March 20209MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSexpected curve for implementation because a slight variation in the process can be a roadblock for RPA software to perform the job. Development is just a part of the RPA journey. Process discovery, Exception handling, infra setup, change management are complex tasks and equally important.Also while RPA work at user interface layer, it does have challenges while interacting with backend systems, especially if the backend systems are part of the legacy stack. One of the large healthcare providers in NA had a tough time with a medium complexity use that was attributed to RPA's inability to interact with a particular mainframe version. A medium use case which should have ideally taken 6 weeks, eventually took 20 weeks due to this misalignment.Myth ­ RPA is driven by business entirely, IT has no role to playThe way RPA was initially branded was as "a tool for business and little or no IT involvement". With increasing deployments, it is now clear that RPA adoption needs engagement with every stakeholder ­ IT, Infra, Business, Security. Enterprise wide adoption is at risk if even one of them is not engaged. Infact this myth is so problematic that it can entirely derail your automation roadmap. Multiple operating model challenges are answered by these stakeholders. The concept of CoE also came to counter this myth.Myth ­ RPA requires minimum supportLike any other IT software, due focus on RPA support should be given. This has become more of an afterthought. RPA support needs to follow the IT Service Management frame work. Apart from L1 and L2 support, the admin activities are critical as well. Myth ­ RPA is all about FTE reductionMajority of organizations feel that RPA is all about FTE (Full Time Employees) reduction. Business owners are of the opinion that RPA will reduce their man power. While FTE reduction was one of the major considerations earlier but as technology has evolved, other RPA benefits have also emerged. The biggest benefit is freeing up FTEs time for more value-added work.Myth ­ RPA delivers transformational impact aloneA sizeable majority of organizations look at RPA to deliver transformational impact and get easily frustrated when it does not. Business owners believe RPA can help automate entire departments or most part of it. While RPA can help you towards transformational initiatives, it cannot deliver the benefits entirely on its own. A 2017 paper by McKinsey found that "few occupations are fully automatable," but 60 percent of all occupations have at least 30 percent technically automatable activities."That is the reason intelligent automation has become popular. RPA in combination with AI/ML techniques can certainly deliver transformational projects. One of the largest telecom provider in North America, is using intelligent automation to automate processing 2.4 Million requests coming through unstructured emails annually. This will help automate 95 percent of these request handled by 400 FTE's. Myth ­ Centre of Excellence is not importantIn order to use automation strategically to achieve enterprise goals, a CoE led approach is a great enabler. Many organizations believe COE is not important hence do not invest time and money into it. Most organizations who don't have COE either fail in their RPA journey or do not get enough business benefits. COE helps to achieve scale and agility on an enterprise scale by answering questions related to policies, training, security, infrastructure etc. to name a few.While RPA can help companies re-think their workforce and human capital needs, not spending enough time in its initial days can have a detrimental effect. RPA is easy as compared to traditional IT software; however, do not look at it as just a plug and play technology. Invest first few weeks well to create an operating structure ensuring enterprise-wide adoption. Important thing to remember is that Intelligent Automation is more of a change management than a technology implementation. Real power of intelligent automation is unleashed by end-to-end Process automation. Sameer Dania
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