Why robotic process automation requires more than cash and blind optimism

There is no doubt that RPA can make employees 15 percent or perhaps even 30 percent more productive by automating mundane, predictable tasks. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into cost savings and headcount reduction if, as is often the case, critical activities need to be carried out by specific individuals.

Without organizational change management and workforce redesign, making your employees 30 percent more productive will simply translate into having the same number of people spend fewer hours carrying out the work required of them. Real cost savings are made possible by RPA, but they don’t happen overnight or without broader change management, and typically successful RPA transformations lead to incremental reductions over a period of time. Of course, many other benefits can be garnered through RPA, including greater compliance, faster cycle times, and more time for higher-value tasks and innovation by freeing up bandwidth from mundane, repetitive tasks.

Spending big on RPA

New research of 2,000 global firms finds that RPA is the top investment focus, with 53 percent seeing it as a significant priority and 28 percent considering limited investment. In fact, commitment to RPA far outstrips any other investment plans, with 44 percent looking to invest significantly in cloud, 42 percent in the internet of things, and 37 percent in analytics. 

But investment is also needed — in time as much as money — in overcoming the hurdles to RPA success.

The following are five steps that you need to undertake to achieve RPA nirvana:

1. Discover the process inefficiencies in your hidden transaction data, and identify the processes that make sense to automate. Your organization will have multiple processes across different functions, as well as those from various mergers. You need to ask yourself, “Where will I gain the most advantages from automation, and where do my biggest inefficiencies lie?” So, you’ll need to invest time and resources in understanding your processes: those ripe for automation, and those that should not be touched. The real value of RPA is derived from uncovering your dark or hidden data. To do that, you not only need to know where that data is hidden — to recognize which processes are inefficient — but also what the right process is in a given context. One financial institution realized that identifying the process through the steps that people followed was becoming a stumbling block. It is estimated that process inefficiencies cost most companies 10 percent of their profit. Most companies don’t see more than 90 percent of the data they have because of where and how it is stored, but that data can be invaluable in making real-time decisions and gaining a competitive advantage.
2. Identify the right tools for the job. Once you have identified which processes to automate, you’ll need to select an automation tool. There are at least a dozen automation tools and vendors to choose from, including Blue Prism, UiPath, Automation Anywhere, WorkFusion, AntWorks, etc. The decision about which tool to select will vary depending on your objectives. Involving IT at this stage might help to avert pushback later. It may also be worthwhile to implement a pilot project to understand the capabilities and limitations of a tool.
3. Write (and maintain) the automation scripts. The translation of technology into scripts, or instructions, to direct the robot or automation tool on what to capture and interpret is complex. You will need someone with the right set of skills, experience working with the tool and who meets IT authorization criteria.  
4. Scale the operations. Most organizations start with a bang — by piloting a process or two (typically within the Procure to Pay space in back-office financial functions), then face the challenge of scaling automation needs as new processes are added. The typical “desktop” automation tends to fail this ability to scale. Additionally, automation scripts fail for a variety of reasons, including changes and upgrades to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, process changes, access control and versioning-related issues. And it’s important to factor in ongoing maintenance of these bots for the long term. Scaling the infrastructure and technology also needs to be factored in. Some of the more innovative companies today offer cloud-based robotics as a service (RaaS) options.
5. Stay secure and compliant. One of the top priorities IT will have with RPA is addressing security concerns and making sure that the bots you select either have security built in or can be secured for your environment. Before you can go any further, IT will insist you work with risk and compliance to mitigate potential problems, such as what will happen if a process breaks. You will need to know that your processes are auditable and that your infrastructure is able to support your RPA needs. A global manufacturing company had to restart its RPA journey because the audit and compliance team didn’t approve of the approach.

Time for change

These five steps need to go hand-in-hand with broader workforce alignment and organizational change management. That means changing operating models, governance processes and workforce practices when deploying a hybrid workforce, to enable you to scale automation across the business.  

Process improvement requires time and consideration to ensure you are addressing the right processes in the right context. For example, companies that have gone through several M&As will inevitably inherit different process methodologies and won’t necessarily know which is the most suitable. Process optimization and harmonization are imperative, because no matter how much you invest in RPA, if you apply artificial intelligence to bad processes, you will get faster, more efficient, bad processes.

You will also need to work with human resources to translate automation into individual productivity and to advance the goals of the organization. Automated processes need to be aligned with employer and customer engagement and with user experience.

Show me the money

While the chief information officer might consider RPA the panacea for cost problems and the chief executive officer hopes that RPA will infuse the company with greater innovation, some gains are harder to quantify, such as access to hidden data and greater insights, more effective processes or a more engaged workforce. For example, a large retailer with several thousand people in its back office struggled to get cost savings from RPA, but it was successful in increasing compliance for certain tax-related processes.

Successful RPA requires a well-considered strategy and a realization that the real benefits lie in having the tools to advance the organization’s vision and enhancing innovation to remain at the cutting edge.

The time to act is now!

Progressive organizations are the ones that adopt changes to their operating model and successfully navigate and govern a hybrid, human/digital workforce. They will plan for workforce transformation as an integral part of adopting RPA. And, they will be the first to realize its benefits.

Download the full point of view article.