The Process Automation Myopia

There is a problem with the way companies adopt Process Automation, and it is myopia toward long-term results. Let me address the causes of this myopia and suggest which glasses are needed to overcome it.

Process Automation technologies (like Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Cognitive Automation, and Process Mining, for example), as well as solution fast deployment tools (such as Low-Code), are taking over the IT industry at unprecedented growth rates.

Especially in the case of RPA, its market size is expected to exceed the threshold of 10 billion USD by 2028, from little more than 2 billion USD in 2021, regardless of the industry analyst that provides the forecast. Nonetheless, in my experience, there is still a misconception about the approach too many companies have in implementing RPA projects.

Except for a minority of cases, typically represented by big companies, thanks to their larger IT budgets and more inclination to technology innovation, we often see an approach to RPA implementation that is very short-sighted, only focused on removing process bottlenecks to gain operational productivity rapidly. Of course, this aim is a good thing, but it cannot be the only focus driving a proper Process Automation strategy because it is a strategy that companies need for RPA.

This need stems from the fact that a true Digital Transformation comprises two different and equally important components: 1. Digitalization of as much company information and physical assets as possible. 2. Digital Automation of company processes. Without Digital Automation, organizations will not achieve a real Digital Transformation because people keep operating manually on assets and information, even when both have a digital representation.

We all can see that, currently, companies are investing a lot in Digitalization but a lot less in Digital Automation. Therefore, their Digital Transformation strategy is weak, lacking one of the two required pillars Digital Transformation is made of. Thus, a strategy is necessary for Digital Automation as well, and a strategy cannot be limited only to removing process bottlenecks. Still, it must encompass all the competitive drivers a company relies on.

Any company should ask the question, inherently ‘strategic’: “Why are we doing RPA?”. And the possible answers are two:

1.????To remove our productivity pain points (short-term view).

2.????To fulfil a thorough Digital Transformation Agenda (long-term view).

The first answer is not incorrect at all. On the contrary, improving operational efficiency is a good starting point for adopting RPA. The problem is that this is the ‘slow-moving lane’ of Digital Transformation. A switch to the fast lane, adopting a strategy for RPA, is a must if an organization is seriously committed to Digital Transformation.

Moreover, in the ‘slow-moving lane”, we have seen many RPA projects rejected when the pay-back time is over a year. Apart from any consideration about this financial ‘short-termism’ (once a manual task is removed with RPA, it is gone forever, not for a few months), this myopia over the long term fails to consider the three (at least) additional essential benefits that every single RPA implementation brings to a company.

First of all, each additional RPA bot builds up experience for the organization and its people, which will be very valuable for scaling up RPA implementations and understanding where this industry is going. Organizations that are seriously determined to Digital Transformation must not overlook this aspect because, in the absence of in-house knowledge, a fundamental transformation is unlikely to happen in the hands of technology providers and implementation suppliers only.

Secondly, RPA opens up the possibility of evaluating broader process changes that would not be possible without that single RPA bot. When a manual chokepoint is removed, other improvements become possible, from rising SLAs to increasing the whole process throughput, even a newly redesigned process.

Finally, each RPA implementation always brings additional value to a business (e.g., moving people from manual sales order entry to customer care or outbound calling), often overlooked in business cases because it could be challenging to grasp and size. Still, indeed there is additional value to consider.

From “Operational RPA” to “Strategic RPA”.

Now that I hope I succeeded in making a case for moving from “Operational RPA” to “Strategic RPA”, let me try to briefly address how this can be done using a graphic representation.

In my view, RPA must be used as the starting point of a larger strategic plan, encompassed by an enterprise-wide “Digital Agenda” designed to expand competitiveness in the long term significantly.

As the previous illustration shows, RPA is a great enabler to quickly increase productivity, which at least enables any organization to stay competitive in terms of costs. However, RPA is only the starting point of more extensive adoption of Digital Automation, both over a long time and at a broader scope within the organization.

It is also worth mentioning that RPA works very well with several approaches to change management, such as the Theory of Constraints, Lean Sigma, and Business Process Re-engineering. Moreover, it is a perfect counterpart of these approaches, thanks to its capacity to remove bottlenecks and streamline business activities.

Therefore, any organization can choose how to move from the bottom-left quadrant to the upper-right one, but these paths are not conceivable without adopting RPA widely and for the long term.

This is a fundamental concept because, without this long-term and more expansive approach, I believe it is impossible to meet all the goals of a real Digital Transformation, as I tried to explain earlier.

In conclusion, overcoming ‘RPA short-termism’ and moving from “Operational RPA” to “Strategic RPA” is crucial for any company that wants to be part of this fast-transforming industry and not find itself among the laggards of Digital Transformation.