The Digital Process Automation (DPA) market is developing at a high pace and vendors increasingly want to bring their edge to their clients. In the last couple of years, we have seen five clear technology trends in the DPA market that strong players are driving (and those that are not, should consider);

Trend no. 1: Low code/No code enablement

Nowadays most DPA platforms are ‘low code’ or ‘no code’, so it’s hardly even a differentiation anymore. However, if you don’t have low code or citizen developer capabilities, it will take much longer time for your users/clients to realize business value and you will be perceived as a laggard. In our more recent engagements, low code is being perceived as a ‘must have’ requirement.

Trend no. 2: AI/decisioning infusion

Stronger players in the DPA market build decisioning capabilities into their platform. Strong players are using AI/ML to support use cases like advising on the next best action for a case worker (leading to higher productivity and higher quality) or advising the best way to personalize an outbound campaign to your specific needs (leading to higher hit rates and click rates). Some players have indeed been doing this for quite some years and if you’re good and aspire to lead – this is a place where you can really differentiate.

Trend no. 3: Process Mining capabilities

Most leading DPA providers have either built or acquired process mining capabilities to be able to analyse a process and automatically find bottle necks and suggest ways to improve the process. Of course, there are players that have this as their core capability, like Celonis, which is leading this space. But the DPA vendors seem to want their own capabilities. In the last year or two we have seen IBM acquire myInvenio, Appian acquire Lana Labs and Pega acquire Everflow. Interestingly, we have also seen partnerships between DPA vendors and Process AI specialists emerge, watch this space!

Trend no. 4: The enterprise platform

No big surprise that software vendors are selling their software as an all-encompassing platform. However, the same way that leading DPA platform providers, like Pegasystems, start to appear in other ‘magic quadrants’ and ‘waves’, we will also see companies more famous for other areas to appear or even obtain a leadership position within the DPA space in analysts’ reviews. Even though there is a trend to expand and scale DPA enterprise wide into other capabilities, the opposite trend is also true; compartmentalization -using different vendors for different use cases (something we’re seeing in many of our engagements currently).

Trend no. 5: Verticalization

Verticalization is not necessarily a new trend, however there is a difference to what we see now and what was mostly glorified demos and packaging, back in early 2000s. These verticalizations are more concrete and customer ready, they are more specific to smaller use cases and there are a lot of them out there. In banking and insurance for example, many suppliers are now having relevant onboarding solutions, payment investigation solutions, first notice of loss solutions and an AML solution.

It’s difficult to say what the future holds, as I don’t have a crystal ball in my possession. However, one guess is that verticalization will become increasingly important as clients are tired of getting a multi-million euro toolbox, where they still have to build it all from scratch. The clients will be looking for everything from verticalized core capabilities and data models to vertical accelerators and down to product-like (off-the-shelf) vertical solutions (more to come on this). If you want us to provide our view based on your specific situation, feel free to contact us.

ESG transformation is the current buzzword across all industries, and Financial Services (FS) play a bigger role than most in building this sustainable future. FS is one of the key pillars of any economy – the intermediary that channels capital into low-carbon activities and finances key transition activities to achieve Paris 2050 goals.

However, FS still lags on the ‘S’ of ESG!

In sustainability discussions, the ‘environmental’ aspect is often at the forefront, leaving a lot to be desired on the ‘social’ front. FS employs 7.6 million individuals in the United States alone. So, naturally, the social practices of this sector are looked up to, giving it the opportunity to be the leader and changemaker. One such area that presents this opportunity is DEI- Diversity Equity and Inclusion and a subset of that is ‘Gender diversity’.

Despite efforts to improve the representation of women in leadership and management positions, the industry still has a long way to achieving gender parity. It brings us back to the debate of equality vs equity in an unequal society. Treating everyone the same only ensures that the marginalised continue losing out. Upliftment strategies are required to address imbalances by actively seeking and promoting qualified candidates from underrepresented groups.

Diversity needs to be more than just numbers and ticking a checkbox

Gender representation at entry-level roles is relatively balanced in this sector. However, as women progress in their careers, the gap widens significantly. The pipeline to the top is leaky: the gender ratio starts at 47% for support staff and goes down to 23% for executive level. Within FS, a dismal 5% of CEO positions were held by women in 2021.

European banks paint the same picture, with zero women CEOs appointed by the top 30 banks in Europe, despite almost half of these companies replacing CEOs in the same time frame.

Hiring women just for ticking a checkbox hampers the progress on the much-needed sociocultural shift. Merely advising women to be more assertive and “put themselves out there” undermines the mismatch between how women are often perceived, and the qualities often associated with a leader. Subtle biases prevent the required “learning cycle” which helps mould leaders.

The women that do reach leadership positions are often expected to do multiple hats of uplifting other women and providing them emotional support. In an environment where there are already very few women in these roles, this burden called the “hidden cost” is unevenly shared, unrecognised, and largely uncompensated for.

Beyond mere societal duty, multiple other factors make diversity initiatives essential

In addition to being an ethical social responsibility, diversity is crucial to multiple stakeholders of a financial services company – employees, investors & customers.

Visa was awarded the title of ‘Best employer for Women’ by Forbes Magazine in 2018 in lieu of its efforts in creating a workplace with equal opportunities and pay, through programs like “Return to Work”. A similar initiative by Capgemini, “She said Yes”, aims at encouraging former employees to come back after gaining external experience. Another program called “CAPtivate” is Capgemini’s Career initiative to support female professionals who want to transition back into the workforce. Inclusive policies like these enable companies to create a supportive environment and initiate conversations.

For investors, diversity can bring a fresh perspective to the investment process, leading to a wider range of opportunities, and better risk management. A European Central Bank study found that banks with more than 37% female directors had around 10% lower lending volumes to companies with higher pollution rates. Sodexo, a food and facilities service provider, found that with optimal gender balance, their employee engagement increased by 4 percentage points, gross profit increased by 23% and brand image strengthened by 5 percentage points.

Additionally, a diverse employee base reflects the diverse customer base, helping the company to better understand what its customers need. This leads to better customer experiences, greater customer satisfaction, and increased customer loyalty.

Being prepared for a more accountable and responsible future: vital for organisation survival

Regulatory authorities are also pushing companies to reveal statistics and initiatives. Companies listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange are obligated to publish their diversity policies and goals. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority requires listed companies to disclose performance data against diversity targets including 40% female board representation.

To sum up, it is vital for companies in FS to inculcate gender diversity in their long-term growth strategy. There are multiple factors at play and the gender conversation has been around for a while. We have identified three broad considerations to keep in mind as we formulate our strategy and solutions.

The goal is to keep in mind the need for a shift in the organisation’s culture and this is possible only through involving all stakeholders. Recognise and identify areas for improvement, create a supportive environment and set clear collaborative targets that provide the much-needed flexibility.

Future growth requires constant innovation. Therefore, invest in your diverse workforce to attract and retain the best talent who collectively work towards company goals in an environment that supports their success.

What manufacturing organizations can do to build resilience in an increasingly uncertain world

The pandemic has been a great disruptor, remolding the business environment in every sector. As we progress into 2023, we are witnessing fresh dynamics in the market at an unforeseen velocity and is painting a new picture on how the world is shaping up—one that is much different from what we would have expected a couple of years earlier. Last year, we witnessed new geopolitical challenges unfolding within Europe that showed how heavily dependent we are on other markets for natural resources and raw materials. The manufacturing sector has been no exception and is experiencing the aftershocks of these uncertainties.

At Capgemini, we have identified key trends that will shape the future of manufacturing and suggest what businesses can do to stay resilient in today’s volatile and uncertain environment.

The future of the industry is intelligent: The era of intelligent products and services will significantly shape how businesses operate, and early adopters will generate significant competitor advantage and business value through interconnected data-driven products and processes. Traditionally, manufacturers focused their strategy on products as objects. Today however, Intelligent Industry has added a new dimension by shifting the focus towards a more customer-centric approach that provides tailored services to end-customers. Organizations that deploy business models based on lifecycle services will grow faster and be more resilient in rapidly changing markets. Organizations must discover the power of data to envision new products and services, improve supply chains, create new customer experiences, deliver new sources of value, and achieve new outcomes with intelligent industry.

Supply chain transformation to lower dependencies: The current geopolitical situation has exposed the disadvantages of overreliance on other markets. Most supply chains were negatively impacted from the lack of semi-conductors during the peak of the pandemic, and shortage of natural resources due to geopolitical challenges within Europe. To de-risk the vulnerability of global models and generate a real competitive advantage, manufacturers will need to reassess and optimize their supply chains to diminish reliance on other markets and associated risks. A supply chain that is focusing today on data-driven networks and advanced digital transformation capabilities to streamline logistics and prioritize resilience will successfully survive tomorrow. Some measures that supply chain managers should consider are diversifying their suppliers, exploring different transport partners (and processes), and sourcing alternative raw materials (or alternative sources). They should aim to redesign their supply chains and be as compact and localized as possible to minimize cost and carbon footprint. 

Automation as a catalyst to become future proof: In order to overcome the current challenges, organizations should invest in bringing production processes closer to home and relocating factories to closer neighborhoods. To address forthcoming human resource limitations such as lack of access to low-cost labor countries or skill and talent, organizations should consider automating operations and productions. This will require strong integration between IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operations Technology) within target architectures to make connected processes and products autonomous., This fundamental investment will open new data-driven opportunities bringing costs down and making the unit efficient and safe in the long run.

Sustainability at the heart of business transformation: Regardless of the maturity stage, most organizations are now transitioning towards zero-waste production and are becoming carbon conscious as it has a direct correlation with better profitability. Therefore, organizations need to focus on product design that will increase lifespan and build a zero-waste supply chain. Organizations that recycle, refurbish, or remanufacture their products to increase the average lifespan have already seen the benefits of reducing waste, bringing down costs, and, most importantly, lowering their carbon footprint. Ways to extend products’ lifespan include design for easy disaggregation, repairability, and reusability; hardening products’ reliability and endurance, ensuring maintenance is in place, and, once the product lifespan is over, efficiently decommissioning it. Apart from making supply chains compact, organizations need to identify areas of energy wastage, unnecessary carbon emissions, and heat expenditure and take steps to lower them. In the Netherlands we are already seeing a positive shift towards hydrogen-based plants. Manufacturers who already have a transformation plan in place or are in the process of designing one to migrate from traditional gas-based energy sources to hydrogen-based sources, will be a step ahead in the path to future readiness.

Co-creation and data-sharing to retain competitive advantage: With compliance having a key role in stimulating organizations’ sustainability goals, we see a lot of players across the industry working together. To ensure compliance towards their sustainability goals and effective assessment of their carbon footprint, organizations will need to have access to all data that can be made available to them, and as a result work with all partners across their supply chain, share respective data, and beyond. More importantly, working together and co-creating plans of action will be critical in creating value for organizations.

The industry is continuously evolving. Disruption, game changers, and re-inventions are constant part of this evolution, and it is important for organizations to reinvent themselves through an outside-in perspective, specifically from their customers’ point of view. Ways to build effective autonomous operations lie in a sound and good architecture, integration of OT and IT, and the skill to use digital twins effectively. Another key factor lies in smart data management, in terms of quality as well as quantity. Organizations need to inspire confidence and trust amongst their partners in the supply chain to bring their products to the market in a cost-effective and sustainable way. To face these fundamental changes and future-proof themselves, businesses will have to rethink their product design, rebuild their operations, and create supply chains based on effective data management and sustainability and reuse by design.

Author: Diederik Vieleers, VP, Head of Complex Manufacturing and Technology

The State of Digital Process Automation

Digital process automation (DPA) technology has been instrumental as the engine for digital transformation through digitizing and automating manual and paper-based process. As such, the DPA space has been a great place to be for many years, but it is becoming more crowded with more and more vendors. Current DPA leaders (like Pega, Appian and to some extent IBM and Microsoft) are under heavy attack from several fronts. We see suppliers entering DPA from other areas, like Salesforce (from sales and marketing) and even more so, ServiceNow (from ITSM and employee services). Lowcode (only) suppliers, like Outsystem and Mendix, are also trying to enter this space with basic workflow and business rules capabilities, but to a much lower cost. As some sort of RPA capabilities are nowadays integrated in the DPA platforms, even typical RPA suppliers (like UI Path and BluePrism) are starting to step up the value chain into IPA/DPA as analysts are deeming traditional RPA dead. But, as the analyst firm Horses for Sources cleverly points out: “What isn’t dead is the fact that RPA created the path…to a much bigger market that’s evolving”. What is also clear is that the DPA market is growing and that existing vendors (and newcomers) will want to capitalize on this, but the competitive landscape will get more fierce and tough going forward.

Focus Areas for Current and Future Leaders in Digital Process Automation

So, where should leaders keep and increase their focus to keep the edge and where should challengers extend their capabilities to become future leaders?

As a connected experience becomes more and more important, digital process automation platforms need to be able to orchestrate timely and contextual content across the journey using both historical and real-time stream processing data. While the central DPA platform would manage the processes for the business, a well-connected process management platform will be able to define and control process behavior dynamically based on recommendations. As organizations increasingly invest in cloud solutions, it is imperative that DPA solutions continue to build, not only their own AI capabilities, but also the ability to adopt to AI services extended by various leading hyper scalers. 

Considerations for Prospective Clients of Digital Process Automation

So, what does this mean for you as a prospective client? I’ve summarized three points to consider: 

Vendor Selection for Digital Process Automation

So, which vendor should you pick? Of course, the typical consulting response – ‘it depends’ – is relevant here. But the slightly longer response is, the more complex and regulatory needs you have, the more it makes sense to pay the premium price for some of the leading platforms. If your need is neither complex nor regulatory, you can safely opt for one of the more lightweight or even the low code-only solutions. You could do this analysis yourself, but it helps involving a trusted advisor doing this work that have the ability, the experience and can stay objective towards the vendors throughout this process.

Planning and Execution

Always start with the business need, the ToBe or the Target Operating Model – and then work backwards, to ensure you generate real business value (more on this in a coming blog post). Focus more on what you want to achieve (fitment analysis) than which platform is cheapest or comes with most bells and whistles. Many DPA implementations are transformative in their nature, which means you need to spend some time to really plan and prepare the implementation (else you should ‘prepare to fail’). And, when you take this plan to execution, you want an SI that’s prepared to have some skin in the game and take ownership beyond resourcing. Having the right partner can be the difference between a transformative change and a failed IT project.

Managing Change and Culture in Digital Process Automation

Don’t underestimate the cost of change, both from a technical point of view and a cultural point of view. Changing an enterprise workflow system can be a very big and costly affair, so that kind of decision shouldn’t be taken lightly and only if it’s supported by a very strong (and challenged) business case. From a cultural perspective, having a structured organizational change management approach can be vital.

At Capgemini, we’ve been doing digital process automation or IBPMS for the last 20+ years. You can always reach out to us if you want more detailed advice on this subject!

Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC 2023), the biggest telecom festival of the world was organized by GSMA in Barcelona a few days ago. This four-day event gave important directions to the global telecom industry on how to effectively monetize their network investments and overcome any future challenges.

From Private 5G networks and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Metaverse and immersive experiences, this event provided glimpses of a world connected with 5G. We also learnt the future telco networks are going to be more sustainable, energy efficient, and mostly open and cloud native. Overall, the event left a strong impression on the world that telco industry is now gearing up for next levels of growth and ready to assume a bigger role in the global ICT ecosystem.

Here are our key takeaways from MWC 2023.

• Industry players are coming together to deploy private 5G networks
• Having sustainable, energy efficient networks is becoming critical for CSPs
• New hybrid cloud solutions for telcos are coming from hyperscalers
• Open RAN continued to find its industry sweet spot through collaborations
• GSMA’s ‘Open Gateway’ initiative gathered MNOs’ support
• Telefónica is gradually creating an ecosystem for Metaverse applications

Industry players are coming together to deploy private 5G networks

CTOs and CIOs from large enterprises were present at the event, and they were more than curious to understand the benefits of having private wireless networks. CXOs wanted to have dependable, unified, and simplified connectivity at their premises for better safety, security, and productivity of their assets. Telcos, NEPs, chipmakers, hyperscalers and their IT & system integrator partners came together to show to the enterprises that it is possible to have an exceptionally reliable connectivity by deploying private 5G networks.

Cisco and NTT have partnered to bring managed private 5G solutions that can be integrated with enterprises’ pre-existing LAN/WAN and Cloud infrastructures. Deutsche Telekom (DT) also partnered with Microsoft on private 5G, specifically to target underserved small and medium enterprise (SME) businesses. To transform industrial automation systems through virtual connectivity, Schneider Electric, Qualcomm, and Capgemini announced collaboration to create a tailored, end-to-end 5G private network solution, which can be deployed across industrial and logistical sites.

There remains a huge growth potential for CSPs and other industry players in the private 5G space across enterprise segments, as this market is catching up fast due to rapid industry automation. Furthermore, Capgemini is also supporting the automotive industry’s fast transformation by embracing 5G intelligent connectivity, computer vision sensors, edge, and cloud services to enable cars to become ‘mobility software platforms’ for assisted driving and road security.

Having sustainable, energy-efficient networks is becoming critical for CSPs

Apart from fulfilling their net zero commitments, there is a grown demand among telcos for energy efficient networks due to rampant energy shortages and rising inflationary pressures. The interest from many spheres of the industry is coming to overcome these challenges through AI and virtualization. During the event, Qualcomm and Mavenir introduced a new OpenBeam massive MIMO Active Antenna Unit based on Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform. The solution uses AI to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) of 5G deployments, increase energy efficiency and raise network performance.

Intel also launched its 4^th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel vRAN Boost, which can deliver capacity gains and power savings for telcos. CSPs are also embracing such energy efficient / Intelligent RAN solutions. For example, Singtel announced the deployment of Ericsson’s Cell Sleep Mode function to conserve energy at its mobile base stations. Going forward, we expect more telcos to demand energy efficient solutions to safeguard their margins while also sticking to their net zero commitments.

New hybrid-cloud solutions for telcos are coming from hyperscalers

During the event, we saw hyperscalers widening their product portfolios for the telco industry to reduce any friction to the cloudification of networks and IT infrastructures. Microsoft launched ‘Azure Operator Nexus,’ a hybrid cloud platform that allows CSPs to run their carrier-grade workloads both on-premises and on Azure. Google Cloud has also launched several new products that help CSPs build, deploy, and operate hybrid, cloud-native networks, collect & manage network data, and improve CX using AI. On the similar lines, VMware highlighted the deployment of its Telco Cloud platform by the global CSPs, with product advancements and an expanded partner ecosystem. 

Some CSPs are embracing the Cloud, not only to fulfill their own virtualization or modernization goals, but also to leverage the Cloud for transforming themselves into industry solution providers. For example, Swisscom has partnered with Ericsson to explore hybrid cloud use cases with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Swisscom has also started a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) trial with Ericsson 5G Core applications running on AWS, to explore how the use cases support the needs of telcos.

Open RAN continued to find its industry sweet spot through collaborations

At the event, we witnessed a growing industry consensus that collaboration is the key for developing a conducive Open RAN ecosystem. For example, NTT DOCOMO announced that it is cooperating with KT Corp, Vodafone, Smart Communications, DISH Wireless, and Singtel on various Open RAN initiatives, while Supermicro announced that it is working with Capgemini and Intel to achieve real-world performance gains for Open RAN. Deutsche Telekom (DT) also reinforced its commitment to Open RAN with plans for commercial brownfield deployments and selecting Mavenir for a multi-vendor Europe deployment including massive MIMO starting in 2023.

GSMA’s ‘Open Gateway’ initiative gathered MNOs’ support

There was a strong support from GSMA to the open-source community. GSMA announced an industry-wide initiative named ‘Open Gateway,’ providing a framework of network APIs to give universal access to CSPs’ networks to developers. Launched with the support of 21 MNOs, this move represented a major shift in telcos’ design and delivery services. Hyperscalers AWS and Azure also backed the project. With a growing industry support to Open APIs, we are expecting the future telco networks to become more open and disaggregated, offering better monetization opportunities to telcos.

Telefónica is gradually creating an ecosystem for Metaverse applications

We saw an industry wide interest in digital twins, AR/VR, and immersive experiences throughout the event, making it clear that the industry has started to take Metaverse seriously. Telefónica was quick to take advantage of this trend and displayed their propositions for the Metaverse. The CSP presented a demo on ‘Making Smart Industry happen,’ where it simulated an industrial process and corrected errors in industrial parts with support from 5G, edge, data, and machine learning. Telefónica also partnered with KDDI and collaborated with Sturfee (a tech co building Visual Positioning System) and Mawari (a provider of Cloud Rendering and Streaming technologies) to create 5G MEC powered XR Digital Twin Store. This project demonstrated application of XR technologies to create a sense of co-presence and togetherness. Like Telefónica, we are expecting a further industry participation in developing Metaverse applications, for both B2C and B2B segments.

Conclusion

After strong CAPEX on 5G in 2022, telcos are increasingly seeking network monetization opportunities, especially from the enterprise segment. CSPs are now more focused on addressing a growing demand for private 5G networks among enterprises and showing a greater willingness to collaborate with other industry players to deliver most effective private wireless solutions. There is also an increased telcos’ interest in having more open, disaggregated networks so they could establish themselves as platform providers or marketplaces for B2B and developers’ communities. Apart from monetization, telcos have also increased their focus on cost saving by improving their network and operating efficiency. CSPs are investing more in sustainable, energy efficient networks as well as speeding up their cloud transformation to save future outlays. Thus, going forward we are expecting CSPs to become smarter, asset light organizations, with more agility and an innovation mindset to play a bigger role beyond connectivity.

TelcoInsights is a series of posts about the latest trends and opportunities in the telecommunications industry – powered by a community of global industry experts and thought leaders.

“80% of new employees decide whether or not to stay with a company within the first six months of being hired”

Source: SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding product brochure

As mentioned in our previous blog article: Create the decisive factor for employees to stay by leveraging HR Cloud technologies, the optimal employee-centric Onboarding journey consists of three phases: pre-boarding, acclimation, and belonging and performance excellence. In this article, we take a closer look at the third and final phase of the Onboarding journey: belonging and performance excellence. This phase starts after the employee’s first month in the company and ends six months after the start date. The aim of this phase is the full integration of the employee – especially in an organizational and social way. This enables the employee to act independently and reach a high level of performance.

Admin and technological layer

In relation to admin and technological aspects, the focus is on ensuring employees can independently operate relevant technical tools and use them effectively. Thus, the employee should also have a good overview of the functionalities of the relevant tools and be able to assess their proper use. This ensures that the employee is fully technically onboarded and can focus on professional development.

Professional and content-related layer

In the belonging and performance excellence phase, employees develop professional skills that enable them to work independently on professional tasks. Additionally, employees acquire expertise and embark on a steep learning curve with relevant training courses and projects that support professional development. These aspects lead directly to the realization of career development goals employees bring with them when they join the company.

HR Cloud technologies can provide a great deal of support here. For example, HR Cloud vendors, such as SAP SuccessFactors, foster the completion of training participation by tracking the current status in a dashboard (see illustration 1). This enables employees to meet career, personal development, and administrative needs.

Organizational and cultural layer

Important components of the belonging and performance phase take place primarily at the organizational and cultural level. This includes the introduction to corporate goals and strategies and the beginning of the identification with corporate values. These actions are undertaken to enable employees to act independently as brand ambassadors.

Additionally, it is essential to accompany the employee during this phase and to hold regular feedback conversations: “how are things going at the moment?” On the one hand, this shows appreciation. But on the other hand, it is possible to trigger the internalization of the company’s values and goals by the new employee, too.

HR Cloud technologies can also provide a great deal of support here, since the “continuous performance management” fosters and drives regular feedback and coaching check-ins with the lead (see illustration 1). Thus, it allows new employees to experience a positive feedback culture. Regular feedback conversations, in which employees act as feedback receivers, but also as feedback providers, make an important contribution at this stage. It is important to the development of individual employees and their overall Onboarding experience.

Social and network layer

On a social level, the aim is to achieve full team integration. For example, this can be achieved through teambuilding measures, using activities, exercises, and methods that strengthen the sense of belonging between colleagues. To build and expand their own professional network, opportunities to participate in networking events should also be offered. These events can have a thematic hanger or be tied to social groups (e.g., women’s events).

How to optimize the employee experience in Onboarding

In this series of four blogs, we covered the optimal employee-centric Onboarding journey, consisting of three phases: pre-boarding, acclimation, and belonging and performance excellence. The articles highlighted how HR Cloud technologies optimize the employee experience during all three Onboarding phases, making a significant contribution to the integration and enablement of employees in a new organization. As outlined, the use of HR cloud systems, such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle, and ServiceNow are indispensable in the context of Onboarding and pays off in the following ways:

• Optimized employee experience during the Onboarding process to make the employee feel welcome, appreciated, and informed
• Aligned activities across all Onboarding experience layers during each Onboarding phase, which significantly contribute to employee enablement
• Easier, more comfortable, and efficient Onboarding tool handling despite complex Onboarding processes and the involvement of several departments

By leveraging HR cloud technologies, organizations can provide an optimized employee experience and enablement in turn leading to increased employee performance, productivity, and retention.