connection quality informationwith each value update.

Data securitySecurity is critical when accessing data from aproduction system. The MQTT push architecturethat connects outbound through firewalls isquite secure, but many corporate security policiesrequire isolating OT systems using a DMZ. This isproblematic for MQTT since messages must bepassed via two or more servers, while MQTT qualityof service guarantees are only valid for a singlesender-receiver hop. As a result, data at the endof a multi-hop daisy chain can become unreliable.

A smart broker that parses messages andconverts protocols can solve this problem byusing a tunnel. The device producing the MQTTdata would connect to one instance of the smartbroker. The message data, along with qualityand timestamp information, gets tunnelled viaa secure, TCP-enabled protocol to a secondinstance of the smart broker. That instance wouldconvert the data back into MQTT, with values,timestamps, and quality codes intact.

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Advantages of a Smart MQTT Broker - Automation World

Intelligent automation enables public servants to focus on creative tasks that only humans can do. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

Most government organisations have embarked on a digital transformation program and automated some processes in their operations. Some are at an early stage of this journey, others are more advanced. While circumstances from organisation to organisation may differ, the rationale underpinning the automation push remains the same to remove friction from business processesand reduce errors that can be introduced by manual keying and rekeying of data.

Challenges are heightened in the public sector and amongst healthcare organisations in particular, many of which are using legacy systems to deal with increasing volumes of data. At the same time, they are operating with diminished budgets that make it difficult to justify investment in new technology unless there is proven ROI.

Public sector organisations systems were placed under even more pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown forced government and healthcare bodies to accelerate the implementation of technology to ensure people could access the essential services they needed remotely.

By fully embracing intelligent automation, many organisations implemented a step-change in the way they work and enjoyed significant benefits. These benefits were discussed at a webinar held in April hosted by SS&C Blue Prism Canada entitled Accelerating digital transformation: how intelligent automation can set the foundations for government and healthcare of the future.

One organisation that has already reaped significant benefits from embarking on its own digital transformation journey is ATB Financial, part of the Crown Corporation of Canada, which provides financial services to more than 770,000 residents and businesses.

It started exploring the benefits of intelligent automation in 2017 to support customer journeys, create value for its clients, and at the same time drive internal productivity improvements.

Janka Coppens, managing director, intelligent automation, at ATB Financial, explained that the institution has focused on automating non-value-added tasks, enabling consistent and reliable customer experiences, and providing clients with choices in how they deal with us.

The team redesigns inefficient processes by combining RPA with complementary technologies such as machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing. We leverage design thinking and lean management principles to find sustainable and scalable solutions for the future, Coppens said.

The ROI that ATB Financial has enjoyed since adopting this approach has been impressive. According to Coppens, it has resulted in 16.5 million cumulative efficiency savings, which equates to 340,000 hours in work effort and that number is increasing every month. By embracing automation ATB has also reduced cycle time by 99%. Something that used to take three days to fulfil now takes three minutes, she said.

Although she readily admits automation is not a silver bullet it needs to be fit for purpose Coppens added that automating processes has freed up team members and increased the capacity for them to be able to focus on value added, complex work. So weve taken away the mundane.

It is a similar scenario at Alberta Health Services (AHS), Canadas leading healthcare organisation, which supports 4.6 million citizens. The intelligent automation work it has been doing initially focused on corporate functions, but going forward AHS intends to transform clinical functions as well by automating processes that employees hate doing. So were trying to enact that kind of if you hate it automate it mentality, explained Jesse Tutt, innovative IT intelligent automation lead at AHS.

Using SS&C Blue Prism software the team led by Tutt has deployed 16 automations and freed up more than 22 full time equivalent (FTE) of capacity in just 15 months.

We have freed up in the area of around 20,000 annualised hours to date by implementing intelligent automation, said Tutt. In the next month, we should double that, and then in six months we should triple it. Thats our goal. So were going to get some really exciting automations in our pipeline.

Grant Abrams, partner and Ottawa market leader, management consulting, at KPMG Canada, is as excited as Tutt about the improvements governments can make by embracing intelligent automation. Abrams remit is to help public sector organisations to optimise their corporate service functions in particular, often by leveraging AI and RPA.

He noted that historical attitudes towards automation and digital workers have changed. I know that certainly in the early days, there was a lot of reluctance around the robots are coming, theyre going to take away our jobs, but from what Ive seen with most clients, theyre actually quite accepting of the idea of having digital workers come in and take away the boring parts of their job. It frees them up to do the creative things that only humans can do in terms of complex problem solving, said Abrams.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the benefits organisations can enjoy by implementing intelligent automation. It is about more than just the efficiency and cost savings, he added. The robots work 24/7 so the turnaround times are a really big improvement as well. Also, they always do what you tell them. Humans make mistakes. If robots make a mistake, its because you told them to do the wrong thing. So you enjoy significant error rate reductions as well.

While some of the historical attitudes towards intelligent automation have softened, Steve Picot, vice president, Americas public sector and Latin America, at SS&C Blue Prism, observed that some organisations had been slow to embrace the technology. He felt that the single biggest roadblock for these was figuring out were RPA first takes root and exists within public sector bodies. Is it a business process or is it an IT process? That relatively simple question can be a hindrance for a lot of these programs getting started, he said.

He added that theres no such thing as a job that cant be made better by RPA and that if organisations embraced the technology which in turn would help them to hit the bottom line, increase profitability and productivity, decrease costs and decrease risk, this would enable them to get cross-functional agreement on widely implementing intelligent automation.

Abrams agreed with Picot that a successful roll-out of intelligent automation requires a partnership between IT and the business side of an organisation. And while he advised that the technology may not be the answer to every challenge you need to use the right tools for the right problems Abrams said that every organisation could benefit from embracing it.

I think some naysayers would say that in a perfect world we dont need intelligent automation all of our systems would be perfectly integrated and we would have end-to-end automation, he added. And that may or may not be the case. But what is definitely true is we dont live in a perfect world, and we never will, so intelligent automation is here to stay and needs to be part of your digital toolkit.

This SS&C Blue Prism Canada webinar was held on 14 April, with support from Global Government Forum. You can watch the 75-minute webinar via our dedicated event page.

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Canadian public sector organisations drive efficiencies and boost creativity through intelligent automation - Global Government Forum