Articles about Robotic Process Automation

In my last article about automation challenges, I covered how to manage endpoint diversity -- all of the people, systems and devices that execute tasks within an end-to-end automated process. In this piece, I’ll focus on process complexity, which is closely intertwined with endpoint diversity.

Many organizations share the ambitious goal of automating their processes as much as possible. However, in reality, processes are often automated “locally,” or within a single software system, team, or group of devices. To execute a process, you need to coordinate the execution of all of its tasks, based on a certain logic. Most processes -- even if they sound simple -- follow a more complex logic than the straightforward series of steps involved in a confined local process.

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Talent shortages are affecting many industries at the moment and increasingly enterprises are turning to technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) to fill the gaps.

Now there's a new alternative in the form of the 'digital coworker', designed to work seamlessly alongside a company's human workforce. We spoke to Chaz Perera, CEO and co-founder of Roots Automation, to discover more about this latest innovation.

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When you think about process automation, you might naturally think of a company like Amazon. From ordering, to warehouse automation, to delivery, to returns -- end-to-end business processes flow seamlessly, like magic. When you’re building from scratch as a startup, this level of process automation is easier to achieve than if you’re contending with legacy systems.

But today, 70 percent of global companies list legacy modernization as a top strategic business priority. That means automating all of their processes from scratch isn’t always an option. Ripping and replacing legacy systems is disruptive and costly. That’s where process orchestration comes in.

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Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been around longer than you might realize. At its core, RPA simply means the automation of any manually intensive IT or administrative task. For instance, scheduling an email is one early example of RPA. But over the last two years, RPA has become much easier to use and the tools have been democratized out to the business units so arduous daily tasks may now be automated easily. Think of it as a highly evolved Excel macro, created by someone in the business that automatically logs into and out of applications to make the enterprise more effective and efficient.

What's more, due to the lack of resources available, automating enterprise processes traditionally caused friction between business units and IT. Today, IT teams may focus on large, transformative automation (e.g., new ERP Systems, new services) and push everything else back over to other business units. Transforming an organization by allowing business units to accomplish more on their own -- while freeing up IT to focus on more complex and important tasks is a far more effective use of all resources. 

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Robotic process automation (RPA) is nothing new. In fact, it’s an automation toolkit that was first introduced back in the 1990’s. But in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic and the all new remote work norm, RPA interest and adoption hit a new high. Why? Because with RPA, digital workers are able to take over repetitive, manual tasks traditionally performed by their human counterparts -- freeing up time, energy and critical human resources.

Gartner’s Fabrizio Biscotti, research vice president, put it best: "The key driver for RPA projects is their ability to improve process quality, speed and productivity, each of which is increasingly important as organizations try to meet the demands of cost reduction during COVID-19. Enterprises can quickly make headway on their digital optimization initiatives by investing in RPA software, and the trend isn’t going away anytime soon."

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The term "digital transformation" has become synonymous with a company’s endeavor to modernize. It allows organizations to transform their operating models to improve customer experience, increase successful outcomes, and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. While many technologies, processes, and cultural adjustments are needed to drive digital transformation successfully, "automation" is a critical aspect of the entire process.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), with its capability to digitalize several operations and processes, has a great potential to accelerate digital transformation for an enterprise.

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