Making Robotic Process Automation Work

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), along with its cousin Artificial Intelligence (AI), is the buzzword nowadays. Companies of all shapes and sizes are rushing headfirst into this latest and greatest technology. Often, they do so without a deep understanding of what the technology is, and more importantly, what they want to achieve out of it.

Technology, in and of itself, is nothing but a means to an end. To ensure a successful RPA implementation for your organization, we find it useful to adopt a simple framework – People, Process and Technology. (And yes, in that order too.)

The following describes a series of questions which you should consider as you look to embark on your own RPA journey. They are not meant to be prescriptive; rather the objective is to point out the critical areas where you would do well to pay attention to.

People

1. Have you obtained executive sponsorship of your RPA initiative?

2. Do you have sufficient resources to implement RPA, be it in-source or outsource? This includes both hardware and software (people, licenses, etc.).

3. How are you handling the communications to internal and external stakeholders?

4. How are you managing the redeployment of employees (if any)?

Process

1. Which are the processes to be automated? Have you performed both the technical and commercial feasibility study?

2. Have you established an appropriate methodology for your entire RPA implementation, covering various aspects such as ongoing maintenance, bots monitoring, change management and performance tracking (to name a few)?

3. What is your business continuity plan?

4. What is your governance model?

5. How do you define and measure success?

Technology

1. Do you have a robust methodology to evaluate the various RPA tools in the market?

2. Where does RPA fit within your organization’s technology landscape and roadmap?

Needless to say, the above list is not exhaustive. However, we hope this can help to kick start your thinking process, and make your RPA journey a much smoother ride!

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