7 Simple Steps To An Effective Robotic Process Automation Strategy

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a new-age technology that can conduct various human activities based on a set of computer programs. This entire process is automatic and does not require any human intervention.

RPA does not include any physical robot machine, but actually is an automated software robot that accomplishes various repetitive tasks such as billing, payroll, copy-paste, data management, and many more. This is the reason why RPA is sometimes referred to as a software robot.

Various data entry and back-office companies deploy RPA in their daily activities. With the rise of automation technologies, many employees think that RPA will take over their jobs. However, Harvard Business Review has reported that many companies adopting RPA won’t let any employees lose their jobs; instead, they will be re-employed to a more useful position in the company.

RPA offers a wide range of operational and technical benefits to an organization. Among them, some of the advantages are:

• Accuracy - Since an automated system performs the task instead of any human, there is a reduced chance of any error.
• 24x7 working - RPA is easier to deploy in the long-term, even 24x7, compared to humans who have specific working hours.
• Efficient productivity - Increased work output is achieved in less time.

While it can be quite feasible for small organizations to leverage RPA, larger companies should follow a detailed roadmap while executing it in their business. Hence, there is a need for a planned and strategic approach while deploying RPA at its best for getting maximum output. At IDC Technologies, we have compiled a list of steps that will help you design a plan for implementing RPA automation technology in your organization.

1. Identify The Process

To achieve excellent outcomes from RPA, you need to scan the entire business model and its operations to find out the processes that should be considered for automation. This will help you save a lot of time and resources and optimize this automation technique to get the best results. Look for processes that run on rule-based commands where exact formulations are used. Apart from this, processes with measurable attributes can be a good choice where you can deploy RPA, as it will help you evaluate the results or outputs efficiently. Moreover, processes that are repetitive, have high volume or are prone to human error, need the support of RPA.

2. Managing The People

While incorporating RPA in the business, it is crucial that all the members within the organization, right from stakeholders to entry-level executives, understand the benefits and influence of the software. Moreover, some employees believe that such advancements in the workplace may replace the efforts of the human workforce and they may end up losing their jobs. Therefore, it is the prime responsibility of the organization to bring the employees into confidence and communicate to them that RPA will help manage the redundant tasks, improve productivity, and not affect their employment.

3. Choose The Right RPA Tool for Your Company

Once you have outlined the strategies and selected the processes to automate, you need to choose the best RPA tool that aligns with your business needs to help you achieve the best results. Focus on the below-mentioned parameters that you should consider while selecting the right tool for yourself.

• Vendor experience and their support.
• Compatibility of the tool with various platforms and software.
• User-friendliness and simplicity of the tool.
• The extent to which the tool aligns with the industry type of your business.
• Affordability.

4. Assessment of Economic Profitability

Implementation of RPA in the business might need a considerable amount of investment. Therefore, thorough scrutiny of business processes is required to note down the expected return on investment (ROI). It would be best if you made sure that profitability is guaranteed while deploying such automation strategies. To make things easier, you should consider involving the management committee and stakeholders to bring the best analysis report to the table.

5. Secure Endorsement from Stakeholders

Positive acknowledgement from the stakeholders is important to ensure smooth and efficient use of RPA in the organization. When an organization has the support of senior-level executives and the management, it becomes easier to bring other members in confidence. A dedicated effort from the stakeholders will help gain the trust of employees by letting them know the advantages of RPA and eliminating the thought of losing their jobs.

6. Educate and Train Your Employees

By taking the long-term view of the automation journey, we can make informed decisions at all stages. Your staff should be encouraged to contribute not only in maintaining the existing RPA project but also develop new ideas for the future rollout of programs.

7. Measuring The Performance

Create key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your RPA implementation's success. The candid evaluation will highlight any possible discrepancies and give you ample time to fix them. There should be more evaluations following the completion of the incubation period based on these standards so that any gaps in the successful RPA implementation plan can be identified and fixed as soon as possible.

We at IDC help optimize a company’s time and efficiency through our Robotic Process Automation services that use AI, cognitive automation and machine learning technologies. We take pride in stating that our specialization lies in identifying and automating labour-intensive and error-prone back-office tasks like data entry, account creation and data processing. Using our team of RPA engineers and a unique continuous improvement methodology, we simplify routine and repetitive processes for clients. With a holistic approach and overarching strategies to effectively implement automation technologies in various businesses, IDC Technologies could be an excellent choice to upscale the output and maximize the ROI for your organization.