Automation Accelerates Scalability and Revenue for SMBs
Although automation and RPA are not new technologies, they have recently become accessible to smaller companies. With the introduction of subscription-based models, businesses on any budget can enhance the efficiency of their workflows and widen their profit margins with process automation.
Contrary to popular belief, automation has value in making employees’ work more enjoyable, taking on the most mundane and repetitive of tasks, so employees can focus on what they enjoy most. Presently, workers of all backgrounds have taken a step back to rethink how they want to spend their time, and leaving positions that often make them feel pointless or burnt out due to demanding, boring or repetitive work that requires a lot of their time. More than 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
This is one area that Roth Automation believes automation is well suited for, and they believe that the Great Resignation stems from the delayed adoption of much needed technological advancements to improve business operations.
Jonathan “Jon” Roth, CEO and President of Roth Automation saw the opportunity in the automation-as-a-service model and decided to tap into the SMB market. As we know, the SMB market is a wide opportunity for automation as the utilization of technology for improving operations is lacking in these industries.
Jon Roth started offering automation solutions in 2008. Later, he launched Roth Automation, with its main home base in Paramus, NJ. Its global development team is managed by Guy Sanfilippo, the Sr. Solutions Architect, and a friend he has known for 20 years.
Jon understood that small and medium-sized businesses were an underserved market and wanted to explore, "how to offer automation to customers without burdening their budgets?"
Jon had experience with OCR and Conversational AI technologies earlier, now Robotic Process Automation (RPA) caught his attention. However, he recalls “it was hard establishing relations with traditional RPA vendors. They did not offer the support we needed to service smaller companies in this new market.”
While searching for suitable RPA vendors, an ElectroNeek representative coincidentally reached out to Jon on LinkedIn.
Intrigued by ElectroNeek’s unique proposal, he signed a deal July 2021 and started to develop bots with the ElectroNeek platform.
ElectroNeek’s Platform was Instrumental in Helping Roth Automation Serve a New Market
Initially, the once enterprise-focused company faced the challenges of rebranding to serve smaller businesses. The new strategy required time and patience to drive Roth Automation in this new direction.
Though RPA maximizes productivity across all market segments, many businesses are unfamiliar with the technology.
“Due to this lack of understanding, they are unable to see the value in it. So we started with demonstrating its value. We easily approach industries in banking and insurance because we are very familiar with the industry. With task automation, you need to know what the activities and the jobs are,” states Guy.
Roth Automation started with a team of three developers, an inside salesperson, and a partner with half a dozen employees trained on the ElectroNeek platform. They soon started gaining traction and signed their first client.
Challenge Automation Biases “One Bot at a Time”
Jon Roth believes the future is promising for RPA services. "I see huge opportunities for automation. Previously, only large companies had the resources and budget to automate, but I see it becoming more common in SMBs. In the past, automation technology has allowed companies to be more competitive. ElectroNeek's subscription program allows smaller companies to take advantage of automation at a small cost with a high return on investment," he says.
Jon believes IT Service Providers should carefully research and consider options for the right automation partner.
“We have been at the leading edge of product development, and getting vendor support can be painful. My advice is to make sure you have the support and the right platform. Another benefit of ElectroNeek is that we retain our relationship with our customers,” adds Guy Sanfilippo.
Roth’s advice for IT service entrepreneurs who are looking to add automation to their services, is to take it embrace the change and challenge automation biases, taking it “one bot at a time.”
