August
27th,
2019
RPA is the application technology to programmatically replicate
repetitive work done by staff, to increase the capacity of current staff
or reduce staffing needs. The business logic, process and inputs are
mapped out and replicated within the RPA software. Using RPA tools, a
company can configure software aka a “bot / robot” to mimic what an
employee does via existing applications, whether it be processing a
transaction, manipulating data and communicating with other systems (for
example creating monthly invoices, getting the input billable hours and
creating/submitting the invoice). RPA scenarios can range from something
as simple as generating automatic invoices to deploying hundreds of
bots, each programmed to automate jobs in complex environment.
What are the Pros of RPA?
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Improved job satisfaction and adding capacity
- The intent of RPA is to alleviate employees of repetitive/monotonous tasks. This should/will leave the employee with more time to do more value-adding tasks. These tasks should be more stimulating to the employee and beneficial to the business.
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Reduced Errors
- Businesses will see a reduction in the time needed to complete the repetitive tasks and as the process is now automated less errors in the output. Leading to both internal and external customer satisfaction.
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Reduced OPEX
- The business may elect to reduce reducing headcount if the “robot” has taken over a job the function. Relatively speaking “robots” are inexpensive typically less than ~60K for the software plus consultant fees for implementation. Most of the mainstream software is easy to implement, requiring no custom software or deep systems integration but still requires process analysis and familiarity with the software being used.
What are the Cons of RPA?
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Potentially High Maintenance
- When using software that mimics a user’s use of an interface, any changes to the user interface will precipitate a change to the “robot”. If you have lots of “robots” they will require significant maintenance/updating.
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Employees feeling threatened at the possibility of unemployment
- RPA has the potential to be a double-edged sword. Monotonous/repetitive tasks can be automated. However, if an employee’s job exists solely due to the monotonous/repetitive task they will feel threatened.
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Complex Integration/Implementation
- When implementing RPA one needs to complete a thorough due diligence and detailed documentation/process mapping of the processes to be replaced. The results of a survey showed “63 percent of surveyed organizations said their expectations of time to implement were not met and 37% said their expectations of cost to implement were not met”. Everything from improper expectations to changes in interfaces to simply poor planning result in unwanted outcomes.
RPA Software Vendors
RPA Tools/Vendors create the software used to configure robots to automate tasks. The three top vendors in this arena are Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere and UiPath,
Opensource alternatives
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TagUI is an open source, free to use RPA software. TagUI is maintained by AI Singapore, a Singapore government-funded initiative to build local Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities
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Robot Framework is an open source robotic free to use RPA software that is used to automate business processes. Robot’s core framework is a generic automation platform that is hugely popular in test automation and has an active community.
Honorable mention (interesting opensource projects to watch)