HOW TO AUTOMATE YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES WITH RPA

Before we dive straight into different ways for businesses to successfully implement RPA in their workplace, let’s understand a few perks offered by robotic process automation software. 

1. Automated bots can do the same things as people, including understanding what's on a screen, typing the right keystrokes, and navigating systems. 
2. These bots and other RPA tools are faster and more reliable than people because they don’t require coffee breaks or any break at all. 
3. By successfully implementing RPA in the workplace, businesses become more efficient and responsive. This is because RPA can handle monotonous tasks while employees get to focus on other productive chores. 
4. RPA is non-intrusive and can be quickly implemented to accelerate the digital transformation of a company's operations. You can automate legacy systems without APIs, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), or database access with RPA tools.

Amongst the benefits discussed above, one of the reasons why businesses implement robotic process automation is to carry out repetitive and low-value tasks such as logging in to applications and systems and moving files and folders. Tasks like removing data from sources, copying sources, and inserting sources, along with completing routine analyses and reports are doable as well. 

1. UNDERSTAND THE RPA SOFTWARE ENTIRELY BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THEM.

Before automating a process, businesses must fully understand it. You shouldn't try to automate a process that you don't fully understand. Validate and test processes to ensure they deliver the desired outcomes after automation. Processes, once defined, must have a life of their own. 

We must actively use, refine, automate, and update processes throughout their lifecycle. When it comes to adopting best practices for processes, organizations generally follow a set of guidelines:

1. Supervise the situation.
2. Examine and validate the process.
3. Consistency and consolidation of tooling should be improved.
4. Documentation and testing are required before production
5. Improvements to be made
6. Get rid of all the automated procedures

2. FORMALIZE PROCESS DOCUMENTATION & AUTOMATION EXPECTATIONS

Business owners and managers need to formalize process documentation, automation expectations, and compensation models. To carry out the best practices for documentation, you need to proceed with documenting the standard processes and procedures. To capture and record initial process concepts, provide the ability to document the process flow.
Businesses can also establish common standards for documentation by providing templates for them to be based on. Furthermore, you need to set up shared repositories for workflow documentation. Lastly, gather a process review team or committee to evaluate processes before automating them, if possible.

3. FAMILIARIZE YOUR TEAM WITH AUTOMATION PRACTICES  

Manual process workers must be swamped with routine tasks. If automation is introduced, some may be concerned about losing their identity and position within the organization. Efficiencies should be considered when implementing automation. Business outcomes should be prioritized, as well as a comprehensive set of performance metrics for tracking and communicating progress. 

Measure and reward desired behavior when it improves by aligning performance metrics, recognition, and compensation systems.

4. INTEGRATE AUTOMATION TOOLS TO STREAMLINE REGULAR AND MONOTONOUS TASKS. 

Businesses should integrate automation tools to streamline repetitive daily tasks. Functional specialists use automation tools to streamline their daily tasks. In addition to improving speed and agility, these automation tools help users focus on the application lifecycle, from development through testing and on into the final stage of deployment (production). 

With generous support for integration and logging, many of these RPA tools are designed to be highly customizable.

5. CLEARLY DEFINE PRIORITIES 

Any automation project must have a clearly defined goal in mind. Primary objectives should be documented and communicated to ensure success. Every stakeholder must be on the same page and understand the technical as well as business benefits, which managers must ensure. 

Businesses need to define a specific set of milestones with quantifiable goals and place their best foot forward first. As soon as they have set and managed their expectations, communicate regularly and often.

6. CONSIDER AUTOMATING IN SMALL STEPS AND PRIORITIZING

To successfully implement Robotic process Automation, businesses need to curate and start with a list of the measures that will have an impact on your business. They can then prioritize them according to the amount of effort and risk involved in automating them. Time and resources are required for automation, but if done correctly, your business will be able to recover them both in the form of ROI. 

7. CONSIDER A LONG-TERM SOLUTION

A long-term solution should be considered when integrating robotic process automation in your workplace. Regarding any future changes in your applications, RPA tools should be able to grow and adapt with ease.

8. GO FOR RPA TOOLS THAT INCLUDE READY-TO-USE ADAPTORS. 

Many tools come with ready-to-use adaptors that can be used for automation. To save time and money, do your homework before deciding on which RPA software to proceed with.  

9. BE PREPARED BEFORE SWITCHING TO AUTOMATION  

Your manual work will be followed by automation. Therefore, look out for how many tasks you automate when building a new product because you might have to go back and make necessary changes. 

10. ANALYZE YOUR ROI

When automating a process, we need to estimate the time savings and cost savings, and then compare that to the time savings and cost savings required to automate that process. Keep in mind that the most time-saving and profitable processes should be automated first.

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Many RPA tools appear to be promising at first glance, however, they tend to cause more damage than benefit when implemented. Therefore, any service provider looking for an RPA vendor should consider the following criteria:

1. The history and methodologies of an RPA vendor. 
2. Does an RPA vendor policy complaint include any security standards or regulations? 
3. The offers and features offered by the RPA vendor. 
4. Whether the RPA vendor can provide a POC or not? 
5. Does the RPA vendor provide any learning materials or a knowledge base? 
6. Whether the RPA software is user-friendly and offers a good user experience? 
7. Whether the solutions offered are scalable enough to help businesses acquire a tangible return on investment? 

• UiPath

UiPath development services offer cloud-based automation solutions that help businesses and government agencies streamline their operations. In addition to a no-code/low-code development environment, UiPath enables users to code in multiple programming languages (Java, VB.Net, Python) and store licenses in a single database.
Alerts/notifications for access, controls/permission, collaboration tools for billing and invoice, and management of documents are some of UiPath’s top features.

• Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere is one of the top RPA solutions for automating enterprise-grade companies in financial, public, telecom, human resources, and many other industries and sectors. A few of their key features include automated compliance operations, IP address processing, and data processing. 

• Microsoft Power Automate

A cloud-based robotic process automation tool, Microsoft Power Automate, helps large companies manage their desktop and web application-based tasks by automating repetitive tasks. With Microsoft Power Automate, all sorts of businesses can automate simple and complex tasks by employing this Windows-based technology.

Some features of Microsoft Power Automate include API, alerts/notifications, collaboration tools for billing and invoicing, and use document management. Features like search and filter, integrating third-party applications, and managing workflows are available as well. 

• Blue Prism

To build bots, businesses of all sizes can use the Blue Prism platform, which is a drag-and-drop RPA platform. In addition to speech-to-text conversion and data search capabilities, Blue Prism offers its users customized process libraries, open API, and chatbots.

Some features of Blue Prism include capturing and transferring data, along with the extraction of data. Blue Prism is all about drag and drops, analytical search/filter real-time, and data reporting/sentiment analysis.

• ElectroNeek

As a disruptive RPA platform for Managed Service Providers and IT teams, ElectroNeek is disrupting the RPA market. No license is required to run bots built in the Studio Pro IDE. Therefore, companies using ElectroNeek to automate their processes can grow exponentially. 

• Kofax

Kofax RPA is an easy-to-use tool with a powerful suite of features for automating processes across different industries. It is particularly praised for its ability to integrate with other systems and handle document processing tasks efficiently. TechRepublic highlights Kofax's strong analytics and AI-based enhancements, which allow businesses to automate complex tasks such as data extraction from unstructured documents.

• WorkFusion

WorkFusion combines RPA with cognitive automation and machine learning, allowing businesses to automate decision-making processes. Its integrated platform helps businesses perform intelligent automation tasks that go beyond traditional RPA. According to Business Insider, WorkFusion’s ability to automate end-to-end processes across different industries makes it ideal for companies looking for a comprehensive solution.

In the future, bots will be able to perform cognitive tasks such as interpreting the text, engaging in chats and conversations, understanding unstructured data, and using advanced machine learning models to make complex decisions. This is precisely why many businesses are rushing to integrate RPA into their workplace. However, it’s important to implement RPA successfully to reap its benefits entirely. 

In this article, we have discussed a few tips that businesses can follow in order to successfully implement RPA. We have also shed some light on what to keep in mind before choosing an RPA software and the best RPA tools to choose from. 

What industries can benefit from RPA?

RPA can be applied across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, finance, retail, manufacturing, and more. In healthcare, RPA automates patient records and billing, while in finance, it simplifies tasks like fraud detection and transaction reconciliation. Retailers use RPA for inventory management and customer service. As AI and machine learning continue to enhance RPA, industries are using these tools to handle more complex tasks and improve decision-making.

How does RPA differ from AI?

RPA and AI are often mentioned together, but they serve different purposes. RPA automates repetitive tasks by following predefined rules, while AI can learn and adapt to new tasks over time, often using large data sets to make decisions. In 2024, many businesses are integrating AI with RPA to enable "intelligent automation," allowing businesses to automate more complex processes like decision-making and predictive analytics.

How can I get started with RPA?

To get started with RPA, businesses can begin by identifying repetitive processes that can be automated. From there, they can choose an RPA tool that fits their needs and budget. Many RPA vendors offer free trials or basic versions of their platforms, making it easy for businesses to experiment and assess the technology before committing. Additionally, businesses may need to train their staff or partner with RPA development services to ensure smooth implementation and ongoing support.

Can RPA handle complex tasks or is it limited to simple automation?

Traditionally, RPA was used for automating simple, repetitive tasks like data entry. However, with advancements in AI, machine learning, and cognitive automation, RPA is now capable of handling more complex tasks such as decision-making, predictive analytics, and exception handling. These enhancements allow businesses to automate processes that were once thought to require human judgment. By combining RPA with AI, businesses can further automate high-value tasks and improve overall efficiency.