Download to read offline
Uploaded byArjen Sader
RPA: Solution, Tool or Hype?
The document discusses the evolving landscape of shared services and automation, particularly focusing on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and its perceived benefits and limitations. It emphasizes that while RPA can enhance speed, quality, and efficiency, it also presents challenges such as the need for effective change management, governance, and data security. The text advocates for an end-to-end approach to automation and a solid data strategy, recognizing that RPA and AI are tools rather than ultimate solutions, and highlights the importance of organizational readiness and collaboration in the transition to automated processes.
More Related Content
Similar to RPA: Solution, Tool or Hype?
RPA: Solution, Tool or Hype?
- 1. SSC Leaders breakfast RPA– Hype, Solution or Tool?
- 2. Introduction of participants Pleasegive a short introduction about yourself • Who are you? • What is your role? • What is your experience with SSC automation? • What would you like to achieve today?
- 3. 1995 2000 2005 2009 Saturation in themarkets Big SSC boost 2005-2007 First cross border SSC’s in near shore ERP in the lead 2011 GBS & scalability 1998BPO leads the way 2014 RPA & Automation What is next? 2020The roadmap so far • Shared Services has been on the radar for the last 20+ years • Growth has been booming, GBS is now considered as a top employment area in many developing countries • Clear moves from on to near to far shore and back • Strong scope increases resulting in many different areas of activities being seen as target for Shared Services • Strong move from labor arbitrage focus to quality, standardization & automation focus
- 4. Automation & RPAis all around us “Where ever we go we hear RPA as if it is incredible if you are not looking into it"
- 5. Short summary what RPAreally is “RPA is software that runs unattended, working like a virtual employee, sitting on top of legacy applications performing repetitive tasks" RPA – Rule based automation, performing over and over what you teach them (no self learning) Intelligent process automation – Automation that can understand unstructured data, human communication (e.g. voice or email) and draw certain conclusions Cognitive platforms / AI – Automation solutions that can learn from experience in the same way as humans do in order to perform complex tasks
- 6. But is RPAthe real golden bullet we are looking for? “But is RPA really the solution for our business processes or is it a hype that people infect you with?" HYPE? SOLUTION? TOOL?
- 7. Or are westill at the beginning of a journey? “RPA is here…. Although many SSC’s experiment, there is still a long road towards full adoption" How do I select the right supplier and what are the differences? Can I generate the benefits that people let me believe I can realize? How can we market RPA within our organization to get sufficient buy-in? Is RPA a solution or a tool that can help me in making my process optimized? Are the current RPA solutions already mature enough to provide the benefit I expect?
- 8. “A large number ofnew innovations are ready to change our SSC landscape as we know it" Security / privacy Big data Artificial intelligence Internet of Things Social Media Blockchain Also there is much more then just RPA
- 9. “Of course there aremany benefits a solid RPA program can deliver to grow and improve your business" RPA has its benefits which everybody tells you SPEED QUALITY PRODUCTIVITY EASY TO ADOPT COMPLIANCE EFFICIENCY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE LESS DEPENDENT OF RESOURCING MARKET LOWER COST
- 10. “There are several basicattention areas which people tell you to be aware of" And everybody has its learning as well 1 Resource availability 3 Documentations 2Benefit tracking 4Standardization 5 IT readiness
- 11. “Next to thebasic issues like process readiness and organization acceptance, there are many less obvious areas to consider" But consultants don’t always tell you everything (1-2) 1 The dept of IT involvement: Think here of architecture, infrastructure and security. Lack of involvement can lead to that RPA solutions and related data are not covered by your disaster recovery plan 2 Change management: Change management & stakeholder management is key to ensure the right expectation setting (RPA is not the golden egg) & will enable full integration and benefit realization of the new tooling 3 Controls & checks: It is crucial to design the right and sufficient controls and tracking mechanisms to ensure you are aware what is happening in a RPA environment where visibility on process gets less
- 12. “Next to thebasic issues like process readiness and organization acceptance, there are many less obvious areas to consider" But consultants don’t always tell you everything (2-2) 4 Governance: Many companies do not or create insufficient governance around RPA. Its critical to create specific Roles & Responsibilities / Skills for your Centre of Excellence; Interfaces between RPA and your business units needs to be designed 5 User access management: Robot user access management has to be established (and audited) similar like resource user access management 6 Legal constraints: Think here about areas like GDPR (also robots need to be compliant) and the thin line between stimulating innovation and protection of fundamental rights & values. Also consider here (to be designed) robo legislation 7 Process cherry picking: Focus on small pieces of the process instead of end to end
- 13. And process optimization needsto be balanced “For any successful automation, it is key to keep the right balance between automation & Business Process Management"
- 14. Also the changeis often under estimated Every Robot is a small mini change management project It involves a large group of different stakeholders from top management to operational staff Automation improvements are not only IT but a real combination of Process, HR and IT change involving several parts of an organization Geographic scope is potentially large and varies per automation initiative Building automation can potentially result in moving activities from one place to another to facilitate the end-to-end approach Experience shows that once you start, several stakeholders would like initiatives that are outside of the pre-determined scope “Some specific areas why managing the change is a key success factor while building automation"
- 15. And who hasthe right answer for the security question? Significant gaps are still existing in data security: • Strong growth in focus on data protection and security is expected due to: 1. Higher value data due to increased GBS process complexity and scope 2. GBS will become the custodian of data processes 3. Hacking will become custom, not an exception 4. More awareness about possible security risks • And perfect audit trails work re-active and no pro-active
- 16. Also the needand power of data is often under estimated “Big data will bring a revolution into corporate and Shared Services environments and is the driving force behind digital transformation" • Data is nothing new and is being gathered all our lives • What is new is that nowadays we store, share and manage our lives in data online • Digital footprints are left behind on every step we take and this only will grow • The expectation is that in the next 3 years our data storage will raise with a factor 10! • Shared service environments more and more become our data houses
- 17. And people forgetthat Big data is the center point of any automation “Big data will be the central point and critical success factor of our automation journey " BIG DATA IOT Machine learning RPA Artificial Intelligence Blockchain ERP optimization
- 18. People often under estimate& miss interpret data “A solid data strategy is the key starting point which should be fully integrated in corporate strategy" Key mistakes in approaching data : • Assuming you have a strong data strategy, which is unfortunately silo-ed • Data is not seen as a key strategic asset of leadership • It is not about the amount of data you collect, but about what you want to do with this data • Becoming overwhelmed by the (growing) amount of data and not being able to distinct need and nice to have • Not seeing that data will be the key competitive advantage in the future • Seeing data as an IT matter; data is about business long term goals and not about storage, ownership or data integrity
- 19. What steps totake to have a solid data strategy (1-2) “It does not matter which data you already HAVE, as it could very well NOT be what you NEED " 1 What are my data needs? Consider what you really need and do not be overwhelmed by the amount of data. Consider how you want to use it, which purpose and what value it will create 2 How do I collect my data? Review which internal and external data sources can provide the required data and explore the (new) collection methods 3 How do I move from data to insights? Explore and determine how to apply analytics to generate the required data
- 20. What steps totake to have a solid data strategy (1-2) “It does not matter which data you already HAVE, as it could very well NOT be what you NEED " 4 Do I need to invest in technology? Review which Software and Hardware you need to invest in to turn data into insights 5 Which competencies do I require? Determine which competencies you already have, which need / can be trained in-house and which external skills you need 6 What are legal obligations & restrictions? Ensure you embed topics like data ownership, data transferability, data privacy and data security in your strategy
- 21. End to endprocess management using several options “Robotics & Automation alone are not the key to success; process improvement should be looked at End-to-End with several options" Artificial Intelligence (AI) Blockchain Chatbot / Mailbot Process re-design Lean / Six sigma RPA Big data Social media integration
- 22. And how doI need to adopt automation? “Going through an automation program, there are several important steps to identify" Creation of End-to-End automation strategy Opportunity identification sessions Process readiness & adaptability scanning Opportunity validation & design model IT / System readiness investigation Development of automation plan Development of Change plan Pilot implementation Roll-out Automation plan Maintain / Manage (CoE) Automation adoption circle
- 23. And what dowe normally overlook or by-pass? “But many companies tend to forget a few steps in the cycle” Creation of End-to-End automation strategy Process readiness & adaptability scanning Development of automation plan Development of Change plan Roll-out Automation & Change plan Automation adoption circle Process automation is looked at in silo’s via a cherry picking methodology, leaving your processes un- optimized Opportunities are identified, however not sufficient focus on actual implementation readiness results in fall- out of opportunities Due to small implementations with less leadership focus and mainly looking at only one product (RPA) an end-to-end plan is often missing The change and adoption of automation is under estimated, causing lack in adoption, understanding and unrest Due to a lack of an end- to-end plan, automation opportunities are implemented very siloed without linkage to other initiatives 1 2 3 4 5
- 24. So is ourcurrent RPA a solution, tool or hype? RPA and AI is OVER-hyped and UNDER-explained The real solution can be found by end to end process focus Benefits are there, but not as big as people make you believe There is more then RPA & AI to improve our organization With a strong mixture of automation, resourcing and people In my view For me…. RPA & AI are nice tools in a much bigger landscape that can help you, but it is far from being the golden solution Implementation of AI & RPA is often much more complex
- 25. Question 1 RPA isthe biggest hype in SSC land nowadays? True or False?
- 26. Question 2 Can RPAbe a stand-alone Business Process Management tool or does it need to be integrated?
- 27. Question 3 RPA andthe resource question – How can you engage your workforce?
- 28. Open discussion Experience sharingof other automation tools in end to end process improvement
- 29. Wrap-up What will beour next topic?
- 30.
- 31. Thank you foryour attendance