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3 Signs RPA is Right for You

Roland Alston, Appian
September 25, 2017

Large organizations are increasingly adoptingRobotic Process Automation (RPA) to run business processes faster, more efficiently and more productively than ever before.

These digital leaders are using software robots to automate rule-based, repetitive, back office processes:

    • At much faster speeds

    • Without errors

    • 24x7x365

RPA by the Numbers

RPA enables digital leaders to execute business processes five to ten times faster, with an average of 37 percent fewer resources, according to a recent report by the Information Services Group (ISG).

Taking a wait-and-see approach with RPA is risky business, because RPA adoption is rising fast.

By 2019, 72% of enterprises will be leveraging RPA either in full production mode or in pilot testing to reduce costs, improve productivity and quality, increase compliance and compress transaction times, according to ISG.

Yet, the research shows that 40% of executives fear that their leaders don't understand the threat of RPA disruption, or are not responding to the challenge with an appropriate sense of urgency according to the Global Center for Digital Business Transformation.

There is no automation utopia.

But, in the age of digital transformation, RPA is essential to digital transformation success.

The question is, how do you know when it's time to put RPA on your automation road map?

3 Signs RPA is for You

    • You have employees wrestling with the swivel-chair effect and performing repetitive tasks. If you've ever had to work across multiple systems to do a single job, you know the swivel chair effect. You get information from one screen, then swivel your chair to the other and pull info from there...then perhaps swivel to a third...a fourth...a fifth! Alternatively, RPA can take care of this, logging into the first, second, third, and all systems; getting the data and performing the task.

    • You have a long backlog of legacy integration needs. Building enterprise applications requires integrations with existing business systems like ERP and CRM systems. This can be daunting, especially for large organizations with hundreds (or more!) disparate business systems. Do you have a backlog of legacy integration needs creating bottlenecks on your path to better customer satisfaction and greater operational efficiency? If so, RPA is a technology to consider.

    • You have tasks as part of a process that require higher levels of compliance, accuracy and auditability. Knowing precisely how a particular task is completed and then having that information recorded for audit and compliance needs is quite common for large enterprises. With RPA, a software robot performs a predefined set of actions, without errors or departures from the standard flow of work, and therefore, can help to establish better process accuracy, higher level of compliance and reduce risks. Additionally, the tasks performed are captured and logged in activity logs resulting in better auditability.

View the Infographic

Want to add RPA to your automation roadmap? Wondering what to do next? We've got you covered.

Check out our Whitepaper on RPA and Enterprise Automation,and discover how to implement RPA in your organization.

 

RPA and Enterprise Automation

 

Roland Alston