RPA Implementation Methodology and its Elements

Overview of RPA Strategy and Roadmap

RPA projects are failing nowadays because people are trying to apply RPA automation to their work without even knowing what their process needs and how much automation is required in it. Everyone who is working in technology knows that things are always changing, and the band moves quickly. But when it comes to RPA, we should not jump.

The leaders must understand how's and whys behind the RPA. A successful RPA Strategy requires some maintenance to make sure that processes are being executed properly. Organizations should be realistic about the complexity of their operations. If the process is extremely complex and requires human intervention, then it's not the right process for RPA. The excellent process is where the work is -

Performed independently and cognitive
A stable and well-defined process
Rule-based

RPA is an effective way to get accuracy in the successful execution of a task.Taken From Article, Build RPA Center of Excellence

RPA projects tend to fail in two scenarios: "Either the process which has been automated is not a robotic process as it was thought, or the automation is running in such a way that needs to be more dynamic than previously identified". Before using RPA, we have to think of what process needs automation and if they need to be more dynamic or not.

What and Where are RPA projects failing?

If the process is more dynamic, then we have to keep a check. If it is working in an ever-changing environment and still gives an accurate outcome. If the decision-making is involved on a case-by-case basis, then you need humans involved. The RPA is good at only following the instructions that we will give him and not at learning on its own or giving a response to unexpected events.

So, we likely want to see the growth of use cases where it's deployed with cognitive technologies. RPA bot breaks when it gets scenarios in which it was not trained or instructed. If any RPA project needs to make the process more efficient, then without a clear strategy on how RPA is going to be utilized, there is a risk that it becomes a standalone business function-having a clear picture of the use of RPA software so that it can meet the collective needs of the many. It should not be the 'go-to' solution for every problem.

There is still a need for humans to manage expectations. Taking the humans out of the equation will lead to the RPA challenges which you have to face later. RPA works best where processes are repetitive and do not require human judgment. The RPA is not for those processes where you need human intervention to complete the task. The RPA implementation will be smooth and more likely to give good results if the processes have gone through a selection process using the IT, business team, and the RPA team.

RPA is part of a continuum of automation that begins with basic, local tasks and expands to enterprise-wide, smart automation powered by ML and AI.Taken From Article, Scaling Up RPA for Process Automation in an Organization

Why are RPA projects failing?

The main reasons why RPA projects are getting failed:

Process: The poor selection of the process. The research has told us that the poor choice of method is the leading cause of failure. While we are choosing a project, we have to think about its consequences also. The process is not stable. Inputs are not structured. In such cases, those are not the right processes to automate. If we can automate a process with the help of RPA, that does not mean that we should automate it.

What is the Key to a Successful RPA Strategy?

The project may fail if the business case is not well defined or not well propagated. The prioritization has not been given to the right process at the right time. The primary purpose of implementing the RPA project is to operate businesses operate more fluidly and efficiently. So, we need a strategy to look at how RPA is going to be deployed and utilized. If we have a clear vision of the use of RPA ensures that the right software is chosen to meet the needs of many.

Cognitive technologies extending RPA’s reach. Taken from the Article: Cognitive Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

One more factor that can lead to RPA failing is not having awareness from stakeholders. Or the support from stakeholders such as the CEO, At the early stage of the project. Business teams manage RPA projects. No robot can run without a computer, a user account, or access to a request. Without their support, you may find it more challenging to get an RPA project running.

People: Internal and External

The insufficient involvement of the stakeholders. RPA partner does not have many skills for automation, or less experience may lead to failure. RPA works well where the processes are repetitive and the requirement of human judgment is not required. Even the process which passes the criteria is the best' candidates' for automation. The RPA is good at following instructions, but it's not good at learning on its own or responding to unexpected events. Taking the human user entirely out of the equation through the implementation of RPA will likely lead to operational challenges later. There is still a need for human intervention to manage exceptions. Human users must be on hand to help address these exceptions. They must have a good knowledge of RPA and must be adaptive to change according to the demand.

What is the key Strategies for RPA Implementation?

Good Preparation is the key to a successful implementation. Organizations that desire successful implementation of RPA across their organization must look forward and align business goals with the organization's constraints such as rules, policies, and procedures. Some basic rules for implementing RPA are as follows

Correct Business process

The complex processes that require more human intervention lead to failed automation and the processes that require more business, so are aware of this while choosing the right process for robotic process automation. The correct processes may be in like data manipulation, data extraction, continuous and repetitive UI interacted processes can be automated.

The right choice of RPA tool

The correct tool for the implementation of RPA is a must. RPA tools like UIpath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, PEGA are used to implement RPA automation; every tool has its own key specification for the implementation. So the right choice of tool according to the business process is a must.

Organized Documented Process

The process which is going to be automated must be well documented and includes all the requirements and as-is process, automated processes, and future errors of that business process, and it should be approved by both the business team and IT team.

Time is Money

Organizations are adopting RPA because Bot takes less time to do the process than humans with more handling errors, so the automated process must take 40 to 50 per less time to do the process than a human.

Bot Developers

While going with RPA development solutions, Organizations must have chosen the right developer who knows RPA best practices and know-how to manage the process, and the developer should have understood the business process before development.

What are the key elements of an RPA Strategy?

The five essential elements of an RPA strategy

RPA processes should be strategically targeted.
Establish a business-IT collaboration.
Create an RPA champion and a center of expertise for the technology.
Manage RPA.
Purchase RPA monitoring software.

Why Businesses required RPA?

The basic requirement of implementing RPA at the business level is to engage employees in more strategized work rather than just filling in the information, sending emails the whole day, and other boring and repetitive tasks. The process can be automated as follows.

Logging into any application: Logging into multiple websites takes a lot of time for the employee. RPA bot can log into all those websites in the system. At that time, employees can do their other stuff.
Copying and pasting data: Continuously copying and pasting data from one excel to another or getting data from the email into Excel takes a lot of time for an employee. RPA bot can do it with less time and better accuracy.
Moving files and folders: Copying one file to another folder and from one place to another is the most tedious task for humans. We can automate this process with RPA technology.
Structured and semi-structured content from PDFs, papers, forms, and e-mails is extracted and processed: RPA may also extract data from emails and PDFs and documents, forms, and other structured data.

Examples: Monthly team members leave analytics and give payment analytical results that employee is in loss of Pay or not into a documented format.

Reading and writing to databases: Employee data are saved in databases. RPA bot can extract detailed employee data from the employee’s database and save information in the document, excel files, etc.
Making calculations: Analytical calculations with logic and providing results per the requirement can also be automated through RPA.
Opening emails and attachments: Open emails one by one and saving the attachment in a folder can be time-consuming, so RPA can do this process in less time with better results.

How to implement RPA in 2022?

Right now RPA bot is not as reliable as it has to be, RPA technology will work more at deployment and will develop the bots with AI/ML integrations in 2021. Right now, RPA is facing pitfalls like UI automation, In Ui Automation RPA requires a fixed UI. When a UI changes, a bot has to also upgrade or redevelop. RPA technology is dependent, and making it totally independent is an ultimate goal in 2021. In 2021, RPA tried to make itself independent by making unattended bots for organizations. Changes that are going to be seen this year are as follows :

RPA to SPA (Smart Process Automation)

Robotic process automation is going to be smart process automation when it is going to integrate with AI and ML. RPA companies are working on this merging for better automation.

RPA bot more Independently

Some RPA bots require human synchronization for better analytical results, RPA companies are working on them and making unattended bots for the human workforce, so they will see the result only.

RPA as Service

Some organizations provide services to the RPA bots, like managing bots on their platform for their clients and improving the bot’s service and quality.

An AI-driven RPA solution helps organizations automate more business, and IT processes at scale with the ease and speed of traditional RPA. Download to explore more

A Holistic RPA Strategy

The scalability should not be limited to hosting but, more importantly, to maintain, manage, and control processes. The organizations scale their programs, and maintaining and managing the operations creates a new dynamic that the organization will not have experienced in the past. The issue of scalability is complex and requires a concerted effort from across the business to assess. An alternative for the RPA must be explored first. The processes which are likely to use customer data, the implications to privacy as well as the security of sensitive information can become very evident. The failure to invest in the right tool can directly impact the outcome of an organization's automation journey. It will lead to the wastage of time and efforts that you have invested in that project. The proper process should be done before selecting the appropriate tool for automation.