Point of View

Why robotic process automation requires more than cash and blind optimism

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A revolution is afoot that is fundamentally changing the dynamics of the workforce today. A recent Wall Street Journal article headline reads: “In Shift, PIMCO [Pacific Investment Management Company] to Lean Less on Humans, More on Robots.” That being said, promises around robotic process automation (RPA) are free flowing and mostly unrealistic. It has even been suggested that RPA will produce a return on investment of between 30 percent and 200 percent in the first year.

There is no doubt that by automating mundane, predictable tasks, RPA can make employees 15 percent or perhaps even 30 percent more productive. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into cost savings and head count reduction if, as is often the case, critical activities need to be carried out by specific individuals.

Without organizational change management and workforce redesign, making your employees 30 percent more productive will simply translate into having the same number of people spend fewer hours carrying out the work required of them. Real cost savings are made possible by RPA, but they don’t happen overnight or without broader change management; in addition, successful RPA transformations typically lead to incremental reductions over time. Of course, many other benefits can be reaped through RPA — including greater compliance, faster cycle times and increased time for higher-value tasks and innovation.

Spending big on RPA

New research on 2,000 global firms finds that RPA is the top investment focus, with 53 percent seeing it as a significant priority and 28 percent considering some limited investment in it. In fact, commitment to RPA far outstrips any other investment plans, with 44 percent looking to invest significantly in cloud, 42 percent in the internet of things and 37 percent in analytics.

But investment is also needed — of time as much as of money — in overcoming the hurdles to RPA success.

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1. Discover the process inefficiencies in your hidden transaction data, and identify the processes that make sense to automate.

Your organization will have multiple processes across different functions, as well as those from various mergers. You need to ask yourself, “Where will I gain the most advantages from automation, and where do my biggest inefficiencies lie?”

So you’ll need to invest time and resources in understanding your processes: determining those ripe for automation and those that should not be touched. The real value of RPA is derived from uncovering your dark or hidden data. To do that, you not only need to know where that data is hidden — to recognize which processes are inefficient — but also what the right process is in a given context. One financial institution realized that identifying the process through the steps that people followed was becoming a stumbling block. Process inefficiencies cost most companies an estimated 10 percent of their profits. Most companies don’t see more than 90 percent of the data they have because of where and how it is stored — but that data can be invaluable in making real-time decisions and gaining a competitive advantage.

You need to undertake the following five steps to achieve RPA nirvana:

Figure 1. Five steps to RPA nirvana.

RPA NIRVANA

Discover the process inefficiencies in your hidden transaction data

Identify the right tools for the job

Write (and maintain) the automation scripts

Scale the operations

Stay secure and compliant

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4 3

5

STEP

STEP STEP

STEP STEP

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2. Identify the right tools for the job.

Once you have identified which processes to automate, you’ll need to select an automation tool. There are at least a dozen automation tools and vendors to choose from, including Blue Prism, UiPath, Automation Anywhere, WorkFusion, AntWorks, etc. The decision about which tool to select will vary depending on your objectives. Involving IT at this stage might help to avert pushback later. It may also be worthwhile to implement a pilot project to understand the capabilities and limitations of a tool.

3. Write (and maintain) the automation scripts.

Translating technology into scripts, or instructions, to direct the robot or automation tool on what to capture and interpret is complex. You will need someone who offers the right set of skills, has experience working with the tool and meets your IT function’s authorization criteria.

4. Scale the operations.

Most organizations start with a bang — by piloting a process or two (typically within the Procure to Pay space in back-office financial functions). However, as new processes are identified as automation candidates, most organizations struggle to meet the increased demands. The typical “desktop” automation tends to fail this ability to scale. Additionally, automation scripts fail for a variety of reasons, including changes and upgrades to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, process changes, access control and versioning-related issues. And it’s important to factor in ongoing maintenance of these bots for the long term. Scaling the infrastructure and technology also needs to be factored in. Some of the more innovative companies today offer cloud-based robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) options. It is also worthwhile looking into a usage-based, “pay-as-you-go” model instead of committing to a fixed number of annual licenses.

5. Stay secure and compliant.

One of the top priorities your IT function will have with RPA is addressing security concerns and making sure that the bots you select either have security built in or can be secured for your environment. Before you can go any further, IT will insist that you work with the audit or risk/compliance team to mitigate potential problems, such as what will happen if a process breaks. You will need to know that your processes are auditable and that your infrastructure is able to support your RPA needs. A global manufacturing company had to restart its RPA journey because the audit and risk/compliance team didn’t approve of the approach.

Time for change

These five steps need to go hand in hand with broader workforce alignment and organizational change management. That means changing operating models, governance processes and workforce practices when deploying a hybrid workforce, to enable you to scale automation across the business.

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Process improvement requires time and consideration to ensure that you are addressing the right processes in the right context. For example, companies that have gone through several M&As will inevitably inherit different process methodologies and won’t necessarily know which is the most suitable. Process optimization and harmonization are imperative, because no matter how much you invest in RPA, if you apply artificial intelligence to bad processes, you will get faster, more efficient, bad processes.

You will also need to work with human resources to translate automation into individual productivity and to advance the organization’s goals. Automated processes need to be aligned with employer and customer engagement and with user experience.

Show me the money

Successful RPA requires a well-considered strategy and a realization that the real benefits lie in having the tools to advance the organization’s vision and enhancing innovation to remain at the cutting edge.

While the organization’s CIO might consider RPA the panacea for cost problems and the CEO hopes that RPA will infuse the company with greater innovation, some gains are harder to quantify. These include gains such as access to hidden data and greater insights, more effective processes and a more engaged workforce. For example, a large retailer with several thousand people in its back office struggled to get cost savings from RPA, but it was successful in increasing compliance for certain tax-related processes.

The time to act is now

Progressive organizations are the ones that adopt changes to their operating model and successfully navigate and govern a hybrid, human/digital workforce. They will plan for workforce transformation as an integral part of adopting RPA. And they will be the first to realize its benefits.

Learn more at www.dxc.technology/BPS

About DXC Technology

DXC Technology (DXC: NYSE) is the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, serving nearly 6,000 private and public-sector clients from a diverse array of industries across 70 countries. The company’s technology independence, global talent and extensive partner network deliver transformative digital offerings and solutions that help clients harness the power of innovation to thrive on change. DXC Technology is recognized among the best corporate citizens globally. For more information, visit dxc.technology.

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