Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is gaining fast popularity and catching the attention of various mega-corporations. The hype of this method is spreading and more and more organizations are jumping onboard. Truthfully, what RPA offers, and can offer to the enterprises deserves all the mass frenzy it is receiving. The prospects and possibilities with RPA are endless and anyone who didn’t get the memo can end up regretting it not too far off in the future.
RPA is nurturing enhanced operational efficiency in organizations today and taking firm control of the day-to-day tasks. As sophisticated and dreamy as this process sounds, it has a relatively low cost of implementation. Considering the speed with which it finishes the task, the error-free results, and the way it is putting human minds to better work, the cost of its implementation is nothing to the benefits it has to offer.
The implementation is easy too and hardly takes a few weeks to get everything in place. Despite all this, the deployment of RPA in organizations aren’t always successful.
A recent report by Ernst & Young Global Limited shared that they have seen as many as 30% – 50% of projects initially fail. Does that mean the technology is at fault? If that was the case, there wouldn’t be any successful deployments at all, and yet there are organizations reaping the endless benefits of RPA.
RPA is not the cause of failure, but the way it is implemented that often results in a disappointment. Fortunately, that can be solved if we all learn some of the important factors that ensure a successful implementation of RPA. Here you go:
An Utter Clarity of What the Organization Expects from the RPA Program:
RPA and AI have yet to learn to read minds unless that happens, the organization leaders need to have a clear objective. Within the walls of the organizations, certain questions have to be answered before RPA implementation:
Why are we implementing RPA?
What kind of business growth do expect to achieve with automation?
What are the problems that we want to solve with RPA?
The key to successful implementation is not to go all in, but in taking one step at a time. Begin with few processes that you believe will benefit the most from RPA. Once these processes are automated, monitor them closely and document how much cost-saving and time-saving they had been, and how efficient the automated process is as compared to before.
Having a clear roadmap with key signposts is a must for the successful implementation of the RPA.
A Streamlined System Before the Implementation of RPA
Research that involved 18 Danish enterprises, discovered that the reason why startups take longer to implement RPA than expert enterprises is that, “……. in many cases, either too comprehensive or complicated processes are selected as part of the first round of automation….”
When RPA is implemented over faulty or unnecessarily complicated processes, there will be no difference. RPA tool will just end up automating the same problematic processes. Organizations departments need to work together to make sure the operations are proper and simplified, sort of like deep cleansing the operations, removing bottlenecks, the cause of delays, errors that have been experienced in the past, to optimize return on investments and to make the best of the resources at hand.
Business-IT Collaboration
The manifestation of RPA has also led to the manifestation of the argument of whether RPA is a business project or an IT one. The division of roles with RPA and data management remains unclear and that leads to delays.
According to UiPath, the solution is in dividing the roles based on the expertise and in deciding beforehand who is to lead the project. chief operating officers and their chief information officers putting their differences aside and coming together for the successful implementation of RPA software.
It is only when business and IT comes together that the successful implementation of RPA takes place. The operations team knows exactly what’s what when it comes to optimizing workflows. They have a macro-perspective on everything that needs to be done to achieve the short-term and long-term goals of the organization via operations.
That said, the IT team of an organization have their share of insight too. They know the ins and out of the current IT infrastructure of the organization, and they know where and how they can fit RPA software in it to meet the objectives the operations team is aiming for. It has to be teamwork, and the better they work together, the more chances there are of successful RPA implementation.
One cannot function without another; it is not just RPA that need the collaboration of the two departments but also the data analytics conducted within the organization. Businesses have tons of raw data generated by their own day-to-day transactions and stored into the database. This data then leads to wiser decisions and business growth. And once again, the IT department and the managers need to come together to manage the data, analyze it, keep it secure from the hackers, and make decisions for the ultimate success of the business.
Employees
For RPA implementation to be successful, it needs support from every single employee in the organization. This calls for investment in change management as well as defining everyone’s roles in RPA clearly. This will make the implementation take lesser time and result in a high success rate.
One way to make sure it goes smoothly is keeping the employees involved and updated during the entire implementation process. Remove the suddenness from the change and prepare the employees for it beforehand so that when the time comes, they are ready to adopt RPA. RPA will continue to grow and continue to spread its reach in organizations. The troubles in implementation are something the enterprises need to get out of their way first. Once that happens, the enterprises would be able to enjoy the true benefits of RPA, both in the form of optimized operations and in the form of human talent that has been too busy conducting repetitive tasks before.
Omnisys Solutions has a well-developed practice in RPA, which supports both data analytics initiatives as well as carry out automation driven initiatives. With a focus on business value, Omnisys leverages RPA to deliver tangible dollar benefits to its customers.