RPA - The Present and What's to come: Jacob Peter, VP BU Head-(IT Business Arrangements)
Off late, Mechanization has become one of the most discussed subjects in the IT business clique. There is a blend of fervor and worry about how this would upset business as usual. This point has been important to the business from the hour of its initial advancement. The remarkable development of networks among people and things gets the approach of Industry 4.0 which is the following flood of industrialization and with it, new strategies in mechanization.
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The exponential growth of connectivity between humans and things brings in the advent of Industry 4.0 which is the next wave of industrialization and with it, new techniques in automation. Automation of functionality was at the core–Software (SW) dictates the functionality of products and business processes. Millions of lines of code make up the intelligence behind the products of our daily use – be it a mobile phone, automobile, or washing machine.
Enterprises rely on packaged SW being configured, or custom applications developed to run their businesses. We had engineers developing SW to handle the complex business environment and back office personnel taking care of operations. The customer-centric design would form the core – which means functionality like mobility on demand, with high reliability and quick time to market, will be an implicit expectation. Many newer concepts like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) are entering every part of the Software.
The current focus of Automation centers around Robotic Process Automation (RPA) aiding Business Process Automation, IT Process Automation (ITPA) aiding IT Infra automation, while Machine learning is mostly used in voice and customer interface processes through technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP). From our experience of implementing RPA/ ITPA, rather than focusing on the immediate benefits of automation (productivity), we should look at it holistically.
We have observed the following key benefits during the implementation of automation,
1. Process Definition: It allowed us to look at the process more closely and define workflows in a way that allowed optimum use of automation.
2. Risk management: Automation frees the processes from human error and has the ability for instant ramp up and down, which helps in better management of uncertainties and brings down risks to a more acceptable level.
3. Better customer experience: Automation with cognitive and artificial intelligence provides organizations with better tools to analyze market insights and offer better products.
4. Increased service quality with 100�curacy rate due to high repeatability and zero fatigue, decreasing delivery time results in better customer experience.
5. Cost Savings: Reduced process time, lower error rate, and process transformation result in cost savings.
When one looks at the cost savings from automation, benefits accrued from the above 4 points should also be considered.
If only the replacement of the workforce is considered, the benefits may be limited, considering the license cost and support required to maintain it.
Some of the key aspects that have to be focused on while embarking on implementing automation are:
1. Analyzing the benefits of bringing in the Automation/ Digital workforce: This brings focus to the Why question. Is it for Cost benefits?
2. Defining the Digital workforce concept: This phase includes setting up a robust governance framework that enables SW Robots to work alongside the normal workforce.
3. Identifying the candidate process: This phase involves piloting and getting the first few that would determine the rollout approach.
4. Rollout process: This phase would be the org-wide rollout across the identified process.
We view automation as an enabler that will free up individuals from the mundane part of their work and will give them the freedom to innovate and perform better. Though Automation might cause a contraction in labor markets in the near term in traditional software/business segments, newer areas like Big Data Analysts, BOT development, Supervised and unsupervised training of bots, and cybersecurity would open up which creates demand for newer skills.
As automation moves ahead, entering into the world of Artificial intelligence, organizations will find new ways to use cognitive tools to make their job easier. AI-aided automation would come to aid in the build phase of SW development in a major way.
Enterprises rely on packaged SW being configured, or custom applications developed to run their businesses. We had engineers developing SW to handle the complex business environment and back office personnel taking care of operations. The customer-centric design would form the core – which means functionality like mobility on demand, with high reliability and quick time to market, will be an implicit expectation. Many newer concepts like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) are entering every part of the Software.
We have observed the following key benefits during the implementation of automation,
1. Process Definition: It allowed us to look at the process more closely and define workflows in a way that allowed optimum use of automation.
2. Risk management: Automation frees the processes from human error and has the ability for instant ramp up and down, which helps in better management of uncertainties and brings down risks to a more acceptable level.
3. Better customer experience: Automation with cognitive and artificial intelligence provides organizations with better tools to analyze market insights and offer better products.
4. Increased service quality with 100�curacy rate due to high repeatability and zero fatigue, decreasing delivery time results in better customer experience.
5. Cost Savings: Reduced process time, lower error rate, and process transformation result in cost savings.
When one looks at the cost savings from automation, benefits accrued from the above 4 points should also be considered.
If only the replacement of the workforce is considered, the benefits may be limited, considering the license cost and support required to maintain it.
Some of the key aspects that have to be focused on while embarking on implementing automation are:
2. Defining the Digital workforce concept: This phase includes setting up a robust governance framework that enables SW Robots to work alongside the normal workforce.
3. Identifying the candidate process: This phase involves piloting and getting the first few that would determine the rollout approach.
4. Rollout process: This phase would be the org-wide rollout across the identified process.
We view automation as an enabler that will free up individuals from the mundane part of their work and will give them the freedom to innovate and perform better. Though Automation might cause a contraction in labor markets in the near term in traditional software/business segments, newer areas like Big Data Analysts, BOT development, Supervised and unsupervised training of bots, and cybersecurity would open up which creates demand for newer skills.
As automation moves ahead, entering into the world of Artificial intelligence, organizations will find new ways to use cognitive tools to make their job easier. AI-aided automation would come to aid in the build phase of SW development in a major way.
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