The HFS Hot Vendors Q4 2018 - i-search.com.cn€¦ · The HFS Hot Vendors Q4 2018 Elena Christopher, Research VP; Madhurparna Banerjee, ... automation potential to China at a local
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
In this report, we profile five short-listed players (Exhibit 2) who have been designated as HFS Hot Vendors
based on our rigorous five-step assessment over the course of Q4 2018. The HFS Hot Vendor designation for
the following players will remain in place till the end of Q4 2019 (a period of one year), when the same process
will be followed for renewing the HFS Hot Vendors designation.
Exhibit 2: HFS Hot Vendors Q4 2018 Edition (in alphabetical order) Note: The HFS Hot Vendor Designation is valid for a period of one year from Q4 2018 to Q4 2019
Celonis Spearheading the process-mining revolution
CUJO AI Enabling broadband network operators to offer AI-based cybersecurity services for their customers’ connected devices and things
Directly Rethinking and disrupting the traditional customer service model
Magisto AI-powered video editor for marketers
Shanghai i-Search Software Leveraging its background in user and entity behavior analytics to offer localized robotic process automation (RPA) software and services across China
SiriusIQ Seriously applying emerging technologies to streamline business data for IA
Shanghai i-Search Software: Leveraging a background in user and entity behavior analytics to offer localized robotic process automation (RPA) software and services across China Author: Elena Christopher (bio)
Shanghai i-Search Software (i-Search) is a China-based software and services company that offers RPA’s
automation potential to China at a local level. Founded in 2011, the company got its start as a developer of
user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) software and established a strong client base throughout China
with clients in every province. UEBA software is generally used for fraud detection and to support security
and compliance needs, but due to its cross-business data collection, it also serves as a powerful efficiency
analysis engine. i-Search’s ability to analyze and visualize business processes and function efficiency with its
patented screen-recording technology led it to develop automation tools. In 2017, it launched its User
Behavior Assistant Intelligence (UBAI), which combines machine learning and RPA. Through UEBA’s
processes and efficiency tracking, UBAI learns which processes have consistent steps and offers users the
option to automate these repetitive steps. Its UBAI intelligent automation product has scaled quickly, with
its largest implementation running 10,000 automations.
In early 2018, it launched iS-RPA, an RPA software offering attended and unattended automation. The
company appears to be the first Chinese RPA software provider, competing against global players such as
UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere plus a quickly emerging set of Chinese players that includes
Alibaba. As HFS learned through client reference checks, i-Search differentiates itself through its technology
and the availability of its localized service and support. Clients indicate that when piloted against other RPA
software, i-Search’s video recording and log functionality helped provide critical visibility into
troubleshooting unattended bot performance. It currently has implemented iS-RPA with more than 25
clients, with at least one scaling upwards of 100 bots.
The firm is headquartered in Shanghai; its research and development center is in Nanjing, and various
offices are spread throughout the country. While the company has a sales and services team throughout
China, it is also cultivating regional partnerships to support sales, implementation, maintenance and
support, and training services. These partners are greatly expanding i-Search’s sales and implementation
footprint and forming a powerful network to provide local support to clients.
Continued investment has been a critical component of growth. In 2014, Tongding Group, a Chinese
conglomerate with a strong research and development focus, proffered an initial round of investment that
Elena Christopher | Research VP, HFS Research Elena Christopher is Research Vice President, Industry Research and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) at HFS. Elena is responsible for driving the industry-specific research agenda for HFS, digging into the major trends impacting each in-scope industry and the implications for business process and IT services.
Melissa O’Brien | Research VP, HFS Research Melissa O'Brien is Research Vice President, Customer Engagement, Retail and Travel Strategies at HFS Research. Melissa leads HFS’ research initiatives for digital front office services, including customer engagement operations, digital marketing, cognitive agents and CX design and consulting.
Reetika Fleming | Research VP, HFS Research
Reetika Fleming is Research Director, Insurance & Smart Analytics at HFS Research. Her research extends into defining future business operations for property and casualty, life and annuities and reinsurance companies. She studies the broad use of data and analytics within enterprises, with a new research focus on machine learning and AI techniques to improve business decision making.
Madhurparna Banerjee | Knowledge Analyst, HFS Research
Madhuparna Banerjee is a Knowledge Analyst at HFS Research, supporting the business process services. Her responsibilities include collecting and analysing data and information and to create POVs and custom reports. Additionally, she provides insights and analysis for solving client problems.