#1 Debunking Myths: Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Blog: AuraQuantic Blog

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has gained traction in recent years. Although these tools provide the appropriate solution for automating clicks on a screen, in many cases they are used to automate the entire organization and, thus, enter into digital transformation.

A common belief, but one that is wrong. The implementation of RPA is aimed at optimizing specific tasks and not at structuring the behavior and management of an entire company. This process is developed by Business Process Management (BPM), a technology that is capable of automating the full spectrum of needs in business workflows. But let’s start at the beginning, what is RPA and what myths exist about this type of technology?

What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a system that defines specific automation flows. This technology is aimed at automating repetitive digital tasks that consume a large part of the employees’ working hours. As a general rule, the processes most likely to be automated are the collection, transfer and entry of documentation, mass sending of emails, the management of files within the servers or data scanning and storage.

As mentioned previously, RPA can be a good option to reduce or eliminate workloads in certain tasks, but not to start the digital transformation process, since this requires prior analysis of the organization’s situation and implementation of a BPM adapted to it’s specific requirements.

Debunking myths about RPA

We are exposed to a great deal of information about RPA, its benefits and what we can do with this technology. Unfortunately, that excess of content has led to beliefs or myths around RPA that may not be entirely accurate. We consider that it is essential that companies that wish to incorporate task or process automation technologies know all the options available to them and can choose the one that allows them to achieve the desired objectives. For this reason, we have listed the three most common myths about RPA below:

Myth 1. RPA is the basis of automation in a company

FAKE. This is the most widespread belief and the one that leads to the most misunderstandings. Robotic Process Automation is designed to automate specific tasks that slow down the work of employees and it is essential that organizations know what they are investing in and the benefits it will generate. As explained above, to fully automate a company it is necessary to have an automation strategy and a BPM capable of carrying it out.

Myth 2. RPA does not replace employees

FAKE. RPA does replace employees for costly and repetitive tasks. It is important not to think of this as something negative, since it simply frees workers from mundane, time-consuming tasks, enabling them to dedicate their time to other, more important activities or those that generate greater benefits. In addition, there is a risk that if an interface changes (button that moves from a place on a page…), automations with RPA will stop working.

Myth 3. It involves significant cost savings

FAKE. The myth about the huge cost savings of implementing RPA is not entirely true either. The implementation of these platforms usually has a high cost for the limited automation spectrum that they cover. In addition, they limit their operation to one or a few bots that, due to the peculiarities of their licensing, often cannot perform tasks in parallel.

How do you get a correct automation?

Business automation consists of adapting process management to companies and business rules in order to meet market demands. In this new automation scene, RPA and BPM technologies have taken center stage. When proposing a correct automation strategy, it is necessary to know the needs of the company and apply common sense. With tools like AuraQuantic Process Mining, you analyze and are guided to identify which areas to automate, while discovering new sets of activities that had not been identified.

As we have explained previously, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) can provide benefits in terms of productivity and efficiency, while BPM (Business Process Management) is in charge of orchestrating processes, interactions with customers, management of exceptions and complex decisions. But AuraQuantic goes much further, not only incorporating the aforementioned functionalities, but it is a digital platform designed so that business users can easily and quickly create unlimited processes and applications to automate operations, reducing costs and optimizing productivity.

On the other hand, if we speak in terms of intelligent automation (iBPMS), Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can be integrated, such as machine learning or natural language processing, which enables the automation of much more complex tasks. In addition, it provides the possibility to orchestrate the work in combined teams of bots and humans, manage structured and unstructured data, analyze it, make decisions based on it and learn from it.

In short, it is important to be clear about the objectives and to know in detail the different options that exist before applying them. AuraQuantic’s automation and optimization tools, powered by the latest technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, relieve your employees in daily and repetitive actions, freeing them for what really matters, adding value to your business.

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