The word automation came into existence in the mechanical industry, as automatic devices and controls were increasing day by day. In the early days, automation was predominantly used to operate machines, with minimized human involvement. This was achieved by a set of instructions based on computer programs that control and monitor the process to ensure the proper execution of mechanical function.

But as the industry has progressed into its version 4.0, automation has taken on new meanings and roles.

Today, RPA(Robotic Process Automation) and AI are known to be the most complex developments in industrial automation. The integration of Artificial Intelligence(AI) with automation ensures that machines can learn and make decisions on their own, pretty much like humans.

This has given birth to ‘bots’, an invention of RPA software technology responsible for changing the former methods of doing work. The concept of bots is not really new to the world; however, as they have been around for almost 60 years. The purpose of inventing bots was to create a digital workforce as an alternative to humans. A concept that dearly appealed to the industry.

In 2018, RPA became the highest growing (almost 100%) corporate software technology, and in 2019 it continued to grow at double the previous year’s growth rate. RPA is expected to be a $12 Billion industry by 2022.

RPA companies are working on new efficiencies to enable digital transformations and inventions. Analysts suggest that RPA adoption is expected to grow by 35% in 2021.

With the technology becoming easily available to everyone at a more affordable price, bots can very well be your new teammates in times to come.

But is RPA all it’s chalked up to be? Let’s learn in this piece.

What is RPA?

RPA is a software technology based on business process automation; with the help of which organizations develop software robots called ‘bots’. The main reason behind creating these bots is to make human beings free from unnecessary workload. Bots are programmed by software developers in such a way so that they can interact with any software and application, they work much faster and consistently without any lag or break.

Bots can perform variety of tasks. These generally include mathematical calculations, entering data, copying data between applications, understanding what’s on-screen, navigating systems, connecting to APIs, identifying and extracting data, and performing a wide range of defined tasks.

RPA is gaining more popularity because it can reduce costs and give a better user experience. RPA bots are also very easy to set up and use for custom operations, when it comes to installation. Unsurprisingly, the benefits don’t end there.

Benefits Of RPA:

1.     Less Expertise Needed: There is no need to learn a programming language to automate bots. Therefore, non-technical staff can set up a bot or even record their steps to configure the process.

2.     Higher Productivity: When an employee works with a technology-assisted bot, the time taken to complete the task decreases. In addition, the bots free the employee from repetitive tasks, and the employee can focus on essential tasks, resulting in higher productivity.

3.     Higher Efficiency: RPA bots possess high efficiency as they can work without any break and without any limitations of hours in a day. Thus, a but is unstoppable in real sense.

4.     Versatility: RPA bots are designed to perform a wide variety of tasks. They are best suited to execute rule-based and repetitive jobs such as banking, healthcare, and insurance.

5.     Improved Analytics: RPA bots execute the tasks with higher accuracy and precision. This results in error-free and high quality output across-the-board. This further accumulates to the overall improvement of the operational process and greater data visibility.

Organizations are quickly coming to terms with their inherent need for RPA adoption. But it takes more than acceptance and investment. Bot implementation also has some requisites which organizations must fulfill before successfully automating their processes with bots.

Requisites for Bot Implementation:

1. The essential requirement of Bot implementation is an NLP (Natural Language Processing) function to analyze the intent of the question to provide an accurate answer.
2. Well-defined knowledge graphs to structure and gain insights into the data to help capture, read, and process the project requirements efficiently.
3. A bot should be able to easily communicate through multiple channels such as website, app, messenger, and phone. For this seamless communication, the multi-channel capability is necessary.
4. A well-designed user interface and experience should be there both on the company’s and the customer’s sides to manage everything without any hassle.
5. A bot should be able to expand its knowledge daily by analyzing the daily work report to optimize itself for future use as the bot becomes better with every use.
6. A bot must further provide analytics and customer information reports to enhance your services for a better user experience.

Despite the aforementioned benefits and business readiness for automation, a blind adoption of RPA is still not advisable. Organizations need business analysis to determine focused RPA application and strategize adoption of bots. Here’s how business analysis plays a critical role in this:

Role of Business Analysis in Determining RPA Application:

1. Different industries are heading towards RPA to become more effective, reliable, accurate, and consistent to improve productivity rates.  Business Analysts play the role of connection between the bots, technical department and the industry that needs an RPA solution.
2. A Business Analyst in RPA is responsible for scaling the organization’s automation solutions. In addition, BA handles and creates proposal components that define the technical details and innovative RPA solutions to interact with various organizations to generate enterprise productivity.
3. Business Analysts do not require any in-depth technical knowledge of RPA tools. However, BA should have some basic knowledge of technology to map business’s requirement to better recommend RPA solutions.
4. The development team provides the solution project to be checked and reviewed by the Business Analyst. This bridging ensures that the solution meets the client’s stated requirements.
5. A Business Analyst is also responsible for designing the Process Distribution document and Solution Design Document to report the final results of RPA adoption. In addition, BAs also provide the project report to senior authorities and facilitate visibility of process transformation through RPA.

In sum, RPA is already offering the best automation solution to various industries. However, as the technology overgrows, more advanced robotics solutions will continue to come in the near future. As a result, more enterprises will adopt the RPA bots to increase quality, flexibility and unlock the vast possibilities of automation solutions.

Preparing for this future and engaging in business analysis to digitally transform is now not an option but a requisite. As the relationship between man and machine continues to evolve, the day is already here when Bots can be the reliable teammates, enabling humans to learn more, dream big, innovate, discover and create new.