Orchestration vs. Automation: Which One to Choose in 2024?

If your business relies on manual processes and workflows, the clear answer is you likely need both automation and orchestration capabilities. The bigger question is where to focus first.

My recommendation would be to start small with basic automation of repetitive individual tasks where the ROI is clearest. Then expand to orchestrate more complex workflows as you quantify benefits and identify optimization opportunities.

Now let‘s dive deeper into how to differentiate orchestration and automation, key benefits of each, use cases, and tips to make the optimal investment for your organization.

Breaking Down the Key Differences

Automation and orchestration are often used interchangeably, but there are some important nuances:

Automation handles specific, repetitive tasks within a single application. For example, automated emails, payroll processing, or invoice generation.

Orchestration coordinates tasks across multiple systems to automate entire workflows. For instance, onboarding new hires across HR, IT, facilities and other groups.

In an orchestra analogy, automation enables each musician to play their instrument independently while orchestration is the conductor coordinating the overall symphony across all the players.

Both automation and orchestration utilize technologies like robotic process automation (RPA), AI, and machine learning. But orchestration manages the end-to-end workflow.

For example, consider a manufacturing scenario where:

• Automation controls individual machines on the assembly line
• Orchestration coordinates the entire production workflow from order through delivery

The orchestration platform is the brains behind the entire automated symphony!

Key Advantages of Automation

Implementing automation for routine, repetitive tasks provides significant upside including:

Increased Throughput – Automation completes high-volume tasks significantly faster than human workers. For example, automated invoices can be generated up to 80% quicker.

Improved Quality – By removing human error, automation boosts accuracy. One study found automated data entry reduced errors by 33-50%.

Cost Savings – Reducing manual labor cuts costs substantially. Estimates show RPA automation cuts costs by 25-50% for suitable tasks.

Accelerated Delivery Times – Automation speeds processing and completion of tasks from days or weeks to almost instant in some cases.

Enhanced Scalability – Automated systems easily scale to support business growth without adding staff.

Greater Resilience – Automation provides 24/7 continuity without worker shortages, illnesses, or fatigue.

More Strategic Focus – Relieving employees from mundane tasks enables them to focus on higher-value work.

Let‘s explore a few examples:

• HR onboarding automation can complete pre-hire paperwork 3x faster while reducing data errors by up to 90%.
• Accounting automation generates reports in hours versus weeks while improving accuracy.
• Supply chain automation cuts order processing costs by 25-40% and speeds cycle times by 60-80%.

The Power of Orchestration

While automation provides faster and more consistent task performance, orchestration optimizes entire workflows for even greater benefits:

Increased Productivity – Orchestration maximizes throughput by seamlessly coordinating end-to-end processes.

Enhanced Quality – End-to-end visibility enables proactive correction of failures before they multiply.

Improved Cost Efficiency – Consolidating orchestration reduces licensing, integration and maintenance costs of individual automation tools.

Faster Delivery – Parallel processing across systems accelerates workflows vs siloed automation.

Greater Agility – Orchestration makes it easy to modify processes and adapt to changing business needs.

Cloud Optimization – Consistent workflows across on-prem and multi-cloud prevent misconfigurations.

Valuable Insights – Analytics provide visibility into end-to-end performance and opportunities.

Here are some examples of orchestration benefits:

• Supply chain orchestration increases on-time deliveries by over 5% through enhanced visibility and coordination.
• IT operations orchestration reduces incident resolution times by 45%+ enabling predictive prevention.
• Finance process orchestration cuts period close time by more than half through workflow automation.

Use Cases Across Domains

Nearly every business function can benefit from automation and orchestration, including:

This table illustrates just a sample of the use cases where automation can save substantial time on repetitive tasks while orchestration coordinates end-to-end workflows for maximum ROI.

Implementing Automation and Orchestration

The most effective strategy is to start small then expand. Typical steps include:

1. Identify top automation opportunities – Look for repetitive tasks with clear ROI based on volume, frequency, effort, and value. Start with simpler standalone activities.

2. Select the right automation tool – Many options exist including RPA, low-code, and AI-driven platforms tailored for different needs.

3. Launch pilots – Start with 1-2 high-impact automations to quantify benefits and refine processes.

4. Scale successes – Gradually expand automation based on measured results and priorities.

5. Determine workflow optimization needs – Identify processes involving multiple systems that need better orchestration.

6. Evaluate orchestration platforms – Look for robust, open solutions that integrate well with your existing landscape.

7. Pilot orchestration – Prove out value on high-impact workflows before broader deployment.

8. Quantify and maximize ROI – Optimize automation and orchestration scope based on clear productivity and efficiency gains.

Overcoming Automation Adoption Obstacles

Some organizations hesitate to pursue automation and orchestration due to common misconceptions:

• "It will replace all our jobs" – Studies show automation drives job creation and shifts roles to more strategic work rather than mass displacement. Net-net automation boosts productivity.
• "We‘ll have to overhaul our legacy systems" – Solutions exist to automate around legacy platforms then migrate over time. No need for a major up-front investment.
• "Our processes aren‘t suited for automation" – The capabilities of RPA, AI, and other technologies mean very few processes can‘t be automated to some degree after process refinements.
• "It‘s too difficult to manage" – Start with targeted tactical automations then expand into broader platforms. Change management and training will ease adoption.

The keys are starting with a targeted automation roadmap vs broad transformation and measuring results to make continuous improvements.

Leading Orchestration Platform Vendors

Many orchestration platforms exist, with the leaders including:

• ServiceNow – IT and business workflow orchestration across service management, HR, security, and custom apps.
• Microsoft – Tight orchestration across Azure, applications, PowerPlatform, and Dynamics 365.
• IBM – IBM Cloud Orchestrator and cloud-native capabilities for RedHat OpenShift and other tools.
• SAP – Integration across SAP enterprise apps like S/4HANA leveraging process mining and RPA.
• Workato – No code orchestration for hundreds of applications with over 5,000 pre-built automations.
• Jitterbit – API and ETL-driven integration to orchestrate ERP, CRM, and legacy systems.

Top vendors provide the development environment, connectors, monitoring, resilience, and scale needed for enterprise orchestrations.

The Future is Automated and Autonomous

Looking ahead, automation and orchestration will increasingly leverage AI and machine learning to enable:

• Intelligent Process Automation – Making real-time judgement calls versus just following rote rules.
• Predictive Orchestration – Analyzing data to foresee optimizations and potential breakdowns before they occur.
• "Self-Healing" Processes – Auto-correcting errors and exceptions without human intervention.
• Hyperautomation – Rapidly automating complex tasks and workflows with minimal programming.
• Autonomous Operations – End-to-end automated governance of systems and workflows.

Leading companies will utilize these emerging capabilities for "lights-out" digital operations and new levels of efficiency and reliability.

The bottom line is that automation and orchestration provide a powerful 1-2 punch to streamline nearly any element of your tech environment or business workflows. Start targeted. Quantify benefits. Then scale across your organization for a harmonious digital symphony!