http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Enterprise-Services-Blog/Automation-Nation-A-white-collar-revolution/ba-p/111037 <p><em><strong><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000">By Terry White, Enterprise Architect and HP Fellow, HP Enterprise Services</font></strong></em></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000"> </font></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/oc5XLg">The role</a><font color="#000000"> of the white-collar worker is radically shifting. We are staring in the face of a post-Industrial Revolution revolution. The past two decades have brought change to every aspect of our business process, from the way we make our morning coffee to the way we communicate. It’s hard to imagine that something has yet to fully evolve, but we are in the midst of an explosion of innovation. Gone are the days of “business as usual.” </font></font></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000"> </font></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000">Pattern-recognition technology is the new buzz of business. Its development will further automate white-collar jobs, from call reps to top executives. Hours spent on researching, analyzing, and evaluating data will soon take just a few clicks of the mouse. </font></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000"> </font></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000">“Computers are getting really good at doing things that white-collar workers were good at and computers were terrible at: complex communication,” says Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at the Center for Digital Business in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and co-author of <em>Race Against the Machine.</em> “As more (processes) become digital, it enables one worker to be as productive as 500.”</font></p><p><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000"> <img height="183" alt="blue suit.jpg" border="0" src="http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/10765iCB0A5C506C950A27/image-size/small?v=mpbl-1&amp;px=-1" align="right" width="173" title="blue suit.jpg"></font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><font color="#000000">According to McAfee, the legal and </font><a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/iCbDZq">healthcare industries</a><font color="#000000"> may be the most affected. Through the use of technology capable of analyzing data and producing highly accurate output, much of what we expect from our legal or medical teams—including diagnostics and evidential analysis—will be done through pattern-recognition technology. The ramifications are widespread, creating opportunity for improved healthcare for low-income families and better legal rulings. One example is using pattern recognition as an aid to scan x-rays and find potential abnormalities,  reducing the time for analysis and impoving detection rates. </font></font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2">While automation of these processes will no doubt eliminate some white-collar jobs, it will also create the need for highly specialized workers. It’s simply part of the evolution, says McAfee. </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2">Two things are happening, he argues: white-collar workers are being asked to do more, and because of advances in technology, they can. At the same time, we are heading into an era of hyper-specialization, says McAfee, where you have to be dedicated to a subject matter and be really well trained in what you do. In the x-ray example, the professionals involved in the analysis become more skilled because they will now handle the more challenging cases which fall out of automated analysis.</font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2">Alongside automation, there will still be a need for workers who can interpret data and effectively communicate the results. Consider another healthcare example: A doctor inputs a patient’s symptoms into pattern-recognition software, the computer then analyzes the data and determines a diagnosis. Only a skilled, compassionate doctor can deliver that diagnosis with the adequate emotional support required. The need for human oversight of processes remains intact. </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><font color="#000000">Skilled managers, McAfee argues, who can express themselves clearly, lead employees through interpersonal relationships, and help guide career paths of those in their charge will become harder to find and increasingly sought after. </font><a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/rkewfT">Effective leadership</a><font color="#000000"> simply cannot be automated.</font></font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2">“As our economy gets more productive, you need fewer people to get the same amount of gross domestic product, but you need the same amount of managers,” says McAfee. </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2">Though the changes taking place in white-collar work may cause some temporary discomfort, the end result will be a much more efficient, effective, and successful business model.</font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2"> </font></p><p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#000000" size="2">Learn more about the impact of technology advancement on employee expectations,  enterprise IT and the CIO in the Innovation INSIGHT webcast, </font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><a target="_blank" href="http://hpbroadband.com/program.aspx?key=LPJKRSIMDL">Great expectations or misplaced hopes? Perceptions of business technology in the 21st century</a><font color="#000000">.</font></font></p> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:22:14 GMT HP_ES 2012-04-13T13:22:14Z http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Enterprise-Services-Blog/Automation-Nation-A-white-collar-revolution/ba-p/111037 <p><img height="81" alt="blue suit.jpg" border="0" src="http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/10765iCB0A5C506C950A27/image-size/small?v=mpbl-1&amp;px=-1" align="left" width="68" title="blue suit.jpg"><strong><em><font size="2">By Terry White, Enterprise Architect and HP Fellow, HP Enterprise Services </font></em></strong></p><p> </p><p><font size="2">The role of the white-collar worker is radically shifting.  HP Fellow Terry White explains why automation and pattern-recognition techology are a help to enterprises, not a threat.</font></p> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:22:14 GMT http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Enterprise-Services-Blog/Automation-Nation-A-white-collar-revolution/ba-p/111037 HP_ES 2012-04-13T13:22:14Z http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Enterprise-Services-Blog/Automation-Nation-A-white-collar-revolution/bc-p/111067#M607 <p>Great Post, Terry.  Just wanted to add that pattern recognition is effective only with the availability of sufficient historical data -- some of which may be resident in legacy applications which can introduce its ownchallenges as I outline in my post on <a target="_self" href="http://bit.ly/rxsR3T">Applications Transformation and Analytics</a></p> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:48:12 GMT http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Enterprise-Services-Blog/Automation-Nation-A-white-collar-revolution/bc-p/111067#M607 Nadhan 2012-04-13T18:48:12Z