Key decisions in an RPA Implementation

RPA

Transforming business and implementing process automation is a strategic approach. Any gap or
incorrect decision can impact the desired RoI. Let us have a look at some of the mistakes organisations
make while implementing an RPA project are-

1- Wrong Tool selection

2- Incorrect process selection
3- Gap in Risk Identification
3- Incorrect Planning and financial Modelling

What should organisation do, To avoid such failure-

A typical Pre-Sales road-map for any RPA project all through includes the following project initiation
steps-

1- IVP-Initial Value Proposition

2- Due Diligence
3- Solution Designing
4- Contracting
5- Implementation
In each of the above stage several decisions have been made but there are few critical decisions which
decide the success of RPA Implementation.
Some of the key decisions in the above stages are –

1-Tool selection for automation-

Tools need to be identified based on the complexity of your process and its business value,It’s done in
Due-Diligence stage.

If there are lesser number of FTE (Full Time Employee) working on your business processes and
replacing your feasible processes with RPA is not giving RoI then there is no point going for a
commercial tool like AutomationAnywhere or BluePrism. In such cases identify a free available tool like
UI Path, Workfusion.

On an average, RPA tools need 23 hours to develop 100 steps (L2 Process Map). However, such numbers
differ occasionally as per complexity of L3 process map. L3 Process map is derived from L2 Map. There
can be chances that the derived L3 Maps from an L2 map are complex in nature and that the web/desktop
controls are more than average in number. In such cases effort mentioned above (23 Hours) can be
increased.
Below are the values of tools individually-

Ease of Development– How easy is it to create a Bot in the tool

Ease of Handover-How easy is it to handover Bots from one person to the other for maintenance

2-Correct Process Identification for automation-

Finding correct candidate for process automation is the next critical step as the success of RPA largely
depends on the correct automation candidate. If a process with inappropriate automation candidate is
chosen it can ruin your effort and result in failed RPA implementation. There are chances that a process
may not be fully automated and that some manual intervention may be required. Therefore, option to
partially automate a process also needs to be considered for such cases. Certain tools have features to
handle such manual intervention business cases.

Detailed analysis needs to be done with Subject Matter Experts of business processes. Some of the
examples of good automation candidate are-

a) Repetitive tasks which are structured

b) Tasks that are rule based
c) Tasks that have definitive output

3-Risk identification

An RPA implementation without proper Risk Identification and mitigation planning is prone to failure.
To identify risk it is required to have detailed L3 process map available for all processes which are good
automation candidate.

Based on the L3 Process Map risk and related RPN-Risk Priority Number can be identified.
How to identify RPN Risk Priority Number of a process?

RPN = SXOXD
S-Severity of risk in a process
O-Occurrence of the risk
D-Depiction of the risk

After the RPN number is identified, mitigation plan needs to be created.Mostly development efforts are
increased just to handle identified risk in a process as mitigation action

4-Financial Modelling
Now comes financial modelling which helps in identifying and calculating Profit and Loss of every RPA
Implementation. If L3 process map is defined in detail then the same reduces chances of failure as well as
correct development effort can be identified. During financial modelling every aspect of process
execution needs to be taken care which can help in correct effort calculation and financial modelling.
There can be pre-execution stage when data preparation activity is required and post execution activity
like re-conciliation.
Before every Implementation, detailed cost benefit analysis and financial modelling needs to be done
which can help in bringing figures (savings) however if an organisation is implementing RPA for the first
time these figures might not be the actual achieved figures after Implementation.

If organisations keep on implementing RPA financial modelling actual benefits can be achieved.
However, for this pre implementation needs to be done wisely. While designing solution, mention
detailed L3 map that will help in identification of risk and RPN –Risk Priority Number.

Summary-

Unlike other automation, RPA is quite simple and structured. If it is planned with correct approach huge
savings can be achieved. Looking at the current transformation which the industry is experiencing RPA
can soon replace human tasks which are standard and rule based in most of the clerical processes.
Next level of RPA will be Smart Process Automation (SPA) which will be artificial intelligence enabled
and that can even replace human intelligence.

Keep Reading!!!

While navigating to my Quora time-line I found several questions around RPA basics.
I thought to respond to those questions. Since the list is long I have planned to cover questions-
related to the lifecycle of a bot and organizational structure.

Questions around the same topic were-

1-Recommended process for RPA development

2-Which is industries best RPA tool
3-What is the growth structure/different job designation in an RPA work model.

Q Best recommended process for RPA development

Answer-
So like software development model in RPA life cycle is similar with some minor differences of
work, stages in cycle are-
1-Analysis

Life cycle in RPA begins with analysis phase. Business team and RPA strategist/Architect work
together to identify a business process for RPA development. Most of the development follows an
agile methodology that to is customized (some modifications) agile.

The core intent of this analysis is to identify processes which are feasable for automation, as
awell as can save manual effort and bring RoI.

Once after finalizing the process, planning of work that includes resources and time identification
is being formulated with the help of an RPA lead.

A formal approach is being documented and after approval from all stakeholders development is
started.

2-Bot Development

RPA developer(Team) starts working on requirement in their environment possibly a separate dev
environment.

Most of the development is wizard driven, with limited or no coding/scripting effort required.
However there are cases where RPA tools have limitation and coding needs to be done.

3-Testing

There are two approaches on which testing is being carried out-

1- Separate testing team

2- Testing done by RPA dev team only

Some of the organisation believe that Unlike SDLC-software development life cycle in RPA
testing is not that extremely critical part in most of the organization, therefore, script correctness
is verified by the development team usually, with a peer review and once it is done same is ready
for deployment.
While other few have a dedicated testing team which perform a dedicated QA like normal SDLC
flow.

We recommend to have a dedicated testing team which perform QA of developed bot.

4-Deployment and Maintenance-

After the Dev and testing closure, a bot is ready for deployment and enters maintenance phase.

Whenever a change comes in a process script/bot is updated or in a case, any issue is being
caught in a bot same is being re-deployed by following the dev-test process again.

Q-Which is industries best RPA tool

Answer- Every now and then I used to find this question in the various forum, which tool is the
best to choose.
Or out of tool1 and tool2 which one is better. The tool which covers all your process automation
needs completely is the best pick for your RPA .
Please explore my old post for tool analysis.

Q-What is the growth structure/different job designation in an RPA work model.

Answer-This is one question everyone wants to know who is aspiring to enter in RPA.
What is the structure and various roles in RPA work model? Find below most standard titles with
their role-

1- RPA architect/strategist/Manager

This is mostly overlapped profile where a strategist, architect and manager roles usually that
covers
a- Analysis of RPA process with business
b- Designing of L3 process map, basis on which Risk is being Identified(RPN Number)
b- Architecture definition of RPA process/framework

2- RPA Lead

An RPA lead is responsible for formulating effort and timelines and also responsible for
individual assignment that includes(development of bot and framework), RPA Lead is also be
responsible for regular maintenance and planning of RPA process.

3- RPA Developer
RPA developer is responsible for the development, Maintenance activity of a bot and framework.

I hope this post has covered the queries which I thought to respond however above best practices
are not a must to do. Organizations adopt processes and team structure as per their requirement
and model with respect to their delivery and operations need.
RPA bots can replace multiple person efforts in significantly less time with minimal or relatively few
hardware/resources.

In this post we will understand the term Bots, Bot is a term derived from a robot. The robot was a term
which was coined by Karel Čapek.
A computer or process robot/bot in a simpler way can be defined as one who performs repetitive manual
task in significantly less time with more quality. Bot developed by RPA tool is known as RPA bot.

There are various reports/stats claiming that RPA will reach 3-4 Billion dollars in next 5 years. Also its
RoI even for a smaller clerical process is huge somewhat up to 300-400 percent in a short time. so we can
assume if RPA is implemented correctly then it can do huge saving.

As we have read in our earlier post regarding tool selection and process prioritization now we need to
understand what all RPA tools are there in the market for creating automated flow. So below given is the
list of tools which are widely used across the industry for robotic process automation.

Top RPA tools-:

1. Automation Anywhere
2. BlackLine
3. UI Path
4. Blue Prism
5. Datamatics
6. EdgeVerve
7. Openspan

The best part of above tools is that it does not require programming or coding skills. Process automation
can be done using the good understanding of process/business. RPA tools have flowchart designer where
one can use every action, condition, and assertion by simply dragging and dropping from its toolbar.

However, the creation of automated flow is pretty simple but to make a robustly automated flow every
aspect or each possible exception needs to be covered during the flow creation. For e.g. Before the
beginning of a flow, one should first check whether the internet is working or not if it is not working then
it should log exception then and there only.

Also once a process is automated and it’s being deployed to replace human efforts one needs to take care
of maintenance of that automated flow. A small change can fail the flow if proper maintenance is not
done therefore proper maintenance needs to be formulated while writing a detailed strategic plan for RPA
implementation.

Summarizing above the emergence of RPA has given IT/ITES companies an extra edge to put their
energy/strength on other critical projects.

In the upcoming post, we will start learning automation anywhere, keep reading.

What is RPA-Robotic process automation

 RPA
2
When talking Robotic Process Automation or RPA, as it is commonly known as, the first question that
comes on our mind is, as to what exactly this process is all about?, Well, it is as simple as the term used to
define it – Automation of process through robots.

RPA bot makes life easier by replacing repetitive tasks. It is capable of doing various human activities by
way of technology. IT and ITES services work on 3 pillars which are People, Process, and Technology
where a bot can work as a human as well as a technology enabler.Since an RPA bot can perform both of
them effectively, therefore, it has become an important part of the industry.

We can also define RPA as an up-and-coming form of clerical process automation. RPA is evolving and
industries are adopting it and implementing it at a fast pace. As per industry reports its current worth is
$400-500 M and it is expected to grow by $2-3 Billion in the next 5 years. Such growth will give boost to
new jobs as well efficiency of current work will increase.

Quick questions which come in one’s mind are-

Who will get maximum benefit from RPA– Industries which have huge back end process and the same
are being performed manually.

Will RPA finish/reduce job-No, It’s as simple as the case of whether a glass is half full or empty. It’s
about optimism. It will create more opportunity for new jobs.

How to implement it– The best way is to do the rich analysis of business process, divide the process
priority wise and start automating it from low to high. It will give confidence if you start with low and
then reach to automate complex/high severity process. I will be sharing more details in my next blog on
RPA approach

Processes which IT industries/companies can automate-

Any task which is manual and redundant in nature can be analyzed for its automation. like-

1-Processing of various files for data calculation.

2-Various system task during your office hours

3-Browser automation.

4-Desktop automation(various desktop backend application)

5-Database automation

Some of the common automation candidates across various organisations are –

1-Procure-to-pay
2-Quote to-cash
3-HR-administration
4-Claims processing
5-IT Processes
6-Report generation
7-Sales and invoice Processing
8-Customer relationship management
9-Inventory management
10-Data migration and entry

What all tools required to achieve– Of course automation tools are the vital part of this RPA process,
there are various tools in market like-UIPath, Automation Anywhere, BluePrism, Open Span etc. To
choose a tool for your process automation is also important task as a lot of analysis is required for that
like cost and benefit analysis for your implementation.

Stay tuned and keep reading my upcoming blogs on process automation on RPA tools selection, RPA
strategy, and other process automation.

Robotic process automation-Tool selection and

process prioritization
PA

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)–

Tool selection and process prioritization-

The success of RPA depends on a lot on its implementation approach, tool selection and business process
selection for automation. In this post, we will be discussing on-

1- Tool selection – Selecting best pick for your processes.

2- Business process selection – How to prioritize it

Find below matrix to understand tool selection approach.

1-Tool Selection-There are various tools available in the market for business process automation but to
select tool for our business need we need to think thoughtfully.

We have taken UIPath and other dummy tools in tools comparison and mentioned features(1,2,3) for
understanding purpose
The actual score is the product of feature value and Need priority e.g. feature 1 and Need Priority which is
3 in the first row which makes the score as 3(3*1). We have taken UIPath as a sample, please do not
assume it is the best pick for your automation need. It may or may not be the best, same can be decided
after using above analysis basis on feature and need priority calculation with actual tools.

Above matrix contains a lot of legends/value, please refer below for detailed definition-

A detailed PoC is recommended before finalizing best fit tool for your process automation need.

As per analysis and industry trends-

1- Ease of development/Deployment is best in Automation Anywhere and relatively high in Blueprism

2- Ease of Handover is best in Automation Anywhere and relatively high in Bueprism.

2-Business process selection-After successful tool selection for your process next we have to identify the
processes to be automated. Firstly it’s nice to have the complete list of all currently running processes in
your current operation, Then prioritize it as per below image. Now, here severity is how critical is the
process. Our aim should be to catch the low hanging fruits first with respect to severity.
Now once we have the severity of processes, then start planning the implementation roadmap with
starting from lowest to most critical process. Refer below image for linear implementation of process
automation.

Summarizing above, if we have a good tool for our process automation on and right prioritization of
processes then our half job done. Henceforth, we need a strategy covering the creation of bots and their
maintenance which we will be covering in next post. Keep reading.

The sequence of installation will be –

1- IIS
2- Framework Setup(AA)
3- Sql Express/SQL 2014
4- Control room setup
5- Client installation

After installation of above, there will be 3 icons available on your machine –

1- Automation Anywhere Enterprise Control Room -All automated scripts/task are uploaded in
control room, control room can schedule execution of the task in remote machine/bots.
2- AA Enterprise Client-A remote/local machine from where a developer or a runner can log in to create
and run the automated task.
3- Automation Anywhere Enterprise Control Room Migration Utility-For migration, from older
version into new AA setup

We mainly require Control room and client

Basic configuration after installation-

Step 1- Go to Control room

Step 2- Open User Management, create User
Step 3- User can have a category like a developer, runner etc. Create a Dev and Runner user.
Step 4- Save it
Step 5- Now your machine is ready, log in to the client(login using created user) and paste control room
url along with credentials. Create your first Bot using Automation Anywhere inbuilt 237+ commands.

Architectural overview of Automation anywhere-

Architecture of automation anywhere tool revolves around 2 components which are-

Control room and client. In the client, the task can be created (script) and same can be uploaded in control
room.

Automation anywhere-Tool Flow

These are the key items in control room-

1-User Management-User creation, rights access

2-Audit trail-Logs capturing, Helps in identifying actual number of bot required for task
3-Dashboard-Monitoring bots activities
4-Task scheduler-Scheduling bots execution
5-Setting-General setting in control room

Once after a TASK is automated, same is uploaded in control room, it can be executed in any of the client
machine or bot.

Ideally, it’s one control room per customer where the customer can monitor their process automation
status for different projects/processes.

Execution of a bot can be observed or monitored from control room dashboard.

The dashboard contains all logs of bot execution.

While creating bots using AA tool we will mainly require-

1-Logic to create bot
2-Loop
3-If/Else
4-Variable(Global and local)

There are around 237+ commands in Automation Anywhere tool. These commands are used to write bots.
A Developer used to call required command for writing a logical flow.

Automation Anywhere is an advanced script writing tool where code logic is pre written, a developer only
has to use controls wisely to achieve desired output. Other, automation tool like selenium, UFT where
there is code logic is required to write for emulating user behavior where as in AA no coding is
required.The strength of Automation Anywhere lies with in their controls, UI is clear and self-
explanatory.

Automation anywhere is industry’s leading tool, Creating a bot is relatively easier than its competitor as
well as its control room features and robust scripts make it more valuable. Soon, we will have SPA-Smart
process automation which will be artificial intelligence enabled, IQBot will carry similar feature for SPA .