Driving Efficiency with RPA: How Robotic Process Automation Transforms Workflows

RPA or Robotic Process Automation is characterized by three core principles:

  • Rule-based: RPA operates by following programmed rules and regulations in automating processes. It interprets, triggers responses, and communicates with other systems as per pre-set rules.
  • Non-Intrusive: RPA interacts at the user interface level and doesn’t require deep system integration, making it less invasive.
  • Near-zero human intervention: Once set up, RPA systems can operate independently with minimal human intervention.

By leveraging these principles, RPA is reshaping business operations in dramatic ways. It promotes efficiency, reduces errors, and frees up human resources from mundane tasks to focus on more strategic, revenue-generating tasks.

What is RPA?

Understanding Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a digital technology that deploys software bots to mirror human interactions with systems and applications. These bots execute high-volume, recurring tasks, such as data entry, navigation, data identification, and extraction, akin to human users but with superior speed and consistency. RPA bots can integrate with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for a richer context understanding through text reading or Optical Character Recognition (OCR), entity extraction via Natural Language Processing (NLP), and image analysis. With no alteration to the existing IT infrastructure needed, RPA can enhance efficiency and productivity, making it a popular solution in various industries.

Scalability and Flexibility

RPA solutions offer considerable scalability and flexibility for diverse business needs. Businesses can deploy additional RPA bots parallelly to address increased needs, ensuring rapid growth and expansion. According to Gartner, RPA is one of the most scalable technologies available, capable of automating a variety of processes including complex, rule-based, and repetitive ones. The non-intrusive nature of RPA allows for deployment without changing existing systems, ensuring easy scalability without business disruption. This flexibility and scalability efficiently automate repetitive tasks, enabling employees to focus on strategic, value-added work, improving efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.

Key Benefits of RPA

Efficiency Amplified

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that improves efficiency by automating routine, repetitive tasks, enabling employees to focus on higher-value work. Through RPA, error-prone, manual data entry and document processing can be significantly reduced, improving outcomes. The software allows for end-to-end automation, providing faster response time, higher quality of products, and increasing productivity. Additionally, RPA can be run with existing technology, such as business process management (BPM), to further streamline digital workflows and eliminate manual steps. Ultimately, the deployment of RPA can lead to greater workforce capacity and more efficient operations.

Financial Gains

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) leads to substantial cost savings by reducing human error in data entry, enhancing operational efficiency, and streamlining intensive processes like credit checks, data entry, and customer onboarding. Consequently, there are fewer resource wastages and reworks. This improved accuracy and efficiency allow financial services to function with minimal disruption and upfront investment. Moreover, by taking over mundane tasks, RPA allows employees to focus their skills on more valuable tasks. Therefore, it results in improved productivity, further leveraging the cost-effectiveness and optimal resource allocation.

Unmatched Accuracy

RPA robots are designed with a key strength: infallibility. As they are entirely rule-based, they are steadfast and unerring, provided the rules established are sound. This results in operations that are virtually error-free, as RPA bots do not fatigue or make mistakes typical of human employees. This boosts productivity, as tasks are finished accurately and swiftly, even handling multiple processes at once. The notable reduction in errors results in a substantial return on investment, making RPA a financially sound choice with minimal disruption to existing systems. Hence, RPA contributes significantly to near-error-free operations.

Ensuring Compliance

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enhances regulatory compliance by automating repetitive tasks, reducing human error, and streamlining audit processes. It ensures procedural consistency by following predefined rules and workflows accurately. RPA bots automate processes like data validation, risk assessment, regulatory reporting, and audit trail generation. This not only minimizes compliance risk but also makes audits smoother. With RPA, all actions are meticulously monitored and documented, keeping businesses updated about their regulatory adherence status. Moreover, RPA solutions are scalable accommodating business growth, while a defined governance framework assists in process management, compliance with policies, and performance tracking.

Use Cases of RPA Transformation

Financial Processes

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has aided in streamlining various accounting and payroll processes across industries. For example, an international banking institution reduced its invoice processing time by 70% by employing RPA bots to extract data from invoices, validate it, and update the financial systems. A retail chain deployed RPA to automate its accounts payable and receivable, increasing efficiency and reducing errors. Moreover, a healthcare service provider used RPA for payroll management, automating salary calculations and eliminating manual effort. This not only improved operational efficiency but also enhanced data accuracy and sped up the payroll process.

Revolutionizing Customer Support

The implementation of RPA has successfully revamped customer service tasks in numerous businesses. With the help of customized bots handling repetitive tasks, the team has been able to dedicate more time to innovation and product development. This transition has not only helped in substantial cost savings but has also led to a remarkable 46% reduction in operational expenses, proving the efficacy of RPA in revolutionizing customer services.

Streamlining Supply Chains

RPA, or Robotic Process Automation, plays a pivotal role in enhancing supply chain efficiency. Tasks such as order processing, inventory management, tracking shipments, and producing shipping documents can be automated, contributing to improved operational efficiency and reduced lead times. RPA bots facilitate real-time data updates across multiple systems, minimizing errors. This automation leads to augmented customer satisfaction due to an effective monitoring of the supply chain. Moreover, in industries such as logistics, RPA offers advantages such as automated order processing, invoice creation, and real-time shipment tracking for customers, considerably simplifying complex operations.

HR Transformation

  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA) significantly simplifies HR tasks such as candidate screening and onboarding.
  • It automates repetitive, rule-based tasks, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.
  • For screening, RPA can process resumes, match candidate skills with job requirements, and even schedule interviews based on availability.
  • During onboarding, RPA can handle tasks like filling forms, adding new employees’ details into various systems, scheduling orientation sessions, and ensuring compliance.
  • Therefore, leveraging RPA can make HR operations more efficient, accurate, and cost-effective.

RPA Implementation Steps

Assessing Automation Needs

To identify suitable processes for Robotic Process Automation (RPA), follow these steps:

  • Focus on repetitive and rule-based tasks as RPA thrives on automation of such tasks.
  • Analyze processes that involve structured data. RPA struggles with unstructured data or tasks requiring human judgment.
  • Pay special attention to tasks that are resource-intensive and time-consuming. High-volume, manual tasks present prime opportunities for RPA.
  • Consider the complexity of the process. The more complex, the harder it is to automate. Assessing process complexity is crucial before RPA implementation.
  • Lastly, review processes that can benefit from improved accuracy and compliance. RPA reduces risk of human error.

Selecting the Right Tools

When selecting the most suitable RPA software, several factors should be considered. First, scalability and speed are essential – the ideal RPA platform can be centrally managed, scaled from a central control panel, and optimizes bots for rapid task completion. Second, reliability and simplicity are crucial making monitoring the system’s health and user-friendly operation possible. Furthermore, intelligence is a key characteristic – advanced learning capabilities enhance automation. It is also crucial to select tools that support enterprise-grade scalability, reliability, and manageability. Finally, considerations for governance capability, financial planning tools and tools’ ability to help manage bot security credentials are significant.

Designing Efficient Workflows

  • Creating automated workflows starts with choosing an intelligent, efficient, and robust workflow automation platform.
  • This no-code platform helps design and deploy workflows in minutes and broadens accessibility across the line of business.
  • Automated workflows not only simplify IT operations but also improve user experiences and empower them to innovate and optimize.
  • Efficiency of workflows is maximized by deploying Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and eliminating manual error-prone tasks.
  • A low-code workflow automation platform could be crucial in enabling fast and radical digital transformation.
  • Successful automation requires a human-centered design approach, considering employee’s needs and feedback for optimized human-robot collaborations.

Testing and Deployment

  • Developing a proof of concept and putting it to a test is crucial for organizations. It validates the RPA business case, implementation model, and all underlying assumptions.
  • Selecting processes that significantly impact the business value, instead of opting for low-risk ones, can lead to greater learning outcomes.
  • Following a successful test phase, organizations can deploy RPA solutions in their everyday business operations.
  • Deep analysis of RPA pilot programs performance against established success criteria and exit requirements helps determine the true business benefits of RPA.
  • If required, final revisions should be made before a full rollout.
  • Consistency across all components and clusters is pivotal to minimize downtime and maintain a functioning workload.

Overcoming Challenges

Employee Transition

While RPA can automate routine tasks, it does not lead to job displacement. Instead, it refocuses employees’ roles to strategic initiatives such as talent acquisition, engagement, and development. Opportunities for upskilling abound, with customized RPA Training & Change Management Services available. This education empowers employees to confidently navigate the technical shifts. As testament, a leading Fintech business reported a 46% reduction in operational expenses, transferring resources from mundane tasks to innovation and product development. Therefore, fears of job displacement should be replaced with optimism for opportunities in skill enhancement.

Integration Complexities

  • Standardize processes to achieve harmony between existing systems and cutting-edge RPA technology. Clear mapping is required prior to RPA implementation.
  • Bridge skillset and knowledge gaps through retraining or by partnering with a Process as a Service vendor who can manage the integration.
  • Identify the best automation solution and software for your organization. Consider SaaS vendors, PaaS vendors, or system integrators as possible partners.
  • Ensure the company has adequate RPA tools, such as software robots. This can be accomplished in-house or through partnerships.
  • Resolve process ambiguity with process mining and discovery, ensuring understanding of business processes before implementing RPA.

Security and Compliance

  • Implement automated security protocols via Security & Compliance Automation Services to enhance business security and regulatory compliance.
  • Secure data processed by RPA bots using stringent measures like access control, encryption, and frequent security audits.
  • Remain compliant with relevant data protection regulations throughout the automation process.
  • Utilize RPA to automate mundane, repetitive tasks, minimizing risk of human error and enhancing adherence to regulations.
  • Enable real-time monitoring and documentation by RPA to stay informed about compliance status.
  • Leverage RPA for streamlining data validation, risk assessment, regulatory reporting, and audit trail creation for effective audits.
  • Consistent adherence to predefined rules by RPA improves accuracy and reduces risks associated with non-compliance.

Future Trends in RPA

AI Integration

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is progressively becoming an integral part of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), forming a powerful combination known as Intelligent Automation (IA). In this synergy, AI simulates human intelligence allowing machines to handle unstructured data and make data-driven decisions, while RPA automates structured and logic-based processes. This blend notably augments automation efficiency with tools like natural language processing and machine learning, contributing to better decision-making and adaptability. Enhanced with AI, RPA can automate complex workflows and processes such as data extraction and sentiment analysis, boosting accuracy, scalability, and productivity across organizations.

The Age of Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation, an emerging trend, is an integration of multiple technologies: RPA, AI, ML, and process orchestration, aiming for complete business ecosystem automation. It utilizes AI and ML algorithms for learning from data, adjusting to changes, and making real-time intelligent decisions. The goal is to automate entire processes, not just individual tasks, and to link diverse systems. This end-to-end automation approach facilitates significant efficiency, agility, and scalability in workflows. Moreover, Hyperautomation encourages a human-centric approach, fostering collaboration between humans and machines, enhancing the employee experience, and creating unprecedented operational efficiency. This revolutionizes processes and sets up organizations for digital age success.

RPA in the Cloud

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is increasingly being leveraged in cloud-based environments, optimizing operations and enabling data-driven decision-making. This powerful technology automates repetitive tasks, streamlines processes, and enhances overall productivity. With its ability to integrate with both modern and legacy systems, RPA proves highly beneficial in transitioning to digital platforms. It impacts not just the back-office tasks but also customer-facing interactions for a wholesome transformation. According to Deloitte, RPA can result in remarkable cost savings of up to 30% in specific areas, underlining its financial viability. By incorporating RPA, enterprises can attain efficiency, agility and innovation, leading to improved customer experiences and boosted employee engagement. In today’s competitive business landscape, embracing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is essential for continuous improvement. RPA boosts efficiency, reduces errors, and drives innovation. At Mphasis, we specialize in RPA solutions tailored to your needs. Visit https://www.mphasis.com/home.html for a personalized consultation and start your journey towards enhanced competitiveness today. Your future of streamlined workflows awaits.

Robotic Automation Process: A Revolutionary Alternative For Efficient Business Automation

Irrespective of the size and structure, each business has a common goal, i.e., increase its productivity to reach greater heights. In this digitally evolving world, where the competition is quite fierce, it often becomes difficult to reach to a productive level and achieve better exposure. When it comes to business management, there are plenty of things that contribute to better functions. From the internal financial system to the marketing processes, every business element require appropriate efficiency in order to tread towards productivity. 

With the evolution in technology, businesses have also been able to take a leap that has proven to be beneficial in all senses. There has been a dire need for excellent efficiency in every business task, which gave rise to automation. Business process automation has been in existence since quite a while. Minimising the need of human force, reducing the chances of errors and completely automating the tasks, business process automation has helped in more than one ways. With the advancing technology and adherence to the growing business requirements, the automation process kept on evolving. 

What is Robotic Process Automation Technology?

A growing number of entrepreneurs are inclining towards an emerging technology that has turned the tables for business automation. Robotic process automation is a revolutionary automating method that has significantly reduced the costs, eliminated the strenuous task, automated business process and eventually allowed corporate workers to focus on other core elements of the business. RPA technology has revolutionised the business world by enabling corporates to configure software or robot that can efficiently take up the work and include human interactions to complete the business process. RPA robots utilise the user interface with a view to collect data and manipulate applications and software with human intelligence. These robots can interpret data and even communicate with systems like humans to perform a wide range of tasks. 

Generally, RPA technology is used to automate the repetitive and mundane task that involve rule-based business processes. There is a large section of tech giants that interpret RPA as makeshift en route to intelligent automation through artificial intelligence tools and machine learning which can be further used for taking futuristic decisions. 

How is RPA Benefitting Businesses?

RPA can make significant changes in the business processes; some of the impressive ones are mentioned below-:

Cost Efficiency

One of the significant advantages of adopting RPA technology is that your organisation can save on its costs. There have been studies that prove RPA immediately bring a significant reduction in the expenditure. It is quite simple; when the work gets automated, you can save big time on the expenses incurred. 

Quality And Accurate Work

It is true that humans are prone to making mistakes and commit errors that disrupt the business system. By bringing RPA into the business, companies can marginally reduce the chances of mistakes. Not only minimising the error chances, but RPA technology will also boost the quality and efficiency of the concerned task. With RPA, all your business process will be error-free, eventually contributing to accuracy. 

Flexibility

It is necessary to understand that automating tasks with RPA doesn’t involve any coding or scriptwriting. Hence, even complex business task can be shifted from humans to machine effortlessly. When the automation works faster, it will eventually contribute to the flexibility in the operation. With RPA, your company can reap the benefits of better and error-free functions. 

Improved Cycle Time

Let’s accept the fact that humans take a much longer time to complete a particular task than an automated system. It is crucial to improve the cycle time of finishing work; that’s where the robotic automation process comes handy. A computer system or robot can cut short the time consumed to complete a task and mount up the savings. 

Employee Productivity

Your employees are your real asset, and you need to make them productive as they can be. With robotic process automation, you can marginally reduce the work of employees, so that they can focus on higher-value work. RPA takes up the mundane and rule-based work. Thereby allowing employees to concentrate on core business tasks and rekindle their productivity. RPA empowers the 

The Bottom Line

There’s no doubt in asserting that automation has become the need of the hour in the business world. There would be only a limited number of businesses that have overlooked the benefits of automation. As the business process automation at its peak, robotic process automation has added to its significance with its revolutionary benefits. 

RPA technology has been grabbing massive traction in the business realm by promising to improve business efficiency. Allowing employees to be more productive and taking up all the business tasks to increase productivity, RPA has benefitted businesses in a lot of ways. 

The above mentioned were some of the amazing perks RPA technology has up its sleeve for the business world. 

Robotic Process Automation – Welcome to the Future.

Robotic Process Automation is a powerful and simple tool to use and implement on your businesses and processes to help your organization meet its goals and dreams.

Robotic Process Automation is effective because it offers:

  • Cost Savings
  • Improved productivity
  • Better quality
  • Processes improvement

The best part:

Improved compliance as RPA’s steps is recorded for audibility.

Keep reading this article to find out more about Robotic Process Automation.

What is RPA?

Now, you must be wondering to yourself:

“Does RPA require actual physical robots to make it work?”

RPA may sound like an electromechanical machine used to carry out work.

Here is the truth:

There are no robots required. Robotic Process Automation is not a mechanical machine. RPA is mostly used in businesses to automate processes that are repetitive, boring and tedious.

RPA is set to receive instructions from a person to carry out tasks. These bots mimic human behavior when working, which is an advantage as they can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week without supervision, provided the right instructions have been provided.

Such boring, repetitive and tedious tasks include filing online forms, data entry on a Spreadsheet file, sending e-mails, etc. This means that with RPA, there is minimal to no error in data entry and analysis.

RPA is the technological imitation of human beings. Robotic Process Automation uses artificial intelligence to carry out these tasks quickly and efficiently. These bots can capture, comprehend and interpret processes.

RPA is remarkably effective, as it has been adopted by new international companies like AT&T, Walmart, etc.

Check this out:

With RPA, you can use it across industries such as financial services, manufacturing, utilities, etc. Statistics show that RPA will have a market of $1 billion in the next three years, where more than 35% of large international organizations will adopt RPA in their organizations.

Traditional Process Automation and Robotic Process Automation – Their Differences

Traditional Process Automation helps in streamlining and improving businesses by doing away with inefficiencies. This is a process dedicated to evolving or even creating systems that increase efficiency.

On the other hand, Robotic Process Automation is dedicated to carrying out repetitive, boring and tedious works by making it faster through using robots that do not tire. RPA does not optimize processes, rather, it executes them faster than human beings by digitalizing processes.

RPA enables quicker execution of repetitive processes by using RPA software. These Robotic Process Automation software or robot are the ones which make humans’ work easier. These bots have impeccable accuracy, improve productivity by removing people from boring work.

The best part:

RPA is non-disruptive, that is, it does not interfere with an organization’s initial processes. Also, there is no need of being highly skilled at computer programming.

The software will be deployed on a desktop or server and actions are automated at a User Interface level, just as you interact with your computer.

With Traditional Process Automation, your organization handles large amounts of data which include structured, unstructured and complex interfaces. As such, RPA is not suitable to handle such cases as it handles scenario-based tasks effectively.

Now, Traditional Automation is more expensive in terms of implementation costs, has a complex integration and is limited by old (legacy) systems. As for Robotic Process Automation, it requires no change to the existing system, hence non-disruptive.

Also, RPA gets implemented faster and costs lesser than Traditional Automation. Robotic Process Automation only requires simple employee training as it is not complex to use.

Applicability of RPA- Criteria to DetermineRPA Solution Use.

It is true that:

RPA is used to streamline processes by digitalizing them. Robotic Process Automation robots, however, cannot be employed everywhere because RPA is intended to carry out repetitive tasks.

Check this out:

There is a criterion for processes that are suitable for RPA. They include:

  • Processes with a lot of repetition- low cognitive processes; these processes are not complex.
  • A lot of processes that are executed frequently.
  • Processes that end up having a lot of human errors – an example being an entry of data records
  • Processes with low exceptions – processes with low exceptions are ideal for RPA

Now, this is where Robotic Process Automation gets interesting:

You should know that Robotic Process Automation is a solution for tasks which:

  • Are performed 60 times a day on average
  • Tasks that may include storing files
  • Generation of a huge number of mails for marketing, etc.

Bottom line:

You should know if your organization requires an RPA solution for its processes if the processes are repetitive, occur frequently and are not complex.

Top 5 Benefits of using Robotic Process Automation Software

According to Gartner’s research, and as you have learned, there are some advantages of using RPA solution over human operators. These include:

  • Cost-saving – Robotic Process Automation Software has reduced operating costs which are employee wages, improved business results, and increasing throughput.
  • Customer Satisfaction – with RPA solution, there is a reduction in manual entry errors by human operators and also services offered are executed quickly. However, do not misunderstand this statement. RPA bots at times malfunction.

They should be checked from time to time to ensure such cases are not observed.

  • Improved productivity – Robotic Process Automation executes boring, tedious, repetitive tasks. Using RPA software can help by placing human operators where they can work well without getting bored easily.

Also, with RPA bots, work is done quickly without breaks, which promotes better services.

  • Better Quality of services – Banking on the fact that computers are accurate, they never get tired and that they can never be distracted, RPA bots have made sure that there are reduced errors which means data will be of a high quality which enables reliable analysis.
  • Reduced workload- Once processes have been automated, human operators are freed of any workload which may hinder them from focusing on more sophisticated tasks.

Conclusion

Robotic Process Automation is not an electromechanical robot that is tangible, rather, it is a bot installed in your computer or server that is used to carry out repetitive tasks. RPA is not suitable for complex data.

The best thing with RPA is that it is non-disruptive, very accurate in its processes, reliable, productive as it works tirelessly and executes processes quickly, promotes compliance and you do not need to know to programme to handle RPA bots.

Follow the criteria outlined in this article to determine whether your organization needs Robotic Process Automation software.

Robotic Process Automation – 6 Reasons why RPA is of help to you

“What is Robotic Process Automation or rather RPA?”

Well here’s the truth about Robotic Process Automation:

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA helps you make a difference in unimaginable domains. It has so much benefit, as we shall see in this article. Keep reading to find out more about RPA.

Robotic Process Automation – How RPA Affects You

Well, Robotic Automation Process is indeed of importance to us.

RPA has an economic impact of approximately $6.7 trillion by 2025. With RPA, the automation market is most likely to be the second hugest economic impact of the technologies developed, such as autonomous vehicles, cloud technology, or even 3D printers.

You might think to yourself: “Just where did RPA come from?”

With relation to RPA, traditional automation has always been there for quite some time now. Its forefathers include workflow animation and management, which goes way back in the 1920s-1990s.

Workflow Animation Management helped in capturing processes that were of key interest. An example can be the total invoice for a company and sending them to your organization or company’s database, which does away with manual data entry, which is advantageous in terms of accuracy of the data, speed, efficiency, and security.

Now, as technology kept on evolving, so did RPA, which is traced back to the early 2000s. Statistically speaking, Robotic Process Automation is still an evolving technology, which heavily relies on its forefathers, that is, Workflow animation and management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and screen scrapping.

For screen scraping software, Robotic Process Automation is highly dependent on code, whereas businesses heavy rely on workflow animation and management.

Imagine a humdrum task full of repetitive processes that are, by the way, very exhausting that done in hours, which turn into days that turn into months and months, which turn into years. It must be very boring.

The best part of Robotic Process Automation is that it can automate such tedious tasks. RPA is the best way to automate and efficiently fix manual work.

Why Robotic Process Automation – 3 Reasons to Choose RPA for Your Enterprise

As earlier stated, business organizations have a lot of work which requires high levels of thinking,consumes a great deal of time, tedious and repetitive, RPA has the solution to all this.

“How can RPA help my organization grow?

Robotic Process Automation comes into the picture at this stage, as it gets these repetitive and mundane tasks done at a faster speed and in a more accurate way. Take this as an example for the above jobs at a business organization:

Your secretary at the office is slow and keeps on making errors, be it in feeding personal data to a database or on working on Excel sheets, which ends up producing wrong values which, in turn, embarrasses you during a big presentation with potential investors.

You ought to ask yourself:

“How can this issue be permanently handled by my organization so as to grow using RPA?”

The application of RPA will be of use to you as these robots can be trained to do what humans do without human intervention. These robots can achieve the best results in terms of time-saving and accuracy in running your day-to-day business operations.

Now, having seen the importance of RPA in your business or organization, you can evaluate how Robotic Process Automation is as we deepen our trust in Robotic Process Automation. Here are some reasons why you should prefer RPA to Regular Automation.

With regular automation, detailed knowledge of a given target software should be familiar to the user. With the introduction of Robotic Process Automation to your business, the robot will only have to learn once all the processes from data retrieval, to data entry and calculations.

With RPA, once all manual processes are identified, setting up a Robotic Process Automation can be very easy as these robots can be modified to perform a specific task, meaning that these robots are very flexible and extremely scalable. You need to get this for your enterprise.

RPA is an added advantage to your enterprise. It is bound to grow as statistics show that within 2019 – 2024, there will be an increase in the rate at which enterprises will adopt RPA.

You are probably wondering why an increase in the use of RPA in businesses and enterprises will be the case:

Nowadays, enterprises run day and night. Robotic Process Automation requires no human supervision, and this is advantageous as robots never get tired. They can run for 24 hours a day, seven days a week tirelessly with no supervision, provided, clear instructions are provided.

These robots are highly accurate, and they perform what they have been assigned to do. With such accuracy, this means that with RPA, you can be sure that you will wake up a more productive being than yesterday in your enterprises as accidents and human errors will not interfere with the process.

The Future of Robotic Process Automation

“What is the future of RPA?”

Every day, manual and tedious processes are being identified, and Robotic Process Automation is put to use. RPA has proven to be resourceful in the business world. Mistakes are not an option as they can cost you billions if not millions of dollars.

Robotic Process Automation will be put to use by enterprises and will steadily increase in the foreseeable future. Just by being productive, RPA makes business-persons agile and which therefore means that there is more development of the economy.

Conclusion

Now, thanks to the benefits Robotic Process Automation comes with, many organizations are adopting the use of RPA, leaving regular automation. RPA is cost-effective and also very accurate, consistent, and fast in carrying out repetitive tasks.

Robotic Automation Process offers great advantages that you cannot afford to ignore. RPA frees humans from tedious, boring, and repetitive tasks, which gives them time to be more productive and more fulfilling in other sectors.

Robotic Process Automation: Features and Limitations of an RPA

Robotic process automation (RPA) refers to the term used for software tools that automate (partially or fully) manual, repetitive human activities. Their modus operandi is to deploy software application(s) in replicating human actions to perform business processes like data entry and customer service queries(among others). One example is the “chat bot” that you find on most websites these days.

RPA tools communicate and interpret responses from other systems to execute rule-based, repetitive, high-volume tasks. They are essentially enterprise automation tools that are designed to execute monotonous, low-value tasks in the fastest time possible with minimal error.

Features of RPAs

Here are some of the features of RPAs:

 User-Friendly

Today’s RPA tools are user-friendly and code-free so you do not need IT knowledge to automate any application that involves repetitive administrative or clerical tasks. All you need to create an RPA is a short training that would enable you to use GUI or any of the many intuitive wizards out there. The “less code” development platform minimizes the amount of codeneeded, accelerates the delivery of business apps and lowers its initial cost of installation, training, and deployment.

Non-Disruptive

One of the biggest challenges faced in IT deployment is the risky transformation or departure from existing system interfaces hence the reluctance to redesign, replace, or enhance running systems. RPAs avoid such complexity and risks by accessing the end-user system by following existing security, quality, and data integrity standards. With RPA based implementation, all forms of disruptions are avoided while functionality and security are maintained via the enforcement of data integrity and security access control.

Rich-analytical Suite

RPA software comes with a central console that allows the monitoring and management of the performance of the robot workforce and other automated functions. This console provides basic metrics on robot workflows and servers (among many others) and can be accessed from anywhere. With the detailed operation analysis, future workloads can be streamlined while tracking operations.

Hosting Options

RPA systems are designed to offer customer deployment across cloud, terminal services, and virtual machines. Cloud deployment is the more popular option because of its flexibility and scalability. Also, RPA systems are comprised of agentless configuration and can automatically deploy robots in large numbers(groups of hundreds). This feature eliminates central synchronization problems by protecting deployment overlap and client configuration. This feature of RPAs makes it possible for businesses to install RPA tools on desktops to be deployed on servers to access data that will be used in completing monotonous tasks. RPA systems are also capable of running different tasks within a single process, regardless of the volume of data.

Adjustability

One of the bestselling features of RPAs as an enterprise automation tool is adjustability.RPA tools redefine the word adjustability as they offer seamless integration with several 3rd party apps. This ability to merge with other tools in the digital infrastructure world gives RPAs a level of flexibility and dynamism in executing digital workforce-related operations.

RPAs generally adjust to the tasks they are involved in.While some RPAs need to stop running before making changes and replicating processes, other RPA tools allow dynamic interaction such as changing variable values to test different scenarios without having to start and stop the running of the apps. This debuggingfeature allowsdevelopments to be made on the fly. It alsoallows the prompt resolution of issues without having to change an ongoing process.

The Limitations of RPA

Non-electric Limitations

RPAsare unable to read non-electronic data that have unstructured inputs such as “traditional” letters and other inbound correspondence. Here’s an illustration. When customers send letters to a company they have dealings with, say their energy company or bank,it is received, scanned and dispatched for processing. RPAs will only be able to handle such tasks when a collection of other implemented technologies (such as OCR)have digitalized and structured these letters. The downside of this enterprise automation tool is that it involves more costs although there are other options like digital capture, straight-through processing,process optimization or other intelligent automation technologies. 

Managing Different Sources of Input

Regardless of the benefits that attend the use of RPAs, there are limitations to its effectiveness as an enterprise automation tool. As with all things,there will always be a volume and cost levels below which RPAs are no longer viable economic solutions. To optimize these tools,companies have to manage the diverse inputs coming from multiple sources. Take this procurement scenario, for instance, supplier invoices sent in diverse formats and placed in different areas may pose a problem if not well managed.This is because the RPA will only be able to read supplier invoices that are received in the same format, with the same fields. RPAs can be trained to read different fields, but they can only read fromdiverse formats when they are all digitalized and configured separately. In other to handle this limitation, companies should prioritize high volume/high-cost processes for maximum benefit.

Shelf Life

The shelf life of  RPAsis one other limitation associated with these enterprise automation tools. Since RPAs are not cognitive computing solutions that can learn from experience, they will require modifications. Especially as other technologies emerge and are deployed. This limitation can be handled by reviewing the function of theirRPA and other related processes before it is built. This helps with its shelf life and its impact on the enterprise in the long run.

Can’t Fix Broken Processes

RPAs are great for a lot of things, except fixing ineffective or faulty processes and outdated infrastructure. This is because RPAs are not Business Process Management solutions and so they do not bring end-to-end process views. RPAsonly apply a cosmetic approach by masking the underlying issues that become complexities that must be handled at some point in the future. This has the effect of sabotaging long-term savings. So if organizations are to make the most of this enterprise automation tool, they must focus on the root causes of their processes or the technology inefficiencies in their business operations before applying RPAs.

Robotic Process Automation: An Innovative Business Process Automation

In today’s competitive world of business, enterprise owners are on the lookout for ways to not only improve their business productivity but also means that can give their businesses the competitive edge.

One way to improve business productivity and ultimately promote business growth and development is through adopting robotic process automation or RPA. RPA involves the application of technology which allows employees to configure software or a robot to interpret existing business applications for processing and manipulating data, triggering specific responses, and communicating with other business digital systems.

The Pros and Cons of RPA

Robotic process automation offers several benefits for both small and large businesses. One of the benefits of this automation process is that it provides businesses with the ability to reduce human error as well as staffing costs. Employees can focus on more important tasks instead of focusing on menial and simple tasks that robotic process automation can perform.

Integrating RPA in business processes allows employees to focus more on the jobs, perform better, and promote invaluable output. More advanced options for large businesses, however, will include the integration of cognitive technologies that will bring enterprise automation to a whole new level. Such processes include natural language processing, speech recognition, and the like. With this advanced integration, higher-order tasks may also be automated.

 Like any other business processes, robotic process automation equally shares a few pitfalls. For instance, this automation system is not for every enterprise. It is important to note that this automation technology has the potential to eliminate jobs, which ultimately challenges managing talent. In fact, those businesses who have adopted robotic process automation have required the transitioning of their employees to new jobs.

However, when integrated correctly, robotic process automation can definitely make business processes easier and quicker, which also promotes employee productivity and efficiency.

Tips to Transition to an Efficient Robotic Process Automation

So, how do you integrate robotic process automation to your business? Here are some effective tips to ensure the transition is smooth and how you can get the most out of this automation technique.

Set and Manage Your Business Goals and Expectations

Yes, you may quickly see immediate results with robotic process automation. However, it will not transition and work properly if you have poor expectation management. Business owners must be cautious and set their expectations straight based on what this system has to offer and the processes involved to get it to work and produce results.

Consider Its Impact on the Entire Business and Its Operations

Robotic process automation is often integrated with consideration of improving the return of investment or reducing business costs. To make its impact more significant, however, this automation technique should be used to improve customer experience. Consequently, everything else from business productivity to reducing unnecessary business costs will follow.

Tap and Involve Experts in Information Technology

Robotic process automation is within the scope of information technology. If you do not have ample knowledge on this aspect and you do not consider yourself an expert on such concepts, you should go in with a blind eye. Tapping on experts on information technology is beneficial when it comes to integrating robotic process automation.

Plan Properly and Manage Changes Efficiently

Many businesses that implement robotic process automation fail because of poor planning and management. It is important that before implementing an automation process, you should consider the operating model design and make sure communication exchanges between various business systems are open and flowing. It is vital to map out how the bots will communicate and work together. Also, since changes happen during the implementation stage, it is important that these changes are managed efficiently and all employees are well informed to avoid disruption in business processes.

Oversee the Entire Automation Process

When implementing a new business process, it is important to note that project governance must be given importance. Robotic process automation may encounter problems if you fail to plan for specific roadblocks. It is important to oversee the entire process and check for certain points where the entire process can fail. This can be done by installing a monitoring system where constant checks are made to pinpoint areas that can impact the performance of the entire automation system. Also, you have to ensure that you are in command and control of the entire process.

Don’t Forget Its Impact on the Employees

Yes, this innovative solution can bring about success to the business and promote growth and development. Some business owners who have implemented robotic process automation have neglected the people who are directly affected by the changes. It is important to make sure all employees are informed and tasks are delegated properly. This way, daily processes and workflows of the employees are not disrupted.

An Innovation for Success – Should You Opt to Integrate RPA into Your Business?

Ultimately, there is no magic trick to implement robotic process automation. It requires proper planning and management. For it to become successful, business owners must never forget his employees and make sure that they are included in the planning process to avoid any disruption in their daily workflow. Also, control and governance during the implementation phase should be initiated.

There are many bumps and roadblocks that may be encountered but with proper identification, planning, and management, such obstacles can be significantly diminished and business processes can run faster and with better quality and more output.

Achieving Efficiency with Enterprise Automation

For many businesses, achieving enterprise automation may be a complex and overwhelming topic. With this notion, most business leaders believe that it would take too much work to set up and achieve efficiency with the use of automated systems.

Also, a lot of people have the misconception that tapping on enterprise automation will let robots take over their jobs. This concept is false and should be corrected.

To correct this false belief, it is best to first understand what automation is and how this tool can actually promote business growth and development, which will ultimately bring the business ahead of the curve. With this tool, menial tasks can be accurately and quickly be dealt with so more important things can be brought into focus.

Enterprise automation is not complex and it will certainly not put workers out of job. It is considered a tool that will help people perform better in their jobs and become more productive.

Enterprise Automation: The Basics

Enterprise automation is all about streamlining the workload of employees to ensure that menial tasks are delegated properly and automated. The employees will not be replaced by robots. They will instead be able to perform more valuable tasks. Also, they will not be stuck doing repetitive tasks.  

It is important to note that there are different concepts of automation. The main principle, however, lies in successfully identifying the tasks in business operations and processes which is better suited to be automated. Consequently, business practices and software can be adjusted according to what is necessary to promote business growth and development.

With automation, simple tasks are completed quickly and efficiently. Besides, it will also help save ample time for employees to focus on more important tasks. That said, the business’ valuable output can significantly be increased.

It is important to emphasize that with enterprise automation, employees are not replaced but rather their ability to work efficiently and quickly is significantly improved.

Four Types of Enterprise Automation

There are four types of enterprise automation.  If you are considering automation in your business, you should look into each type and determine which one suits your business’ needs. The types of enterprise automation include basic automation, process automation, integration automation, and robotic automation.

Let us differentiate each type and determine how to achieve efficiency and promote business growth and development.

Basic automation involves simple business tasks, communication, and usability processes. This type of enterprise automation is not about automating tasks but rather making the tasks easier to perform. This typically involves providing a central location where all relevant information can easily and quickly be viewed.

This type of automation is considered the easiest to achieve and will not require special knowledge or even fancy tools. You simply need software that can perform several tasks.

For example, communication in a business is one of the most important aspects of success. Likewise, transparent and accessible communication is necessary to avoid confusion and wasted time. The traditional method of communication for most businesses is through email. However, a newer and more convenient way of communication is a centralized chat application. Employees can keep track of conversations and be updated in a single location.

Process automation, on the other hand, is a little more complex but a rather powerful type of automation. This process focuses more on the documentation and management of business processes to ensure that everyone is informed of what is currently going on and how should each employee perform their tasks.

Microsoft Excel and Word are two of the traditional process documentation programs. However, newer and more efficient solutions have been created like business process management software. With such innovation, your employees will be able to access a list of roles and responsibilities, which will let them perform their jobs faster and more accurately. Even newer employees can benefit from using such software, as they are given access to the same instructions as the rest of the team.

Integration automation

This type of enterprise automation is perhaps the most powerful automation technique but also one of the most difficult to setup. This type involves simulating a digital workforce, which can be in the form of machines or software, which can observe repetitive tasks and perform them the same way as your employees.

The concept involves services communicating to each other and performing tasks in a predetermined logic. It is important to define rules for actions to ensure that tasks are performed at specific times and completed in an organized manner.

For instance, if your business runs a support checklist every time a customer submits a query, instead of doing this manually, you can make use of customer support software that runs the checklist automatically, segregate queries, and send it to the concerned departments.

The last type of enterprise automation is robotic automation. This type involves the same concept as integration automation, except for getting programs you are using a digital workforce. Such digital workforce mimics human actions and performs tasks in the user interface of the software you are using.

This automation process requires the expertise of a robotic automation service. While this is a great solution, it is more costly compared to the other types of enterprise automation.

Why Opt for Enterprise Automation?

Considering the benefits businesses gain from tapping and integrating enterprise automation into their operations, it is a great option for businesses. Not only that their employees will become more efficient in their jobs, but it will also make business operations easier and faster, which will ultimately promote valuable business output and ensure business growth and development.

Robotic process automation

Automating processes is the order of the day in the world we live in. Activities that used to be done solely by humans are now either totally or partially handed to robots. There is the notion that robots are taking over the jobs of humans. It is not just a cliché, it is accurate, and we have the robotic process automation technology to thank for it.

Robotic process automation defined?

Robotic process automation can be shorted as RPA, and this is a technology that involved the automation of various business processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Methods that used to be handled by humans are now committed to the care of software robots and artificially intelligent robots.

As of today, this technology allows just about anybody to create a set of instructions for a digital system, to carry out business processes, just as humans would carry it out. This process is better functional when the process in question is designed to be repeated. This RPA system can capture data just as humans would do, by making use of their user interface. These systems can interpret data they are exposed to, curate a response, and communicate it accordingly to ensure the functionality of a process. These systems work twenty-four hours a day and are not prone to mistake as humans might. And the cost of maintaining this system is way lower than the cost incurred in the hiring of an employee for the same process.

What makes RPA different from traditional IT solutions?

Unlike traditional IT solutions, with RPA, organizations can automate processes and get things done faster and more cost-effectively. The RPA systems are also conservative, as they do not tamper with the existing infrastructure of an organization, but only leverage on it in the performance of their duties.

Unlike other IT infrastructures, RPA does not need additional cost to ensure efficiency nor compliance. These are simply by-products of the activity of the automation.

How do RPA systems work?

RPA system is adapted and designed to mimic the various actions that can be taken by humans. The systems can on their own, log into your applications, change the location of multiple files and folders, perform actions on data and so many more things that are programmed into them.

Once the process is one that is repeated, automation is achievable. Automation has changed the ways we do things, the factory floor is being transformed with the advent of industrial robots, and bots have transformed the way things are being done in the office. Just as a white collar would perform activities, so also will the bot do.

Bot as a unit of automation

Bots are the very fundamental part of the automation ecosystem, and they can be run right from an employee’s desktop, or can also be run from the cloud. The very vital features of this fundamental part of automation are explained below;

  • Integration:This is very key if the bot is going to perform its function efficiently. These bots can screen scrape and perform duties. However, to ensure the efficiency in their use, it is better to integrate them into the system. Hence, they would be less prone to errors. When they are integrated into the system, they have firsthand access to data and can use this in performing their function efficiently. 
  • Interface: There is a need to program bots; hence, there is a need for programming interface or environment. It is easier to program RPAs, and there are means to program them without a single line of code. 

Management of bots through orchestration modules

By having a management console for your bot, you can quickly stop and analyze the activity of your bot. By doing this, you can monitor the process and manage the bot to ensure effectiveness.

  • Handling of business exceptions: There will always be issues with your bot system, irrespective of how well and vastly programmed they are. The system needs to be designed in a way that when these exceptions are noted, they are transferred to human personnel who can attend to it, without further delay to the customer. 
  • Analytical capacities:Bots designed with some frameworks can carry out advanced analysis of different combined data.

Advantages of Robotic Process automation

RPA has so much to offer a business or an organization, and the list is simply unending. Here are some perks that RPA can provide your business or organization

  • Drastic reduction in cost: When tasks are automated in a company, there is a reduction in the cost of running processes. The maintenance of a software robot is also way cheaper than it would cost to retain an employee.
  • Improved customer experience: Your customers have a worthwhile experience whenever they get to interact with the robotic software. This is a good one for your business or organization
  • Reduction in operational risk: With the RPAs, there is a reduction in the possibility of errors, which is common in human. Errors can result in humans as a result of fatigue, or lack of knowledge. However, this is not so with robots.
  • Improvement in the internal process: Robotic systems ensure efficiency, and this is an overall improvement of both internal and external processes. Reports are generated internally in an organization with the adopted RPA system, faster than it would if the order was otherwise human.
  • They leverage on existing IT infrastructure: Adapting these systems for use don’t need you to tear down your whole IT system, they can function seamlessly on your existing system and structure.

Robotic Process Automation is a way for businesses to maximize resources and operate at optimal best. These various advantages have poised many movements to invest heavily in these systems.

ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION

Software robots are on the rise, and they have successfully been orchestrated into the business community and they are contributing their quarter to the success of quite a lot of businesses all over the world. One of the most popular software robot that is currently being used to improve a lot of businesses all over the world is the Robotic Process Automation.

Robotic Process Automation is a software-based technology utilizing software robots to emulate human execution of a business process. This means that it performs the tasks on a computer, uses the same interface a human worker would, clicks, types, opens applications, and uses keyboard shortcuts and lots more.

RPA is versatile and flexible software that is capable of being used by any form of businesses, no matter its size and structure. Established businesses with a lot of clients can use it without forgetting a small start-up firm that is just trying to get its footing in the business world.

The software mimics and integrates human actions within digital systems to optimize business processes. It also captures data, runs applications, triggers responses and communicates with other systems to perform a variety of tasks. RPA is predominately used to automate business process and tasks resulting in reductions in spending and giving businesses a competitive edge.

The two common types of RPAs available in the market are:

  1. Programmable bots – A programmable robot is defined by programmers before the bot can get to work. Ultimately, this involves mapping out a process step-by-step which can be very time consuming for more complex tasks.
  2. Intelligent bots – Bots with artificial intelligence can analyze data, bot current and dig deep in the historical antecedent of the data. It can learn how employees perform a process, through following the clicks, the movement of the mouse, actions and other commands.

After a while, the bot will have enough material to go on, so it will analyze the data and complete the process itself.

Intelligent and self-learning bots are better suited to perform processes involving unstructured data and processes that involve fluctuating parameters.

With so much enthusiasm and razzmatazz on RPA, quite a number of people are skeptical about how it works, because information about the processes are not readily available in the open, so this article will try to analyze how the system really works.

How does RPA work?

RPA has been in the market for quite a time now. It is not like the new product that has not tested the test of time.  It has been around for like 10 years, but recently, the technology has reached an impressive level of sophistication while retaining ease-of-use. It is no longer a tool that is easily used to facilitate the automation of simple and repetitive IT tasks.

The technology is maturing and with the convergence of other technologies – such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML), we are beginning to explore new possibilities.

Although the potential of the new technology is enormous and huge, but just like all other technologies, people might not understand it very much and it might not reach its full potential at the initial stage.

One of the benefits of the RPA is that, while other technologies can’t prevent something, RPA has the required technology to decide if a process should take place or not.

It can also analyze data presented to it and make a decision based on the logic parameters set in place by the developer. In comparison to the other forms of automation, it does not require system integration or other integration processes.

The technology is broad, wide and has quite a lot of products which actually differs greatly from one another. But most of the products will comprise of RPA developer tool, a controller and a reboot itself.

One of the questions virtually on the lips of everybody is how the technology can integrate into different forms of businesses available in the market. RPA can easily fit into businesses because it is flexible and very easy to implement. Due to its friendly and easy to use process, it makes it quite understandable to most business owners and makes their business unique and peculiar, especially when comparing it with others that use a different form of technology.

Whilst it is great at driving operational excellence, some processes are more viable for automation than the others. It is always a good practice to rollout the RPA slowly to mitigate teething issues that often comes with technology implementation. The most viable candidates for automation are those that tend to process in a way that is simple, repetitive and very easy to define.

Technology is the new other of the day, any serious business owner that is really interested in taking his/her business to the next level must embrace new technologies that would favor their businesses and RPA(Robotic Process Automation) is the future and it’s ready to be exploited.

These Business Processes could be Automated by RPA

What is RPA?

The process of automating business operations with the help of robots to reduce human intervention is said to be Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

Robotic process automation (RPA) is an emerging form of clerical process automation technology based on the notion of software robots or artificial intelligence (AI) workers.

If I have to elaborate on each of these terms one by one, then Robotics entities, which mimic human actions are called Robots.

A process is a sequence of steps which lead to meaningful activity. For example, the process of making tea or your favorite dish, etc.

Automation is any process which is done by a robot without human intervention.

So, when we summarize all these terms together, then mimicking human actions to perform a sequence of steps, leading to a meaningful activity, without any human intervention is also known as Robotic Process Automation.

How RPA Works?

This question has always popped on whether RPA uses physical robots or are there actual robots present to automate tasks.

Well, let me tell you that RPA does not replace humans with actual robots. But, there are softwares available in the market which let you configure automation workflows to automate your business operations. According to our experts, the demand for RPA certification training is going to rise by 150% due to the lack of skill set in the market.

Though I have mentioned that RPA is implemented through software which is nothing but RPA Tools/Vendors, let me tell you a few guidelines on how to get started with RPA, before we start discussing tools.

How to Get Started With RPA?

You need to follow the below steps, to get started with RPA:

Step 1: Gain extensive knowledge about the history behind RPA. That is, learn all about Traditional Automation.

Step 2: Learn about RPA and the various applications of RPA.

Step 3: Choose the process that you wish to automate and retrospect about the process dependencies. This is a way to make sure that your business doesn’t suffer loss while you are busy automating the task.

Step 4: Gain extensive hands-on experience in RPA Tools, such as UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere.

Applications of RPA

Multinational companies such as Deloitte, Accenture, Capgemini and many more, use Robotic Process Automation in their day-to-day tasks. These companies benefit by using RPA as it provides accurate, reliable, consistent outputs with high productivity rates. So, now let me tell you the top applications of RPA so that you know the various sectors in which RPA can be used.

As you can see in the above image, RPA offers much more than testing. By using it in accounting, financial service, and human resource industries, the pressure on him/her is reduced and can harness his/her talents in a better way. So, RPA is a technology which will make your work easy in a reliable manner.

Rising levels of interest in RPA

As you can see in the graph at the top of post, interest in RPA has grown ~10x in the past 1.5 years. This is no surprise since Fortune 500 CEOs cannot stop talking about it. As John Cryan, CEO of Deutsche Bank said in September 2017:

In our banks, we have people behaving like robots doing mechanical things and tomorrow we’re going to have robots behaving like people.

With so much interest in the topic, consulting companies like BCG, McKinsey and Accenture have integrated RPA into their digitization solutions.

Benefits

No wonder interest in RPA is growing so fast. Manual processes are inefficient, prone to errors and lead to employee dissatisfaction. With RPA, companies can:

  • Increase speed/reduce errors in customer-facing processes to increase customer satisfaction.
  • Allows employees to focus on higher value-added activities improving both business results and employee satisfaction.
  • Reduce manual data edits, increasing quality of data, reducing compliance risks and simplifying audits since RPA bots leave digital log files of all their activities.

Possible activities / tasks of RPA bots:

RPA bots can use the operating system applications like a human user. Bots are capable of these, but please note that this is not a comprehensive list. RPA is too flexible for us to provide a full list of bot actions. Launching and using various applications including:

  • Opening emails and attachments.
  • Logging into applications.
  • Moving files and folders.
  • Integrating with enterprise tools by:
    • Connecting to system APIs.
    • Reading and writing to databases.
  • Augmenting your data by:
    • Scraping data from the web including social media.
    • Data processing.
    • Following logical rules such as “if/then” rules.
    • Making calculations.
    • Extracting data from documents.
    • Inputting data to forms.
    • Extracting and formatting data into reports or dashboards.
    • Merging data from multiple sources.
    • Copying and pasting data.

Bots can do these functions on virtualization solutions like Citrix or on Windows environment. Most vendors do not support other OS environments like Mac OS or Linux. This is because most office work is conducted on PCs.

Types of RPA

All RPA tools can be categorized by the functionality they provide in these 3 dimensions:

  • Programming options: RPA bots need to be programmed and there are a few ways to program bots which involve trade-offs between complexity of bots and programming time.
  • Cognitive capabilities: Programmed bots need to have cognitive capabilities to determine their actions based on inputs they gather from other systems. RPA tools provide a range of cognitive capabilities.
  • Usage: Bots serve specific functions. Though most RPA tools can be used to build bots that serve all these functions, some tools are more optimized for attended or unattended automation. While unattended automation is batch-like background processes, in attended automation users, for example customer service reps, invoke bots like invoking macros.

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