APRIL 2021CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM9management and internal sales in driving RPA. People have more trust in another person who can listen to their problems and then offer them solutions to their pain points.3. Streamline alongside automationTimewise, the largest share of any RPA case, is most commonly used in finding, evaluating and describing it. All this happens before it even reaches the developer. So it's logical that companies that already have their processed streamlined would have it more manageable. If process descriptions exist and they're up to date, it's faster to go for RPA development. But the real question is: should we first streamline the process and then automate, or the other way around? Naturally, the first makes much more sense. But especially with end-to-end operations, it could take a lot of time to agree on the new, ideal process before the actual automation can begin. Sometimes it's just easier to automate small first. The most successful companies seem to have joined lean and automation together to ensure both tools are used for process re-engineering.4. Combine RPA with other technologiesRPA alone cannot lead the digital transformation. It's the combination of different tools, fit for purpose, that can ensure a high degree of automation. One tool might recognize text from images, another might be able to understand the language and make decisions based on it, and finally, RPA could be the tool to save the data. All this works around data, so combining your data, AI and RPA people might not be a bad idea. Also, you will need some people to investigate new technologies, such as blockchain and IoT, to verify how they would fit into your automation portfolio.5. Hard work instead of silver bulletsWho wouldn't want to find that silver bullet which would convince everyone that RPA is the next best thing since the Internet? I hate to disappoint you, but I think it does not exist. Despite RPA being able to provide plenty of benefits, such as saved working hours, increased invoicing and costs avoided, it is as any other new technology: they take time, patience and a lot of hard work. Transformation is a marathon instead of the 100-meter race. Also, no one outside your organization can tell you where the best use cases can be found. You must do the digging, since only you know where the pain points lay.What does the future hold?My prediction in a nutshell: the future belongs to citizen developers. As with BI and analytics before, RPA as will be first centralized to gain control and then decentralized to democratize it. The challenge of any new technology is to join it with business understanding. The only way to do this is by giving the tools to those who know it best. Those who have gained more significant benefits have approached RPA from a strategic point of view, positioning it as a means of transformation
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