Three steps to RPA success...
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is appealing because it automates existing proven processes, and the automation performs the job accurately day in and day out but how do you ensure your RPA implementation will be a success?
Communicate with upper management as well as IT – A successful RPA implementation should be led by the entire business, not just the IT department. This means there should be cross-functional teams involved to ensure RPA is part of an effective business strategy. Without this strategy, you are left with a confused business that spends more time thinking about RPA rather than executing your strategy and realising the benefits. A sensible mitigation is an initial piece of consultancy that helps the business understand its process automation goals in the context of its overall mission. At Wyser we call this the ‘process intelligence blueprint’ and it mitigates the following:
- Lack of time commitment from local teams
- Lack of leadership buy-in
- Lack of IT support
- Unclear responsibilities
- Company lacking a clear RPA strategy
Start with a process intelligence blueprint – RPA is the tool used to automate your business processes, not improve them. If you are looking to identify and optimise your current business processes, then you must start with a process intelligence blueprint. Wyser’s consultants can map end-to-end workflows for a high-level view of your processes coupled with a deeper analysis that identifies any friction points, superfluous steps or areas that require some optimisation. At the same time, the consultants will highlight which parts will benefit most from automation. This approach mitigates the following:
- Choosing a process to automate that changes frequently
- Choosing a process with insignificant business impact
- Choosing a process that involves higher level cognitive tasks
- Pursuing in-house RPA development when those teams do not have enough capacity or skill
Regular RPA audits post implementation – When RPA bots encounter cases that programmers had not anticipated, results can be unexpected. This requires audits of the RPA bots during first roll-out to ensure that such cases are encountered and fixed. However, not all edge cases can be identified during the first few weeks of operation. For example, changing market conditions can generate new cases months after bots are rolled out. This requires the creation of a warning system that carries out regular audits because of changing market, regulatory or technology conditions. This will help you evolve your RPA strategy and mitigate any risks.
If you would like to know more about the RPA and related consultancy services that Wyser offer, please contact us: https://wyser.online/contact/