Robotic Process Automation... What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
One of the key focus areas for many organizations around the world today is automation. Whether it stems from growing customer demands, more complex tasks involved with delivering services, or the explosion of remote workplaces as a result of the pandemic, companies are more eager to embed automation into their processes today than ever before. In this article, I’ll explain at a high level what robotic process automation is and why it matters to so many organizations.
New Concept? Not Really…
If we go back in history, we can see that process automation is actually not a very new concept. As humans, we’ve always strived to create efficiencies and infuse automation into our lives in various ways. Whether it’s the vending machine in the hallway that one day used to be a snack stand managed by an attendant or the ticketing stand at your favorite sports stadium that used to be operated by service personnel, automation is around us everywhere we go.
Today, business processes have become more complex and the management of certain tasks requires a multitude of steps that are both complex and tedious. These complexities combined with today’s digital age have sparked an entirely new concept fully dedicated to automating processes using AI, ML, and Robotics.
What is RPA (Robotic Process Automation)?
Robotics Process Automation, or RPA, is digital transformation technology designed to delegate repetitive and time-consuming tasks to a computer, thereby automating the completion of tasks without requiring human interaction or input. RPA solutions are based on metaphorical software robots or AI-based workers that can automate tasks such as:
Navigating multiple applications for collection of data
Copy/paste tasks across screens
Data entry and validation
Reporting
Scenario evaluation based on pre-determined metrics
Managing and processing documents/orders
and more…
With RPA, businesses can automate these mundane rules-based business processes, enabling employees to devote more time to serving customers or other higher-value work that require human interaction and creative thinking. RPA can also be the stepping stone for implementing more sophisticated AI and ML based solutions that can learn and self-correct at a rapid pace and modify future outputs upon demand.
RPA’s Value & How to Evaluate Different RPA Solutions
Robotic Process Automation is designed to streamline workflows, garner flexibility and infuse efficiency in business processes, leading to improved responsiveness to customers as well as increased employee satisfaction and productivity. Second, while humans excel in critical thinking and managing complex tasks that require specialized skills, robots excel in consistency that results in more accurate outputs for simple rule-based tasks. Lastly, implementing RPA is noninvasive and the solution can be deployed rapidly to promote digital transformation without disrupting the business.
When evaluating different RPA solutions, some of the key criteria that must be evaluated include:
Intelligence – does the solution include AI/ML capabilities and data manipulation techniques in order to automate processes and interact with other software solutions as needed?
Scalability – can multiple ‘bots’ be created to run simultaneously in order to handle more complex processes that involve multiple steps?
Simplicity – is the solution simple and low-code so that employees can implement and modify the RPA solution rapidly as needed?
AAS – can the solution be deployed as a service to avoid labor-intensive management of the application and required hardware to run the solution?
Conclusion
There are many business processes that require human interaction and specialized skills to ensure they are completed accurately and deliver the unique results they are intended to deliver. But for those tasks that are repetitive and involve tedious steps, RPA can offer a level of efficiency and accuracy that is unmatched by humans. Best of all, it can operate at all hours of the day or night without the need to pause for coffee breaks or lunch! 😊
Next Steps
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