What is RPA automation?

 

Recent global transformations demand a new positioning from organizations, that must become increasingly agile and efficient to better meet the growing demands and needs of clients and markets.

In addition, strong competitiveness among organizations leads to a permanent search for solutions that make companies more productive and, thus, add value to their business – while enabling them to reduce costs.

Digital technologies evolve sharply and exponentially. Currently, we have already experienced the benefits of automating repetitive and routine activities in different workspaces. Albeit invisibly, process automation is more than present in our lives: from customer service (with chatbots, for example) to collecting, processing, and modelling corporate data, based on rules. Automation tools are designed to solve problems that affect people.

In this context of constant evolution, it is worth mentioning that Digital Transformation and the new way of working have allowed for accelerating and developing new and more elaborate business processes, especially in the digital environment.

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is a disruptive technology that enables businesses to add value to their processes and operations. In general, after implementing RPA, it is possible to:

• “Copy and paste” information from one application to another;
• Extract content from documents and forms;
• Perform operations within extensive databases;
• Perform calculations to establish workflows to be implemented in an organization;
• Make decisions based on business rules.

By implementing RPA solutions, an organization increases its workforce. This is possible because RPA Robotic Process Automation offers efficiency and versatility in its applications. This way, organizations can fully dedicate themselves to carrying out their business strategies – which must always be supported and subject to the best governance practices and corporate responsibilities available in the market.

These “digital workers” can be managed as a team in charge of completing or executing business processes, just as employees would.

Due to RPA and the expertise of certified developers, automating tasks enables streamlining the workflow of companies of any size or industry.

 

RPA Robotic Process Automation

 

According to specialists in corporate technological development, RPA can be described as applying specific methodologies and technologies (based on algorithms and software), designed to automate a set of activities and tasks that are considered repetitive.

In other words, it is a solution that, as an application, helps an organization – and its leaders and employees as well – to carry out their routine activities more assertively and efficiently.

 

RPA: Digital Work Teams

 

With Robotic Process Automation RPA it is possible to perform complex tasks without direct human intervention. Regarding RPA, it can also be said that it enables leaders and employees to carry out activities that are considered complex, which adds even more value to operations and processes that promotes business growth.

In general, tools and RPA are developed under business rules for streamlining and optimizing corporate information interaction and processing. Through devices and, after authentication, the data travels through the enterprise information storage networks. This way, process automation generates more collaborative and better-communicated work teams.

Finally, implementing digital RPA solutions reallocates work teams so that RPA solutions (or bots, equivalent to the old “software license”) become responsible for processing the information that enables the proper functioning of an organization’s essential areas.

 

RPA Process Automation: Benefits

 

With the support of implemented RPA solutions, companies can achieve a series of benefits that increase the organizational capacity for generating new business. The advantages of RPA include:

• Increased leaders’ and employees’ productivity.
• Greater speed for developing product deliveries and digital solutions.
• Increased quality of service to clients and consumers, the main reason for developing RPA.
• Optimized use of technological resources.
• Reduced corporate technology costs.
• Satisfaction in employees, who gain greater decision-making capacity and instances for developing collaborative empathy and organizational interactions.

However, to deliver the benefits indicated above, RPA must rely on a solid foundation of corporate governance policies. Currently, when implementing best governance practices, businesses can count on the support of experts in agility and digital transformation, which significantly contribute to success in the digital environment.

In addition to developing future leadership and workforce geared towards implementing and innovating digital strategies, RPA performs substantial improvement in business operations, in (re)developing talent and also in the issue of shared services among teams, who begin working in a more transversal way, generating value chains for the services provided by companies.

RPA-based tools for business process automation and other operations based on RPA also stand out for the following characteristics:

• Robotic Process Automation solutions are easy to implement as a clear digital transformation strategy is developed. There are development interfaces that make it possible to speed up the delivery of digital products that, in some cases, shorten a solution’s time-to-market or launch.
• RPA software is considered “non-invasive”, that is, RPA technology is “on top” of other existing systems, without no need to create, develop or replace previously acquired solutions with more expensive platforms.
• Robotic Process Automation software can access other computer systems the same way a person does, through a user interface, using a login ID and password.
• RPA software accesses other systems through the “presentation layer”, eliminating the programming logic of underlying systems.
• RPA is safe. Robotic Process Automation is designed to act as a solid platform to optimally and performantly serve corporate IT on critical issues such as scalability, change management, and security requirements.
• Bots (or “robots”) are deployed, programmed, and monitored by a centralized and interconnected IT whose support and infrastructure are optimized to ensure data traffic integrity and compliance with corporate governance and security models.

In digital business, relying on process automation is investing in high technological performance, aiming at permanently increasing an organization’s business. With RPA, companies significantly impact their business, achieving positive results in terms of effectiveness and ROI (Return on Investments).

 

Robotic Process Automation and its applications

 

Recent advances in technology have made it possible to introduce RPA to the most varied industries and segments. For specialists in automation solution development, the processes fall into two categories: Hard Automation and Soft Automation. (Source: “UIPath vs Automation Anywhere-Blue Prism”, UiPath Community Forum – Robotic Process Automation, 2017).

Hard Automation (also known as Fixed Automation) is dedicated to developing bots for performing more specific and repetitive tasks (for example, a robot that performs manufacturing activities in an automaker plant).

On the other hand, Soft Automation (or Flexible Automation) is responsible for developing and implementing solutions in which robots can be programmed to perform different tasks, according to the requirements of different digital products ordered by technology industry clients.

For illustration, it should be noted that the RPA was generated under the concept of a flexible automation technological solution. In other words, RPA is a tool developed in the context of Soft Automation, as it is capable of executing more than one process – whether business or operational – at a time.

Today, many RPA solutions are used as software that can perform more than one manual task, such as checking documentation for opening accounts or requesting services in digital banks or fintechs are just some examples of RPA technology applications.

 

The difference between RPA and BPM (Business Process Management) solutions

 

The main distinction between Robotic Process Automation and BPM technologies is that, for IT specialists, the latter is considered “invasive”: that is, it implies creating applications and platforms, in addition to accessing the “logic of the business processes” and the data layers of the organizational IT’s architecture stack.

 

RPA: solutions for leaders, clients, and employees

 

Technological advances have enabled companies’ daily activities to foster the development of new leaders in the corporate sector. The ease and practicality of Robotic Process Automation encourage innovation by organizations.

“Previously, when talking about automation, there was a misconception that people would be replaced by new technologies. The RPA proposal seeks to implement new technologies in the daily life of companies, as a tool for optimizing how activities and tasks are performed by business leaders and their employees”, according to Rômulo Monteiro, RPA Coach at Meta.

In short, RPA contributes to increasing labour productivity, as corporate talent leverages their dedication and use of their time to new strategies and business models that add value to their organization. Thus, the technology inherent to RPA is used for developing products and services that effectively improve people’s lives, whether they are employees of a large organization or new clients and consumers.

 

RPA and Hyperautomation

 

The term “Hyperautomation”, according to the Gartner consultancy, involves an orchestrated use of several technologies, such as:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI);
• Machine Learning;
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA);
• Business Process Management (BPM)
• Intelligent Business Process Management Suites (iBPMS).

Other consultancies refer to Hyper automation as an “Integrated Automation Platform” or “Cognitive Automation”.

“Hyperautomation can be understood as a series of automation solutions that, when concentrated, enable automating a large number of business processes and operations”, says Rômulo Monteiro. This makes organizations increasingly digital-oriented (or Data-Driven).

For technology experts, the evolution of RPA and Hyperautomation solutions are the pillars of corporate efficiency for new businesses originating in the digital and virtual environment. By implementing RPA, a company invests in future competitive advantages to maintain and conquer new clients and markets, which are in constant transformation, whether in terms of demands or needs.

 

The future of RPA

 

In 2019, Gartner pointed out that the combination of RPA and Hyperautomation technologies would form the foundations of “Intelligent Automation”.

Technological innovation rapidly accelerates digital transformation in medium and large organizations. For these organizations, RPA is considered a quick-to-implement solution that delivers a high return on investment.

Due to advances in RPA, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the boundaries between data and their applicability are being torn down, especially for timely decision-making regarding a company’s organizational and business matters.

Soon, automation applications themselves are expected to internalize standards to self-develop and evolve as a technological solution. This is the establishment of yet another new technology that will thus be recognized as intelligent automation.

The world of work is constantly evolving, offering opportunities that are increasingly linked to technological development. Although technology advances rapidly, there is much room for developing RPA solutions, which aim to leverage and increase business volume at a national and regional level.

 

Meta and RPA

 

Meta has specialists who develop and implement digital solutions for the most diverse industries and segments.

“From customer service solutions to applications for the energy and finance industries, Meta has trained and prepared teams for developing and delivering products that leverage digital business”, says Maksine Baldin, RPA Analyst at Meta.

As a specialist company, we offer teams focused on planning, developing and implementing RPA solutions to clients across the country. If you want to advance your RPA implementation processes, please contact Meta’s team of experts.

Create technology and solutions together with our professionals, for evolving your business and your operations!

 

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