What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is a technology that uses software robots – also known as bots or robotic workers – to automatically perform simple, repeatable tasks that can be done better and more efficiently by machines than by humans. 

Compared to traditional business process automation solutions, RPA does not require enterprise-scale planning or highly skilled engineering resources to get started. You can begin realizing the benefits of RPA implementation in as little as 30 days.

Robotic process automation allows you to streamline repetitive tasks and extract value from your organization’s data. Some of the many ways RPA can help include:

• Automate monotonous back-office tasks like data entry, scanning, clicking, filling forms, and entering data into electronic systems
• Increase the efficiency of your workforce by moving repetitive tasks from human workers to robotic workers
• Uncover critical insights into your organizational data through real-time monitoring and analytics
• Reduce operational costs associated with human errors and overtime hours
• Provide a clear path for growth in your workforce by freeing up human resources for higher-priority work.
• Ultimately, your goal is to use RPA to drive business value and achieve measurable results. Business value is defined as the difference between what your organization can accomplish with its current technology investments versus what it could achieve with a significant increase in investment.

To truly realize value from robotic process automation, businesses must integrate this innovative technology with their core applications, record systems, and modern advanced analytics platforms. By doing so, enterprises can unlock higher performance levels, such as cycle time reductions and cost savings, while simultaneously creating a more flexible workforce by enabling human resources to focus on higher-value activities like strategic planning and decision-making. 

Today’s digital age has fundamentally changed how organizations do business. Consumers now expect seamless interactions across all channels of digital engagement 24/7, regardless of the time of day or geography. Furthermore, they expect these interactions to be personalized irrespective of their relationship status with the brand. Adding to this expectation is the rise of social media, which gives consumers direct communication with their favorite brands, enabling them to share their experiences with the world in real-time – for better or worse.

Finally, organizations now have access to exciting new technologies that didn’t exist just a few years ago, such as big data analytics and machine learning, that can transform business operations from top to bottom. When viewed from this lens, robotic process automation provides organizations with an exciting opportunity to drive business value by focusing their tech investment on those areas that will have the most significant impact—scaling operations through innovation in critical areas such as customer engagement and operational efficiency. Furthermore, RPA enables businesses to create a more flexible workforce freed from performing monotonous tasks so they can focus on delivering meaningful experiences for customers while simultaneously driving business growth.

Forrester Research estimates that robotic process automation will generate $12 billion in revenue by 2020 while creating nearly 25 million job hours per year globally by replacing dull administrative tasks with more exciting analytical ones that leverage technology instead of people. As we enter this new era of technological transformation, it will be exciting to see how robotic process automation forever changes how organizations do business.

So what are the back-office benefits?

Regardless of company size, business process automation saves companies time and money. Organizations can significantly reduce labor costs by using robotic process automation while increasing overall efficiency. For example, if a company’s billing department uses RPA to scan invoices, check them against purchase orders and create bills, that work would be completed by the RPA system instead of human beings. This frees up the organization’s human resources to meet other necessary tasks. It also reduces employee mistakes when completing repetitive tasks because machine systems do not get tired or bored. This results in fewer billing errors and overall cost savings for the company utilizing robotic process automation software.

Companies can immediately boost productivity when they begin using robotic process automation systems. Employees no longer spend hours performing repetitive tasks that an RPA system could complete in seconds or minutes. This saves employees from burnout because they no longer have to perform tedious, monotonous work day after day, week after week, month after month, or year after year. Instead, they have more time to focus on critical tasks that drive company revenue and profitability and other activities that help drive company growth and expansion efforts.

By freeing up personnel from mundane tasks, robotic process automation also allows personnel to focus on more important things, such as providing excellent customer service. When customers call a help desk or place an order with a sales department, they expect prompt service with a smile. By using RPA to handle monotonous, repetitive tasks like entering data into a plan from scanning checks and forms attached to orders, personnel can provide excellent customer service because they are free from monotonous tasks.

In today’s information age, where cyberattacks occur daily worldwide, businesses need robust data security measures to protect their intellectual property and customers’ sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and other personally identifiable information (PII). RPA helps organizations improve their security measures by limiting human access to sensitive information. Off-boarding procedures restrict the ability to input sensitive data such as PII into systems subject to cyberattacks via malware attacks, phishing scams, or other methods designed to steal sensitive data such as PII.

Organizations must comply with a wide range of regulations, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Bank Level Rules (BLEs), and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), among others around the globe, including national level rules such as Hart Scott Rodino Act in the United States (HSA).