Companies turn to physical automation to streamline processes, but software automation is also gaining popularity. Tom Merritt explains five things to know about robot process automation.
Top 5 things to know about robot process automation
Companies turn to physical automation to streamline processes, but software automation is also gaining popularity. Tom Merritt explains five things to know about robot process automation.
Automation receives a lot of attention nowadays; it usually evokes images of robots taking over physical tasks, but not all automation is physical. Robot Process Automation (RPA) is a form of business process automation that automates software actions. Here are five things you need to know about RPA.
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- It learns by looking at: Traditionally, you automate software by using a list of actions that you want to perform and using an API or scripting language to automate them. In RPA, the system looks at a user who performs a task in the GUI and develops an action list to replicate the task.
- RPA is similar to a graphical tool for testing user interfaces: If you have seen tools that repeat a number of demonstrations for testing purposes, you have an idea, although RPA systems can process data such as recording timesheets, figuring out what wages should be, then process the payroll and do bank transfers.
- RPA bots are easier to implement: They do not require customized software or deep system integration. This means that companies can add capacity for certain tasks at low costs.
- They do not yet work well on scale and do not always adapt well: A 2017 Deloitte UK study (PDF) showed that only 3% of the organizations investigated had scaled up RPA to 50 or more robots. Platform changes, or even making changes, can sometimes throw them away.
- Unassisted RPA is the next generation: Also called RPA 2.0, the idea is to use machine learning, so that the RPA can work without input from a human user.
Robotic process automation is not a magical solution to a company’s problems, but it is a viable alternative to some tasks and worth considering. As with all automation, the impact on human tasks must also be taken into account, but you will never have to see them uncomfortably in the break room.
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