RPA – Why and What to Automate

Robotic Process Automation is known by many names in the industry. It is, indeed, a form of business process automation technology. At times, professionals use the term “Software Robotics” synonymously it. However, its basic function remains the same. RPA automates manual tasks across applications with the help of a software robot that can even interact with other software to get the job done.

Standing at $4 billion in 2020, the market size of RPA will be more than $10 billion in 2023 and why shouldn’t it be? Today, in the era of digital transformation, the benefits of the RPA are indispensable. Companies, especially mid-sized, can implement RPA in their business model for a faster digital transformation. At the same time, their resources can use the saved time in other constructive activities. Faster digital transformation translates to higher ROI, better market standing, and greater customer retention to name a few.

Why RPA?

One may wonder what are the benefits of adopting RPA. Since RPA saves time invested in manual labour and automatically executes high-volume, repetitive, and low exception rate tasks, companies can utilize their resources in more productive tasks. There are numerous benefits of adopting RPA. Some of them are:

• Efficiency and Quality – Greater accuracy, better output, streamlined processes, quality work
• Scalability and Expertise – Quick automation, new resources can build new capabilities
• Security and Compliance – Secure and managed solution, consistency of data and better insights
• Competitive Advantages – Low integration costs, high ROI
• Control and Management – Consistent service delivery model provides better control

Selection Criteria

In order to automate a certain task, the selection criteria are quite simple and straightforward. For a business to qualify for Robotic Process Automation, the following is the criteria:

• Rules-driven – Consistent rules-based processes
• Repetitive – Manual daily and repeating tasks
• Intensive – Tasks that involve large volumes of data
• Triggers – Tasks must start themselves upon receiving a file or a trigger
• Errors – Data entry tasks prone to errors
• Calculations – Laborious tasks that may lead to error
• Out-of-Hour – 24/7 tasks like complaint resolution etc.
• Electronic Start/End Points – Processes with regular manual interactions, but digital inputs/outputs
• Compliance – Audit-based tasks for regulatory compliance and validation
• Resources – Complex and multi-step tasks that involve many resources

Author

Muhammad Usman Khan

Senior Managing Consultant – Process Automation