RPA Concepts & Beyond

What are the conceptual inertias to start RPA implementations. Recently I have had a few conversations about RPA concepts and what to expect in RPA journey, hence putting my thoughts here.. 

Productivity is a primary objective and a driving force in any business. It is also source of competitiveness and overall economic and social performance. History is littered with well known innovations such as wheel, cast iron, electricity, engine, telethon, computers and others that have resulted in overall economic performance.

 Investopedia explains that Productivity gains are vital to the economy, as they mean that more is being accomplished with less. Capital and labour are both scarce resources, so maximizing their impact is a core concern of modern business. Since advent of computers, the innovation in the field of software has been tremendous. Simple desktop software eventually progressed to becoming complex and critical part of every business. They aided and enhanced productivity in almost every sector known to mankind.

Automation is a new innovation that is building on past success of software aided productivity has emerged as a new lever to increase productivity and enhance accuracy at relatively lower cost of deployment and quick ROI. Until recently RPA was a mystical technology term, trying to find its place between technology and End User computing.

 What is Robotic Process Automation?

 In simple terms, it’s a software robot which interact on the presentation layer or a surface bot which act as a wrapper around the computer and mimics human behaviour.

 Alternatively to sound more technical, RPA is a robotic software which is configured to interpret the actions on various applications used while processing a task. The most attractive proposition is RPA sits on the top of legacy thereby eliminating the need of integration with other systems.

Why Robotic Process Automation

 The possibility of RPA eliminating the need to off-shore coupled with higher productivity gain by automating a low value repetitive activities has captured the attention of many global corporates.

The robotic process automation enables to create a digital workforce which can be configured to manage high volume and seasonal fluctuations. It reduces the need for human intervention in routine and repetitive tasks. The robots can work around the clock; they are location agnostic and can be triggered remotely to start processing. The reductions in cost, time and labor can be achieved by implementing robotic process automation make it very compelling for the organizations to embrace it.

 Keep it Simple

 RPA is a non-invasive technology which works with the presentation layer i.e application GUIs. Having said that RPA implementation can be done using API, however the genesis of it is to keep it simple and quick.

 While automating a process is relatively easier using RPA tool, its important to assess the existing business processes and where possible eliminate the inefficiencies in the process prior to automating it. i.e. one should not automate a broken process.

 RPA is chosen for its quick time to market, however many a times the execution time extends due to complexity of the process. To get the benefit of RPA, initially a simple process should be picked or a complex process should be broken into multiple use cases with individual releases.

 Most importantly, to reduce the lead time and have maximum benefit only the Trunk of the process i.e the path with the maximum volume should be automated. To take the analogy of a tree – branches are the exceptions which should not be automated and only the trunk should be focused on.

 Strategic Approach

Strategically, there are predominantly two school of thoughts which drives RPA in an organization i.e. if it’s a business initiative with IT support from outside or if it is part of IT strategy and should sit within the existing IT governance framework

Either way, both these options are plausible, however they are heavily dependent on the organizations environment and strong sponsorship (either from business or IT). As both options have their pros and cons, the successful implementation of RPA is depended on strong partnership between business and technology. The partnership where business and technology are loosely dependent but deeply integrated.

 The Challenges (not an easy ride)

 When there is change there’s a conflict.

While RPA may be considered the silver bullet to give a quick way to improve efficiency, it has it’s fair share of challenges. One of the biggest blockers with adopting RPA is getting buy-in from key stakeholders within your organization.

 Adoption of RPA is challenging as there’s learning involve, it’s a new technology concept which many are not aware of.

Even if you’re getting great advice from those who have already forged the way, you still have to deal with your unique situation and challenges. Maybe you’ve seen it in your own workplace or field, but RPA can get some really strong pushback. There are those who are doubters (“What’s so different about this? Can’t we just use a macro?”), some are hesitant (“Let’s play it safe and wait until everybody else has it before investing”), and those who panic (“It’s the beginning of the end of our jobs!”), to name a few viewpoints. You might also come up against concerns, especially in the IT department, that RPA will only add work to their already overloaded plates or that it will mean a loss of control over the way things are run.

Future maturity model

RPA is getting mature, in the last 2-3 years RPA has grown to be one of the primary consideration for process efficiency. In the process evolution cycle RPA is the latest tool kit which is getting beyond its hype and proving to be effective. 

The progression of RPA is suggested to be AI or ML. Having said that, against the general opinion ML and AI would not start where RPA ends, moreover in the process revolution road map RPA will be the last link preceded by digitization and ML. 

 Ideally the digital input would be empowered by ML and processed by RPA to provide real revolutionary experience. 

The myth of job killer

 Like its preceding innovations (eg ERP), innovation such as RPA are net value creators for the organizations. It helps unlock time and capital for organizations to invest in areas that help them become more competitive and offer more services to the customers. With all changes, comes disruption and the disruption through RPA has to be managed at human level as well. Upskilling or re-skilling workforce to become more competitive and value creating should be a complementary effort accompanying RPA adoption.

 In my view, RPA will in due course become main stream and organizations benefiting from RPA through enhanced productivity, which translates into gain for all stakeholders from customers, associates, shareholders and the entire economy in general.

Lastly, like any innovative/transformation journey, one cannot have the old methods to implement a new technology. There has to be some risk appetite from the management and fail-fast should not be disregarded...