RPA - Robotics Process Automation l Defination and Details - InformativeWorld

What is Robotics Process Automation (RPA) - 

Robotics Process Automation (RPA) allows organizations to automate task just like human being was doing them across application and systems. Robotics automation interacts with the existing IT architecture with no complex system integration required. 

RPA can be used to automate workflow, infrastructure, back office process which are labour intensive. These software bots can interact with an in-house application, website, user-portal, etc. The RPA is a software program which runs on an end user's pc, laptop or mobile device. It is a sequence of commands which are executed by Bots under some defined set of business rules. 

The main goal of Robotics automation process- 

To replace repetitive and boring clerical task performed by humans, with a virtual workforce. RPA does not require the development of code, nor does it require direct access to the code ot database of the applications.

Why Robotics Process Automation? 

• The business climate is ever changing - An enterprise needs to continuously evolve its product, sales, marketing, etc. Process to grow and stay relevant.

• A typical enterprise uses multiple and disconnect IT systems to run its operations. With change in Business process, these IT systems are not changed frequently due to budget, timing and implementation complexity issue. Hence, the business process does not map the technical process mapped in the IT system. 

• To overcome this technical and organization debt human workspace is hired to fill the gap between systems and processes. 

• Example : A company made changes in sales process such that a mandatory 50% advance is required to confirm the booking of its product. But this is not coded in the IT system yet. A human worker will have to manual check the Invoice and payment details and process the sales order only if 50% advance is made. 

• With any change in the business process, a company would need to hire new employees or train existing employees to map IT systems and business process. Both solutions are time and money consuming. Also, with any succeeding business process change will also need hiring or retraining. 

• With Robotic automation, the company can deploy virtual workers who mimic human workers. In case of a change in process, a change in few lines of software code is always faster and cheaper than retraining hundreds of employees.

Here, are some reasons why Robotics Process Automation is advantageous:

• A human can work average 8 hours  a day whereas robots can work 24hours without any tiredness.

• The average productivity of human is 60% with few errors as compared to Robot's productivity which is 100% without any errors.

• Robots handle multiple tasks very well compared to a human being.

RPA Implementation Methodology - 

Planning : In this phase, you need to identify processes which you want to automate. Following checklist will help you identify the correct process.

• Is the process manual & repetitive? 

• Is the process Rule-based?

• Is the input data is in electronic format and is readable? 

• Can existing System to be used as it is with no charge?

Next, steps in planning phase are - 

• Setup project team, finalize implementation timelines and approach.

• Agree on solution design for performing RPA processes.

• Identify logging mechanism that should be implemented to find issue with running bots.

• Clear roadmap should be defined to scale up RPA implementation.

Development : In this phase, you start developing the automation workflows as per agreed plan. Being wizard driven, the implementation is quick.
Testing : In this phase, you run Testing cycles for in-scope automation to identify and correct defeats.
Support & Maintenance : Provide continuous support after going live and helps in immediate defect resolution. Follow general maintenance guidelines with roles and responsibilities with business and IT support teams.

General Use of RPA -

1. Emulates Human Action : Emulates human execution of the repetitive process using various application and systems.
2. Conduct high-volume repeated tasks : Robotics process automation can easily simulate rekeying of data from one system to another. It performs tasks like data entry, copying and pasting.
3. Perform Multiple Tasks : Operates multiple and complex tasks across multiple systems. This helps to process trasformations, manipulate data and send report. 
4. 'Virtual' system integration : This automation system can transfer data between disparate and legacy systems by connecting them at the user interface level instead of developing new data infrastructure. 
5. Automated report generation : Automates the extraction of data to come up with accurate, effective and timely reports.
6. Information validation and auditing : Resolves and cross-verify data between different systems to  validate and check information to provide compliance and auditing outputs.
7. Technical Debt Management : Helps to reduce technical debt by reducing the gap between systems, preventing the introduction of custom implementations.
8. Product Management : It helps to bridge the gap between IT systems and related product management platforms by automated updating of both systems. 
9. Quality Assurance : It can be beneficial to QA processes which cover regression testing and automating customer use case scenarios.
10. Data Migration : Allows automated data migration through systems which is not possible using traditional mediums, like document, speadsheets or other source data files.
11. Gap Solution : Robotics automatic fills the gaps with process deficiencies. It includes may simple tasks as password resets, the system resets, etc.
12. Revenue Forecasting : Automatically updating financial statements to predict revenue forecasting.

Robotic Process Automation Tools -

Selection of RPA tool should be based on following 4 parameters :

1. Data : Easy of reading and writing business data into multiple systems. 
2. Type of Tasks mainly performed : Ease of configuring rules-based or knowledge-based processes.
3. Interoperability : Tools should work across mulltiple applications. 
4. AI : Built-in AI support to mimic human users. 

Popular Robotics Automation Tools -

1. Blue Prism : Blue prism is Robotic Process Automation software. It provides businesses and organizations with and agile digital workforce.
2. Download link : https//www.blueprism.com/
3. Automation Any Where : Automation Any where is a developer of robotics process automation (RPA) software. 
4. Downlod link : https://www.automationanywhere.com
5. UiPath : UiPath is Robotic Process Automation software. It helps organization efficiently automate business processes.
6. Download link : https://www.uipath.com/

RPA's uses -

There are several applications of RPA, but here, we are listing some of the application areas: 

• Quote-to-Cash : It is considered as an important business process, which is responsible for increasing revenue for any organization. Organizations are usually dependant on selling. If there is any issue in the operations side of selling, then it can lead to customer's complaints.

Sometimes, organizations end up selling at reduced prices due to clerical errors. Automating such sales processes reduces error and provides fast service to the customers.

• Procure-to-Pay : It is the process that includes the extraction of invoices and payment data from various networks such as banks, vendors, logistics companies, etc. These networks usually do not provide easy integration methods. They generally involve manual labor to complete the tasks, which can be replaced by RPA bots. It is the best way to fill integration gaps with a fully automated procure-to-pay.

• Customer Onboarding : Most of the B2C (Business-to-Consumer) organizations are following a customer onboarding process. They must maintain good relations with their customers so that customers start using their products. Using cognitive automation and OCR (Optical Character Reader), most of the customer onboarding tasks can be easily done. It can be applied even in companies that reply on legacy systems, which will help in improving the customer experience. 

Advantages of RPA -  

 Following benefits that RPA can provide to your organization.

1. Large numbers of the process can easily have automated. 

1. Costs are reduced significantly as the RPA takes care of repetitve task and saves precious time and resources. 

1. Programming skills are not needed to configure a software robot. Thus, any non-technical staff can set up a bot or even record their steps to automate the process. 

1. Robotic process automation support and allows all regular compliance process, with error-free auditing. 

1. The robotic software can rapidly model and deploy the automation process.

1. The defects are tracked for each test case story and the sprint.

1. Effective, seamless Build & Release Mangement. 

1. Real time visibility into bug/defect discovery. 

1. There is no human business which means there is no need for time for the requirement of training. 

1. Software robots do not get tired. It increases which helps to increase the scalability.

Disadvantages of RPA - 

let's not forgot some cons of the RPA process : 

1. The boot is limited to speed of the application.
2. Even small changes made in the automation application will need the robots to be reconfigured.

Myths of RPA -

1. Coding is required to use RPA software : 

That's not true. To use Robotics Process Automation tools, one needs to understand how the software works on the front-end and can how they can use for automation. 

2. RPA software does not require human supervision :

This is an illusion because humans are needed to program the RPA bot, feed those tasks for automation and manage them. 

3. Only large big companies can afford to deploy RPA :

Small to medium-sized organizations can deploy RPA to automate their business. However, initial costing will be high but can be recovered in 4-5 years.

4. RPA is useful only in industries that rely heavily on software :

RPA can be used to generate automated bills, invoice, telephone service, etc. Which are used across industries irrespective of their software exposure.