Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company — its 248 data centers are located on six continents, in 32 countries and 71 metro areas. To operate at this scale, Equinix must run its business at peak efficiency. Intelligent automation has been a key component of the company’s digital transformation strategy. Four years ago, Equinix worked with WonderBotz to place an SS&C Blue Prism digital workforce in nine key areas of its business. Recently the company’s efforts were recognized when it brought home the global Transformational Excellence award from SS&C Blue Prism.

Challenge

Equinix powers the world’s digital leaders, focusing on enabling ecosystems and providing interconnected digital infrastructure for its customers. The company knew it needed to “walk the talk” and focus on its own digital transformation too. A core corporate value is to “find a better way,” but many employees were bogged down with manual, repetitive tasks and didn’t have time to strategize on daily work. Equinix aimed to reduce the time and resources spent on these tasks, improve productivity and achieve cost savings.

Solution

Equinix worked with WonderBotz to deploy SS&C Blue Prism and help scale its intelligent automation program. The company has invested in its workforce by upskilling employees, empowering citizen developers throughout the organization, and creating a culture of continuous innovation and learning. In Equinix’s “digital accelerator community,” employees dedicate time to improving their skill sets and discovering new ways to contribute to the business. The company believes that continuous improvement is key to accelerating digital transformation.

An impressive example of Equinix’s success is its end-to-end automated source-to-pay (S2P) process. Each year, $3 billion flows through purchase orders (POs) handled by this process. Digital workers pass work to one another as purchase requests work their way through S2P. First, digital worker Simba receives requests and creates a PO. S2P Genie receives the PO and validates it — this digital worker also closes aged orders and helps resolve emailed invoice disputes from over 6,000 global requestors. Stella uses ABBYY functionality to convert complex PO data into clear, useful information and identifies matching PO lines. Lastly, Frank steps in and executes 98% of the vendor, employee, and intercompany payments. The team of digital workers has enabled the Finance Accounts Payables team to focus on issue resolution and strategic initiatives instead of manual work.

These changes can improve data accuracy, reduce errors, and help Equinix pay vendors faster. Equinix’s intelligent automation program has reduced operational costs (currently estimated at $7 million) and improved customer satisfaction. The millions saved can be invested into strategic initiatives that enhance the business and employee experience. And the company is inspiring an innovative, productive, and engaged workforce, giving an estimated 175,000 hours back to employees so they can focus on improving their skillsets and contributing to the business in new ways.

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