Robotic Process Management – when BPM gives that extra edge to RPA

Robotic Process Automation is poised to be the biggest change lever for mid- and back-office operations in service organizations. It adds the most value to organizations which have manual, high-volume, repetitive, rule-based processes involving structured and unstructured data, like transactions processing. With bots coming in, organizations will soon witness a significant surge in the productivity level of business users.

Debunking misconceptions associated with RPA

Despite renowned organizations joining the automation bandwagon, we are still replete with misconceptions around RPA. This is why it is necessary to look before you leap and debunk prevailing misconceptions associated with RPA, which eventually become a major setback for business leaders:

RPA is for Direct Cost Reduction

While evaluating the ROI of RPA implementation, users often measure the direct cost reduction. Implementation of RPA certainly increases throughputs and enhances service delivery with consistent outcomes and zero variance. But direct cost reduction is a mere by-product of RPA. The real value lies in the introduction of new products and services level with committed quality outcomes, hence increasing the overall top-line. In truth, since the processing speed proliferates, RPA opens a new level of competitive servicing for organizations.

RPA is a flawed approach to identifying RPA discovery

Some business users are under the impression that RPA is a flawed approach to identifying RPA discovery process. Hence, they implement RPA either in low-volume tasks or in non-intrusive integrations between two applications.

RPA is meant for specific industries

Business users entertain the notion that RPA is beneficial for some specific industries, most likely IT. Contrary to this, there’s a wide range of beneficiaries, belonging to different verticals, including banking and financial, insurance, F&A operations, and BPS/BPO, to name a few. Interestingly, most of these organizations are operational from shared or back offices. So building a business case for RPA becomes the easiest. In truth, regardless of the fact whether a process is housed under an IT umbrella or not, RPA is a perfect fit for all domains.

RPA is meant to automate all process in an organization

As mentioned in the beginning, RPA can be effectively implemented in almost any repetitive, rule-based, mundane task. But it is not meant to fix broken processes or silos. In case of disjointed or mismanaged processes, Business Process Management (BPM) tools may come to your rescue. BPM breaks down silos and enables different functions and systems to collaborate and function in a smooth manner. The bottom line is – processes must be streamlined for you to automate human activities and reap benefits to the fullest.

Robotic Process Management (RPM) – BPM as the backbone

To accomplish the right outcomes and derive maximum value from RPA, it is for you to leverage the right platform. An effective BPM implementation works in conjunction with a robust BPM platform. So, it is for you to understand that RPA, in essence, is a process exercise. It holds prominent value for organizations, and they must consider RPA as a part of a solution, not an end in itself.

BPM-enabled RPA enables businesses to drive continuous process improvement and catalyze their digital journey. Organisations gain complete visibility across processes, including human activities, bot statistics, exceptions, queue monitoring, process and queue level alerts, etc. For instance, the automation industry has made the most of robotic automation. But experts unleashed real value only when the whole supply chain was closely knitted. The supply chain included stakeholders, core systems, robotics, and humans, and not just shop floor conveyor belts. The idea is, hence, to leverage BPM as the backbone, evolve into Robotic Process Management (RPM), and make the most of automation.

Virender Jeet is Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing/Products, Newgen Software.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)