Top Ten Things You Need To Know About RPA

What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA) exactly? Within “RPA”, the term Robot can be considered slightly misleading, conjuring up images of shiny silver robots, sitting and working away at partitioned stations, in place of where people once sat.  This really couldn’t be further from the truth.

First of all, RPA is an automation software solution, commonly referred to as “bots”, which mimic or automate tasks normally performed by humans interacting with data between systems.  It performs tasks or solutions potentially at a fraction of the cost, with a higher level of consistency & accuracy compared to humans.  So, less romantic than most imagery.  But none the less, RPA has the potential for a truly digital workforce, automatically performing tasks and processes.

During the last few years, RPA has emerged as one of the most innovative and disruptive technology tools, especially for shared services organizations.  Yet, even with the widespread deployment of RPA across a number of industries, there are still a number of misconceptions about RPA and how it can transform a company’s operational processes to achieve greater productivity.  To truly understand the value proposition RPA offers companies, here are top 10 things that organizations need to know about RPA.

• RPA is a flexible software tool to automate manual activity for the delivery of business processes or IT services by replicating the actions of a human being interacting with the user interface of a computer system.
• RPA software is non-invasive, as it sits on top of existing systems, without the need to create, replace, or further develop other platforms; the RPA software accesses other computer systems through user interfaces with a logon ID and password (like a human), and through the presentation layer, so no underlying systems programming logic is touched.
• RPA is enterprise-safe as it is a robust platform designed to meet enterprise IT requirements for security, scalability, auditability, and change management.
• RPA has the ability to cross mul8ple systems, and include multiple decision points / calculations so it is not limited in working with a single instance or package.
• RPA requires an electronic input or trigger to commence working, it does not self-initiate.
• RPA is business user-friendly, there are low requirements for technical support and standard functionality typically originates inside business operations, not IT as RPA is easy to configure using an interface with code generated behind the scenes.
• RPA has a sustainably lower economic threshold compared to traditional ERP implementation so it can be applied more broadly in a cost-effective manner.
• RPA is most suited for rules driven, data-intensive processes that are repetitive in nature (e.g. execution of data entry into SAP or a full end-to-end business process).
• RPA is also ideal for work-flow processes that can be performed against a set of business rules programed to either start and stop at a designated (me or to continual perpetually as a continuous cycle.
• RPA is not artificial intelligence; it is a software application that processes data inputs in a linear fashion, choosing the next path in accordance with predefined specific criteria – it does not make subjective judgements or learn to interpret rules as human operator may.

Learn more about Chazey’s integrated Robotic Process Automation solution.

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