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Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the technology that allows people to configure computer software via algorithms to emulate and integrate human actions within digital systems to execute a business process. In other words, RPA leverages bots that mimic human actions to complete repetitive tasks.
Emerging technologies like Artificial intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Analytics are enabling RPA tools to assist stakeholders in a wide variety of use cases across industries. This combination of AI, ML, and other cognitive technology with RPA is expected to reshape the global business environment.
In fact, various industry studies estimate that the global market size of robotic process automation to hit USD 6.81 Bn by 2026.
A Brief Look at the Rise of RPA
So, what is driving this growth to RPA?
The increase in corporate outsourcing & the rising demand for automation of redundant tasks is spearheading the movement towards RPA adoption.
Combine this with the benefits of RPA, viz,
- Cost–saving
- Scalability
- Improved employee and customer satisfaction
- Accelerated productivity gains
- Improved compliance
and it is immediately apparent why RPA is used extensively across industries for:
- Remote monitoring
- Data validation
- Data migration
- Automated testing
- Fraudulent activity monitoring
- Fault remediation and even
- Regulatory compliance
…among other use cases.
How Enterprises Have Leveraged RPA
Let us now see a few innovative ways in which stakeholders have leveraged RPA across verticals.
Scaling Enterprise Operations: Automation Anywhere partnered with Appian and developed a Robotic Workforce Manager solution bot integrated with full-stack automation. The bot delivers faster time-to-value and enterprise scalability for “human-in-control” RPA and intelligent automation. This, in turn, accelerates business processes, reduces operational costs as well as errors, and creates outstanding customer experiences.
Patient Care During COVID-19: Northampton General Hospital deployed automation to ensure oxygen is always available as demand increases amid the Covid-19 crisis. This solution was implemented with minimal downtime to existing hospital infrastructure.
Streamlining Contact Center Operations: Jacada partnered with NucleusTeq to support Jacada’s rich Customer Service Automation portfolio. This included their intelligent agent engagement and self-service solutions designed to optimize employee experience (EX) and improve customer experience (CX) through its intelligent bots automation.
Efficient Business Continuity Planning: Automation Anywhere introduced an AI-powered IQ bot to automate WHO operations for COVID-19. They also introduced Macao Anti-Epidemic Real-Time Interactive Map to provide data, including infection sites, hospital wait times, and local availability of masks.
What Key Service Providers Are Doing With RPA
Most companies, especially in IT and telecom, have hundreds of repetitive processes that are too simple to be engaging for humans. This is where the power of RPA really shines through. Implementing RPA can increase your company’s efficiency and improve the customer experience while allowing employees to work on meaningful tasks.
For example, Infosys recently used RPA to simplify the global HR process for an MNC.
Infosys BPM studied the client’s HR processes and analyzed each of their stages in detail to understand the suitability of introducing RPA and reducing the effort involved in dealing with the quantum of data. The result was an RPA bot to automatically read and validate the data from the multiple backend systems and calculate the allowance.
In the consumer/enterprise software vertical, service providers like Mindtree, Cognizant, & Accenture are helping their clients with RPA to:
- Develop automation applications
- Automate product modeling
- Test automation tools, and
- Automate deployment processes
Another key area with heavy RPA utilization is telecom. Here service providers such as TCS, Tech Mahindra, & Infosys are helping telecom majors with:
- Developing robots for Batch Operations Automation
- Developing front end and back end bots to automate processes
- Service report automation
- Design data–driven frameworks for automation testing
- Automation of test cases and web portals
Development of bots and Business Process Automation are critical target areas for Service Providers to aim for, as is evident in the outsourcing intensity heatmap below.
The Future of RPA
A recent study predicted that within the RPA technology market “more than 40 percent of enterprises will create state-of-the-art digital workers by combining AI (artificial intelligence) with Robotic Process Automation.”
With AI fundamentally transforming what automation can do, RPA will continue to experience explosive growth in the coming decade.
However, RPA alone is only one side of the coin, i.e., the front end. In the back end, API automation continues to grow. Enterprises that can holistically integrate these two processes will derive maximum value from their automation strategy.
Another crucial aspect that complements RPA is Business Process Automation. When combined, they can scale automation across entire business processes.
Service providers who are ready with solutions to the above use cases and automation paradigms are looking at gaining significant market share in the coming years as more processes come under the automation umbrella.
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