Part 2 of a peak at 7x24 Exchange is with Amaya Souarez. Part 1 with David Schirmacher is here.
Amaya has a long background in the data center industry with time at Microsoft, CyrusOne and now with First Data Corporation. Amaya is working on Global Infrastructure Operations at First Data Corporation and she is presenting on robotic process automation. Huh?
Let’s give a simple example of what a robot could do. You have a technician show up to service a backup generator, unit #1. The technician is an experienced person working on many generators. They show up at the building. Badge in. Given access to the appropriate areas. Enter the building. Where is generator 1. Working on enough data centers they have a feeling where the general location is in the building. There are maps that show exits. But the individual rooms are not labeled. They find their way to the generator room, badging in. There are 4 generators in front of them. Which generator is #1. Are they labeled no. Is there anyone else in the room? no. They could wait until someone shows up. Look at each unit trying to find the serial number of the unit they are working on. Seems like a big waste of time. Why isn’t there a location bot. A service that helps the technician find generator 1? Why isn’t there service history that comes up showing past maintenance events when they should up in front of the device?
That is what a robotic process could do. But why is this so hard. Amaya and I discussed how processes turn into ways that are so hard to change. What is all too often a case is the resistance to change is a primary driver. And misinformation gets used to shoot down the ideas to change. The classic use of this is fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).
“The term appeared as far back as the 1920s.[1][2] A similar formulation “doubts fears and uncertainties” reaches back to 1965.[3] By 1975, the term was appearing abbreviated as FUD in marketing and sales contexts:[4] and in public relations.[5] The term FUD is also alternatively rendered as “Fear Uncertainty and Disinformation”.[6]
One of the messages dealt with is FUD—the fear, uncertainty and doubt on the part of customer and sales person alike that stifles the approach and greeting.
FUD was first used with its common current technology-related meaning by Gene Amdahl in 1975, after he left IBM to found his own company, Amdahl Corp.: “FUD is the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that IBM sales people instill in the minds of potential customers who might be considering Amdahl products.”[7] The term has also been attributed to veteran Morgan Stanley computer analyst Ulrich Weil. This usage of FUD to describe disinformation in the computer hardware industry is said to have led to subsequent popularization of the term.[8]”
Amaya hopes to dispel the FUD that keeps people from using robotic process automation covering details on how to measure the impact of bots.
Bots will come in the next wave of AR and VR solutions.