Difference Between Robotic Process Automation vs. Business Process Automation

Organizations worldwide are leveraging major advances in technology, including RPA and AI, to succeed in the new digital era. With an exponential growth in digital capabilities, it’s only a matter of time when organizations will integrate these emerging technologies into their systems, creating a new standard. All in all, automation holds enormous promise for various industry verticals, helping organizations achieve significant benefits, delivering value, and stepping up their game.

Although process automation is not new, this blog post aims to explain the acronyms – RPA and BPA.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation refers to a software or application that helps automate specific business processes that are repetitive and rule-based. Large organizations require human workers to spend time answering queries, maintaining data records, etc. that are manually intensive and time-consuming. With RPA bots, employees can bid goodbye to mundane clerical tasks, focusing on higher-value work, thereby adding value to the organization.

Advantages of RPA solutions:

What is Business Process Automation?

Business process automation automates entire workflows, focusing on end-to-end processes, thus improving an organization’s efficiency. It goes beyond automating individual tasks to optimizing entire processes by implementing advanced software systems that integrate all existing applications.

Advantages of BPA:

RPA vs. BPA – explained

Let’s dive a little deeper to understand the difference between these two approaches.

RPA BPA
Software robots automate rule-based tasks in a specific process by mimicking user interactions An end-to-end automation solution, it streamlines processes across an organization
Can operate within existing software/applications, without disrupting existing business processes Requires overhaul of existing systems to automate entire workflows
Used for: website scraping, copying and pasting, document generation, opening emails, order processing, and shipping notifications, etc. Used for: back-office processes, invoicing, document management, decision making
Requires repetitive tasks that follow simple business rules Requires in-depth analysis of business processes and inefficiencies
Accesses existing user interface on desktops, replicates user behavior, record information, and store data for later use Extracts information from diversified systems that require APIs, IT support, database access

Conclusion

Did you know that half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055? 1 Various industries such as banking, telecommunications, healthcare, and manufacturing, among others, are taking advantage of the benefits of automation — RPA tools and Business Process Automation —to usher in a transformative change.

Automation helps businesses kick-start their digital transformation journey, setting the foundation for sustained growth and revenue in the long run. With the rise in the adoption of RPA, far-sighted leaders are realizing the potential impact of breakthrough technologies to streamline processes, transforming business in unpredictable ways.

RPA Software Spend will Increase in the Coming Years

An enabler of digital transformation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) combines the power of technology with expertise to bring about sweeping changes across industry verticals, including banks, insurance firms, and telecommunication companies.

With top RPA vendors integrating Machine Learning and AI technology to bolster automation’s potential, it’s no wonder then that organizations worldwide are aggressively pursuing the benefits of Robotic Process Automation software, transforming their business in unpredictable ways. As RPA tools gain prominence, organizations worldwide are no longer on the fence and are geared to join the automation transformation revolution, setting themselves up for future success.

According to Gartner, Inc., global RPA software revenue is projected to reach $1.89 billion in 2021. The economic pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic too haven’t slowed the growth of RPA.1 In the next few years, large organizations are expected to grow their automation capacity, opening up new opportunities for scaling in ways we’ve never imagined before.

What does Robotic Process Automation mean?

Robotic Process Automation refers to using the power of bots to automate repetitive, rule-based tasks across functions that humans previously performed. From automating high volume tasks such as queries to the maintenance of massive data transactions and records, RPA solutions have got you covered.

Below are a few reasons why RPA software spend will undoubtedly increase in the coming years.

Decreasing RPA prices

The average RPA prices are expected to decrease by 10% to 15%.2 Having said that, it’s also predicted that 90% of large organizations will have adopted RPA in some form by 2022.3

This is an excellent time for RPA service providers in the market to build a strong relationship with diversified businesses looking to explore the untapped potential of automation. With organizations looking to stay on top of technology, leveraging automation for better business outcomes will help determine the best path forward.

This also means organizations are looking to adopt this breakthrough technology to support their digital transformation initiatives, fueling future growth.

Accelerates digital transformation journey

Today’s digital age requires organizations to leverage automation, laying a foundation for a new digital era. Automation assists enterprises in building their digital core and scaling in their digital transformation journey. Organizations across industries are investing in new digital capabilities in order to create a truly digital enterprise, thus maintaining a competitive advantage. Many Robotic Process Automation tools help enterprises navigate the digital landscape, addressing the challenges and bringing about incremental changes that were unthinkable in the past.

Today organizations are moving beyond mere automation by creating digital experiences in an ever-evolving industry landscape. Embracing Robotic Process Automation technology helps businesses deliver value to clients, effecting enterprise-wide transformation.

Creates meaningful customer experiences

Nurturing customer relationships is vital for the success of any business. Intending to maximize customer experience, contact centers are looking at deploying RPA solutions to engage with customers, reduce customer wait times, offer customer support by addressing key concerns, and resolve customer queries as quickly as possible. By deploying RPA bots, organizations can relieve human resources of mundane tasks, allowing them to interact with key customers, thus enhancing customer experience in the long run. Furthermore, RPA implementation automates repetitive agent tasks such as cutting and pasting, basic computations, etc., saving the time and effort of human workers.

Amplifies human intelligence and an AI-driven future

Automation frees human workers to take up new responsibilities, thus reducing the risk of errors and freeing up resources to focus on higher-value tasks and improving productivity. As the bots do not require any coding, they can take on new processes and tasks, enhancing employees’ efficiency.

The rise in the adoption of RPA products is also due to the shifting future of work — the unification of human-digital workforce. Robotic Process Automation technology complements or amplifies human capabilities, bringing about tectonic shifts in the future of work. Nonetheless, organizations and business leaders are leaving no stone unturned to invest in employee training programs that will help close the growing skills gap.

Conclusion

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis is expected to increase the adoption of Robotic Process Automation solutions as business leaders look for ways to thrive in a post-COVID world. The human-digital workforce not only automates mundane, repetitive tasks but also helps organizations navigate the operational challenges of a crisis, thus enhancing resiliency and responsiveness.

As organizations build new growth models and open up doors to innovative solutions, it’s no surprise that business leaders are keen on exploring all the possibilities that automation has to offer.

Performance metrics to measure the impact of Robotic Process Automation

Combining automation technologies with the core competencies of a business lays a strong foundation to build a truly digital enterprise. As RPA tools gain prominence, organizations from a plethora of industries are capitalizing on the benefits that Robotic Process Automation has to offer by rapidly developing new business models. The application of new technologies with an enterprise-wide road map that accelerates innovation, agility, and growth helps organizations surpass the expectations of their clients.

Undoubtedly, organizations that have an automation strategy in place have a competitive advantage. With the increasing adoption of RPA — software robots to automate high volume, clerical processes — businesses are navigating the operational challenges as seamlessly as possible. RPA software provides a wide range of advantages, from carrying out time-consuming rule-based tasks previously performed by human workers to streamlining, standardizing, and optimizing key processes. The outcomes gained by leveraging automation technologies help enterprises embark on their digital transformation journey.

A robust automation program or framework

Organizations with an automation-first strategy are indisputably making breakthroughs that were unthinkable in the past. A well-thought RPA strategy helps organizations differentiate themselves from their competitors. Below are a few questions that organizations need to answer before jumping into the automation bandwagon.

Interestingly, businesses are also looking for definitive actions and measuring performance metrics to invest in Robotic Process Automation technology.

How can you evaluate the RPA deployment in your organization? How can you measure the ROI and explore further opportunities? Let’s dig deeper into some of the key performance metrics necessary to assess or evaluate the benefits of RPA solutions.

5 key performance metrics:

Increased accuracy

One of the most common benefits of implementing RPA software is that it eliminates human intervention, resulting in reduced errors, thereby improving accuracy. To determine the value of this key performance metric, organizations can run a comparative analysis to measure the amount of rework required due to human error before and after RPA implementation.

Improved compliance

Errors inevitably lead to compliance issues, and that has devastating consequences in the management of data. Reduced errors eliminate compliance hassles, ensuring adherence to regulation criteria, thereby improving accuracy in the process.

Huge savings in labor cost

RPA software bots are programmed to perform repetitive tasks, improving speed, consistency, accuracy, thus freeing the human worker to focus on higher-value activities, which require creativity, competence, and expertise. RPA implementation unifies the human-digital workforce, rapidly changing the way we live and do business.

Increase in employee satisfaction

As RPA products automate processes and tasks typically performed by the human workers, they allow the employees to shift their focus on more creative activities, increasing productivity and employee satisfaction. Bots amplify human capabilities, providing opportunities for human workers to take on new roles, adding value to the organization’s overall goals.

Speed of processing tasks

High-volume tasks performed by human workers are time-consuming and daunting. In contrast, bots typically take lesser time or AHT to complete the task, ensuring speed and efficiency. This can be applied to completing requests and responding to customer needs or queries, which helps improve customer service in the long run.

Conclusion

Measuring the impact of Robotic Process Automation solutions is a challenge. With clearly defined metrics, organizations can track their automation journey.

In short, organizations across industry verticals can measure the value of RPA and the tangible benefits through a combination of well-conceived RPA strategy and overall results. An RPA automation program demonstrates the benefits and pitfalls, ensuring the company realizes its top and bottom-line objectives in the long run.

RPA performance metrics address current challenges and provide endless opportunities, accelerating innovation, while ensuring the success of a business’ digital transformation journey.