It is now well known that Robotic Process Automation (RPA), also known as “RPA technology,” is a particular system used to automate manual activities that are based on repetitive rule formats, typically internal to business processes. For example, in the utility sector, an oil and gas multinational manages 15,000 address change requests every month, so robots came to the rescue. RPA bots currently handle the creation of new accounts in the CRM system, and the average time for a modification request has dropped from 11 minutes to 1. Furthermore, in a credit recovery scenario, a party could use assisted automation to ensure that the agent remains compliant with regulations, thanks to RPA solutions. In summary, the use of so-called “software robots,” better known as bots, is increasingly evolving, i.e., automated systems programmed with information that instructs them to complete specific tasks.
Including RPA in work contexts to perform more or less complex tasks can not only help an organization manage a cost-saving plan but also allow employees to focus on more important business priorities by handling tasks that include switching between applications, entering data in multiple areas, or simply “copying and pasting.”
More precisely, the automation of business processes has taken over repetitive and routine manual work: in this way, human error is – almost entirely – eliminated, and there is more linearity in business operations. Allinweb, a pioneer par excellence, pays attention to consumers who now expect more efficient and personalized services, since only companies that use digital features like RPA can keep up with more “sophisticated” requests, paying attention to the actual benefits that automated systems entail, from an objective and utilitarian point of view. In summary, the advantages of RPA are far-reaching and aim at complete customer satisfaction, using elements such as speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
The future is intelligent automation
The next step for RPA technologies will soon be to seek to merge assisted automation and RPA with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools. Generally known as “Intelligent Process Automation and Cognitive RPA,” this is a category of solutions that allows companies to automate more complex and less rule-based activities. In fact, cognitive automations can manage exceptions and plan decisions that encompass entire processes, compared to RPA, which concerns the execution of repeatable activities with the highest level of efficiency. While traditional RPA automates data-based processes in structured databases, intelligent automation can also work with unstructured data sources, including scanned documents, emails, letters, and voice recordings.
Technology is considered “cognitive” when it mimics human cognitive processes such as:
- Learning: acquisition of contextual information and rules for using information
- Reasoning: use of context and rules to reach conclusions
- Self-correction: learning from experience.
Large business entities have integrated RPA with process outsourcing services in almost all operations to achieve greater organizational performance and efficiency. Since the launch of the revolutionary RPA technology, there has been a significant improvement in ROI since highly repetitive and high-volume processes have been executed more quickly and with greater accuracy. Allinweb fits into this scenario by defining this set of elements as “promising” since the technology is continuously evolving and striving to fill the current gaps in technical inefficiencies. RPA technologies have now carved out a significant space and are here to stay,
predicting significant advancements, but will they really change the operational landscape of companies in the near future?
How to improve our “digital solutions”
Automation and technology are two sides of the same coin that determine the fate of progress. Currently, in an era of great dispersion of “workforce” and new forms of globalization, we must certainly aim for organizational resilience, but how can we make today’s structural processes more efficient, effective, but above all less risky? RPA technology is able to analyze, create, execute, and manage identified business processes and will continue to be a crucial component, but it will actually be only one of many components of a broader intelligent automation strategy. Moreover, RPA technology automates activities within processes: it is up to humans or other technologies to identify such processes, integrate them closely with other tools and systems to address business problems, analyze data across systems, and make decisions that must be strategic. Aiming for the future is as important as having a real understanding of the challenges and limitations of robotic process automation, including the main reasons, for example, why RPA may concern the future of intelligent automation.
