As Robotic Process Automation and AI move from concept boards to reality, enterprises are wondering about the impact these technologies will have on their workforce. RPA enters the organization with its promise of reducing operational costs through saving manual efforts on routine deterministic operational activities. The operational cost is reduced as the count of FTE’s on these mundane process oriented activities can also be reduced.
However, RPA implementation does not only mean FTE and operational cost reduction. It allows organizations the ability to reimagine their workforce and amplify the human potential. While the RPA bots take up the routine, repetitive and deterministic work, it creates new higher end work for the humans. Examples include:
- Bot monitoring and control – As the RPA bots run on remote VM’s, they need to be monitored to ensure that they are able to run non-stop and execute the assigned tasks. Also, the bots need to be scheduled appropriately to manage multiple tasks as per their set time schedules and priority. These require standard workforce and task management skills.
- Automation Process Identification and discovery – Not all operational processes can be automated through RPA. A detailed exercise is needed to analyze existing processes, identify automation opportunities and discover the right processes that can be automated. This requires knowledge of existing business processes, understanding of how RPA works and working knowledge of process mining/discovery tools.
- Automation process configuration – Identified process needs to be configured through the RPA tool for automation. Also, as your business and underlying applications change, the automated process too, needs to undergo changes. This needs business SME’s, who understand the existing process and impact on ongoing changes to create this configuration and maintain it on an ongoing basis.
- Process optimization and improvements – RPA execution creates tremendous data and equally significant insights on your process inefficiencies and optimization opportunities. Your process SME’s coupled with few data experts can unearth these insights and take actions to optimize and improve your business processes.
While at one end, RPA reduces the need for human effort in routine, repetitive tasks, it creates ample opportunities for employees to apply their knowledge, intelligence and skills towards making organizations smarter, leaner and faster while truly amplifying the human potential of your workforce!
Shrikant Deo
Associate Director, Product Management, EdgeVerve
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