Why using RPA is only truly worthwhile now

Our customers were first introduced to the technology concerning robotic process automation (RPA) several years ago. With great promises and expectations, various attempts were made to use the RPA software and the initial bots productively. Some of these attempts were successful, some less so. In the meantime, several years have passed and initial findings have been gathered. Insurers and companies from other industries have automated dozens of processes and are delighted with their daily time savings and the increasing quality of their work results. Nevertheless, many RPA projects are not as successful as they could have been. There are multiple reasons for this, but often it was because the technology was not yet mature enough.

The technology has great potential, especially for the insurance industry, and is already being used in various areas, however, its success has often not lived up to expectations. RPA providers have since reacted to this and added significant components to their products. Below, we would like to shed more light on three aspects that have changed fundamentally in recent years.

1. RPA strategy

Many RPA projects started with small teams of developers who were responsible for all RPA processes in their company. In the course of the projects, long-term operation and maintenance often fell by the wayside. One of the biggest challenges in implementing RPA processes was the fact that it often happened in the shadow of the IT department. In many cases, other teams in the company developed and implemented RPA processes themselves, which often led to conflicts with the IT department. There was no clear strategy or approach as to how to implement RPA processes in their company.

Our recommendation:

Define a clear approach for implementing RPA processes in your company. Involving the IT department right from the start is crucial in order to avoid conflicts and ensure the RPA technology is effectively integrated into your existing IT infrastructure. A specialised RPA team can help ensure successful implementation and the smooth operation of RPA processes. Ultimately, it is important to have a long-term perspective when implementing RPA processes in your company and to ensure that the infrastructure always remains efficient and stable.

2. Process analysis

Keeping inadequate records of processes can lead to additional costs and process errors. If a company wants to implement RPA processes, it is important that it perfectly understands the process flow and identifies weak points. Keeping inadequate records of processes can lead to important steps in the process being overlooked, which results in unexpected errors and additional costs.

Our recommendation:

Implement a requirements management system. In doing so, all requirements for the RPA process should be systematically recorded, documented and reviewed. Quality gates should be introduced as well in or to ensure that all requirements have been implemented correctly and that the process runs smoothly. Introducing documentation guidelines can also help to ensure that all steps in the process are documented and that changes and improvements are traceable. By employing these recommendations for action, process errors can be avoided and the efficiency of the process can be maximised.

3. Choosing the RPA software

In the past, it often happened that new RPA processes were implemented without taking account of the existing infrastructure. This led to new processes being inadequately integrated into the existing system, which in turn led to problems when developing new processes.

Our recommendation:

You should take your company’s organisational structure into consideration in order to ensure you choose the most ideally suited RPA software. It is important to understand how your company works, what systems it is already using and how these systems interact with one another. This is the only way to choose RPA software that can be seamlessly integrated into your existing infrastructure.

Conclusion

In recent years, the technology in the RPA sector has made enormous strides and has now matured to the point where it can be adequately integrated into the rest of the IT infrastructure. Following the DevOps approach is almost always possible, whereby pro-code-based in-house activities, libraries and frameworks can play an important role. In addition, many providers are offering new approaches in the area of intelligent process automation (IPA) in which RPA technology is enriched with methods from the field of artificial intelligence.

adesso can provide support in expanding the IPA sector. We can help to avoid typical stumbling blocks that are often encountered when introducing RPA processes and thus ensure IPA processes are implemented successfully. We utilise our many years of experience to ensure that the implementation of IPA processes is seamlessly integrated into the existing IT infrastructure.

You can find more exciting blog posts from the adesso world in our previously published blog posts.