Robotic Process Automation: How to Get Started

Following on from my recent webinar on the successes that I’ve had with RPA Technology, I’ve been asked by the guys at SSON to share a couple of my secrets in getting a successful robotic operation up and running. I can’t guarantee it’ll be pain free (I was almost frog marched out the door by Fraud & Security during our own proof of concept back in 2010), but thankfully I’m still around to tell the tale. Just about!! I’d say there are a couple of key items that you need to consider when thinking about your Proof of Concept – I don’t think this is unique to RPA, but it’s amazing how many people I’ve spoken with have started a POC, without a clear understanding of the "As Is". Without that, how can you tell if you’ve been successful?? I was lucky in that I had a huge amount of MI on the processes that I was considering (thanks in large to our incumbent BPO). By understanding current volumes, average handling time, exception rates and average speed of response, I was easily able to understand my success criteria against current performance, and also accurately calculate FTE savings as a result (MI built me a solid business case) But how did I choose the processes we automated in the POC? Do you go complex, do you go for high volume, do you interact with a single or many systems...?! I started with two fairly simple, high volume processes, which, between them, interacted with most of our core systems. Why? Well I needed to prove connectivity to our core systems, and prove to Technology that RPA wasn’t going to bring down the house (even with a high through-put) and that it would not take an age to automate each process. Did I succeed? Well the POC successfully proved that RPA was worth exploring and that with the right commercials, it would deliver significant benefits. Is the battle won? Far from it, but that’s for another day... [inlinead] Editor's note: Wayne Butterfield will be penning a regular column on robotic process automation at work, for SSON. If you have any questions or issues you would like him to address, please send us an email.

Robotic Process Automation: How to Get Started

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