The link between Robotic Process Automation and Digital Transformation
Original post from https://www.cigen.com.au/cigenblog/
As an expanding technology, capable of improving business outcomes, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has the capacity to support digital transformation. For this reason, many businesses are looking for ways in which they can bring this kind of change to their business functions, particularly to ensure they are using cutting edge technology.
Read on to find out how RPA supports digital transformation, what the future holds, and how your employees are needed to incorporate and deploy such digital projects.
Digital Transformation and RPA
It’s important to understand that RPA takes on a very different role depending on the process and the industry. Across various industries such as finance, insurance, legal, media, primary infrastructure, hospitality and utilities, RPA is being used to automate mundane, high volume, and time consuming processes. These can include various tasks such as order and AP processing, HR, data audits and migration, service job entry and invoicing. Consequently, RPA is reshaping the ways these organizations can operate and their efficiency levels.
But, how does this support digital transformation? RPA is best described as a technology that will assist in evolving digital transformation for companies across all industries and all functions.
Through its automation capabilities, RPA allows organizations to tackle operational challenges, for example, executing large amounts of back office activities. Companies can gain knowledge about their business patterns and the performance of their workflows through data provided by RPA. Companies can then leverage this information to adopt digital strategies which help adapt their processes to be more efficient.
In addition, RPA makes achieving digital transformation, quick and straightforward in many cases. The robots can be taught to mimic the actions of employees, ranging from anything including clicks and copy-paste tasks to more complex tasks, such as workflows and activities, such as invoicing.
In many environments, the existing process flow can be redesigned for Robots to make use of increased speed, continuous and highly accurate activities, incorporate validation and verification without the need to stop and recheck its steps, etc.
The beauty of RPA is that it can work the exact same way as a person, which means working with legacy systems, all manner of business systems, and external systems without the need to restructure existing platforms. Implementation can then occur within a matter of days.
Removing the burden of back office tasks, allows employees to then focus on more strategic and high level tasks. By bringing the focus to the front office, RPA can help to bring about improved business performance and outcomes — and essentially – digital transformation.
Buy in from Employees and Management
While it’s clear that RPA plays an important role in supporting digital transformation, don’t forget to consider the importance of employee adoption to implement these changes. People are just as important in the digital transformation process.
In their publication entitled Strategy, not Technology, Drives Digital Transformation, Deloitte suggests that “The ability to digitally reimagine the business is determined in large part by a clear digital strategy supported by leaders who foster a culture able to change and invent the new…What separate digital leaders from the rest is a clear digital strategy combined with a culture and leadership posed to drive the transformation.”
Outcomes of Digital Transformation
With the support of management and employees, digital transformation made possible by RPA is already becoming pervasive across various functions and industries worldwide. In an executive publication from their Institute for Business Value, IBM suggests that this transformation allows companies to focus on two dimensions, specifically “reshaping customer value propositions and transforming operating models using digital technologies for greater customer interactions and collaboration.”
Whether it’s a case of an insurance company inundated with claims processing, a utilities company managing a high number of small value purchase orders, or a bank struggling to manage high transaction volumes, RPA can eliminate these challenges and support digital transformation along the way. Not only does the transformation created by RPA give organizations the ability to focus on higher level strategy and improve efficiency, it also improves customer retention.
In summary, the increase in efficiency provided by RPA is allowing the emphasis to be moved from tedious back office tasks and focus on tasks that involve creating business value and customer engagement – furthering your business for success. RPA is certainly proving itself to be an avenue through which digital transformation can be achieved in any industry.
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