What is robotic process automation?
Robotic process automation (RPA) is an application of technology, governed by business logic and structured inputs, aimed at automating business processes. Using RPA tools, a company can configure software, or a “robot,” to capture and interpret applications for processing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses, and communicating with other digital systems. RPA scenarios range from generating an automatic response to an email to deploying thousands of bots, each programmed to automate jobs in an
Many CIOs are turning to RPA to streamline enterprise operations and reduce costs. Businesses can automate mundane rules-based business processes, enabling business users to devote more time to serving customers or other higher-value work. Others see RPA as a stopgap en route to
What are the benefits of RPA?
RPA provides organizations with the
Bots are typically low-cost and easy to implement, requiring no custom software or deep systems integration. Such characteristics are crucial as organizations pursue growth without adding significant expenditures or friction among workers.
When properly configured, software robots can increase a team’s capacity for work by 35% to 50%, according to Kofax. For example, simple, repetitive tasks such as copying and pasting information between business systems can be accelerated by 30% to 50% when completed using robots. Automating such tasks can also improve accuracy by eliminating opportunities for human error, such as transposing numbers during data entry.
Enterprises can also supercharge their automation efforts by
Such RPA implementations, in which upwards of 15 to 20 steps may be automated, are part of a value chain known as
For a deeper look at the benefits of RPA, see “
What are the top RPA tools?
The RPA market consists of a mix of new, purpose-built tools and older tools that have added new features to support automation. Some were originally business process management (BPM) tools. Some vendors position their tools as “workflow automation” or “work process management.” Overall, the
Some of the
- Appian
- Automation Anywhere
- AutomationEdge
- Blue Prism
- Cyclone Robotics
- Datamatics
- EdgeVerve Systems
- HelpSystems
- IBM
- Kofax
- Kryon
- Laiye
- Microsoft
- NICE
- Nintex
- NTT-AT
- Pegasystems
- Samsung SDS
- Servicetrace
- WorkFusion
For a closer look at these vendors’ RPA offerings, see “
What are the criteria for choosing RPA tools?
There are
- Ease of bot setup
- Low-code capabilities
- Attended vs. unattended
- Machine learning capabilities
- Exception handling and human review
- Integration with enterprise applications
- Orchestration and administration
- Cloud bots
- Process and task discovery and mining
- Scalability
For a more in-depth look at these selection criteria, see “
What are the top RPA certifications?
As organizations increasingly adopt RPA, they also need individuals with expertise in RPA tools and implementations. Many of the
- Appian
- Automation Anywhere
- Blue Prism
- UiPath
- Microsoft
10 tips for effective robotic process automation
Implementing RPA can be challenging, given both the potential complexity of legacy business processes and the level of change management that can be required for RPA to succeed. The following tips can help your organization on its way:
1. Set and manage expectations
Quick wins are possible with RPA, but propelling RPA to run at scale is a different animal. Many RPA hiccups stem from poor expectations management. Bold claims about RPA from vendors and implementation consultants haven’t helped. That’s why it’s crucial for CIOs to go in with a cautiously optimistic mindset.
2. Consider business impact
RPA is often touted as a mechanism to bolster return on investment or reduce costs. But it can also be used to improve customer experience. For example, enterprises such as airlines employ thousands of customer service agents, yet customers are still waiting in the queue to have their call fielded. A chatbot could help alleviate some of that wait.
3. Involve IT early and often
COOs were some of the earliest adopters of RPA. In many cases, they bought RPA and hit a wall during implementation, prompting them to ask for IT’s help (and forgiveness). Now “
4. Poor design, change management can wreak havoc
Many implementations fail because design and change are poorly managed,
5. Don’t fall down the data rabbit hole
A bank deploying thousands of bots to automate manual data entry or to monitor software operations generates a ton of data. This can lure CIOs and their business peers into an unfortunate scenario where they are looking to leverage the data. Srivastava says it’s not uncommon for companies to run ML on the data their bots generate, then throw a chatbot on the front to enable users to more easily query the data. Suddenly, the RPA project has become an ML project that hasn’t been properly scoped as an ML project. “The puck keeps moving,” and CIOs struggle to catch up to it, Srivastava says. He recommends CIOs consider RPA as a long-term arc, rather than as piecemeal projects that evolve into something unwieldy.
6. Project governance is paramount
Another problem that pops up in RPA is the failure to plan for certain roadblocks,
7. Control maintains compliance
There are lot of governance challenges related to instantiating a single bot let alone thousands. One Deloitte client spent several meetings trying to determine whether its bot was male or female, a valid gender question but one that must take into account human resources, ethics, and other areas of compliance for the business.
8. Build an RPA center of excellence
The most successful RPA implementations include a center of excellence staffed by people who are responsible for making efficiency programs a success within the organization. Not every enterprise, however, has the budget for this. The RPA center of excellence develops business cases, calculating potential cost optimization and ROI, and measures progress against those goals.
9. Don’t forget the impact on people
Wooed by shiny new solutions, some organizations are so focused on implementation that they neglect to loop in HR, which can create some nightmare scenarios for employees who find their daily processes and workflows disrupted.
10. Put RPA into your whole development lifecycle
CIOs must automate the entire development lifecycle or they may kill their bots during a big launch.
Ultimately, there is no magic bullet for implementing RPA, but Srivastava says that it requires an intelligent automation ethos that must be part of the long-term journey for enterprises. “Automation needs to get to an answer — all of the ifs, thens, and whats — to complete business processes faster, with better quality and at scale,” Srivastava says.
More on robotic process automation:
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