"IBM just changed the automation game. Hello Extreme Automation" - HFS Research reports

HFS Research Article - https://www.horsesforsources.com/ibm-wdg-extreme-automation_071020
The automation game just changed – and most of you barely noticed
It’s sometimes those low-profile moves that make the bigger impacts on markets, versus the big glamor ones.  Who would have thought Jurgen Klopp would end Liverpool’s 30-year wait for the English Premier League title when he quietly disappeared himself from Borussia Dortmund?  And who would have thought a smallish Brazilian RPA firm, WDG, could propel IBM into the first one-stop services and software automation shop for organizations.  This is in stark contrast to the Accenture Synops model, which is focused almost entirely on partnering with 3rd party software. Oh, this is going to be fun... the big services giants are back to duke out automation dominance in the middle of a pandemic.
10 reasons why IBM’s move will have such an extreme impact on the existing automation market
1. WDG adds proven attended desktop automation capability and has already displaced UiPath in a major organization.  The technology provides a low code, cloud-based authoring experience for the business user to create bot scripts with a desktop recorder, without the need of IT. These scripts are executed by digital robots to complete tasks. Digital robots can run on-demand by the end-user or by an automated scheduler.  Arguably, WDG is on a par with Softomotive –  acquired by Microsoft  for considerably more money. What is clear is these RPA firms are offering pretty much the same functionality for the basic scripting and recording.
2. WDG is focused heavily on quality customer service ops and is great at integrating with chatbots, digital associates and other AI tools.  Pre-Covid, most RPA was focused on low-risk back-office processes, especially in finance. Now customers are desperate to automate the customer-facing and revenue-generating processes and need tools proven to work in the environments.  Noone has a huge advantage in the CX automation space so this provides a greenfield opportunity for IBM. 
3. The WDG automation software sits under IBM Cognitive and Cloud giving it a broader playing field to compete with the likes of MSFT, Pega, Appian, and even ServiceNow.  Arguably, this is the  real  play that excites IBM’s top brass. This is where the big dollars are and where IBM has powerful potential as the world’s largest IT services provider. Orchestratng processes and data in hybrid cloud environments is where IBM should be leading the market, and now it has plugged some holes to do it even better.
4. This is no desperate measure. IBM software made this investment after seven patient years observing the market.  It was not a huge secret that IBM flirted with the concept of  acquiring Blue Prism  (and others) in recent times, and its software team also  partnered with Automation Anywhere in 2017 .  Of one thing you can be sure, IBM Software...