Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic
process automation (RPA) is a software technology that makes it easy to build,
deploy, and manage software robots that emulate humans actions interacting with
digital systems and software. Just like people, software robots can do things
like understand what’s on a screen, complete the right keystrokes, navigate
systems, identify and extract data, and perform a wide range of defined
actions. But software robots can do it faster and more consistently than
people, without the need to get up and stretch or take a coffee break.
What
are the business benefits of RPA?
Robotic process automation streamlines workflows, which makes organizations more profitable, flexible, and responsive. It also increases employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity by removing mundane tasks from their workdays.
RPA is noninvasive and can be rapidly implemented to accelerate digital transformation. And it’s ideal for automating workflows that involve legacy systems that lack APIs, virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs), or database access
Where can RPA be used?
Today, RPA is driving new efficiencies and freeing people from repetitive tedium across a broad swath of industries and processes. Enterprises in industries ranging from financial services to healthcare to manufacturing to the public sector to retail and far beyond have implemented RPA in areas as diverse as finance, compliance, legal, customer service, operations, and IT. And that’s just for starters.
RPA
has become so widespread because it is broadly applicable. Virtually any
high-volume, business-rules-driven, repeatable process is a great candidate for
automation—and increasingly so are cognitive processes that require
higher-order AI skills.
What features and capabilities are important in RPA technology?
To
build and manage an enterprise-wide RPA program, you need technology that can
go far beyond simply helping you automate a single process.
You
require a platform that can help you create and manage a new enterprise-wide
capability and help you become a fully automated enterprise™. Your RPA
technology must support you end-to-end, from discovering great automation
opportunities everywhere, to quickly building high-performing robots, to
managing thousands of automated workflows.