Before We Start…
RPA is deployed atop of existing IT process and infrastructure. It does not change any of the underlying IT systems or frameworks. But RPA does run through those systems at a different pace than may have been envisioned. And it is for this reason that an RPA project is a collaboration between the owners of the business processes and the owners of the IT systems. There is no benefit to moving fast if things break along the way.
To get you to RPA, we proceed with the following framework:
Current Processes
The first step is to discuss how you are doing things right now. Beyond the documented workflows, the hunt is on to understand the actual execution flow, in order to:
-Discover process flow choke points within your organization’s workflows
-Identify activities, tasks and sub-tasks where RPA can be applied to have significant impact
Business Case
Does it make sense to invest in RPA for the candidate processes that have been identified?
There may be gains to be made, but ultimately there is a cost/benefit analysis that needs to be done for your specific organization, in order to:
-Identify financial impacts
-Identify both process, inter-process and system level impacts
Define RPA flow
If the candidate process can realize enough benefits, then we proceed to:
-Define and map the new workflows with work to be done by RPA
-Design the RPA architecture
Development
Once the new workflows have been architected, development takes place on the RPA platform, in order to:
-Develop the RPA software robots in a manner that permits robots to be multi-skilled across various work; and to have skills that are re-useable by different processes
-Build the RPA process itself
Testing
In order to put newly developed software robots to work, testing takes place at multiple levels and includes:
-Unit testing
-Scenario and systems testing
-Ramp-up testing
Deployment
Once the RPA is ready to be released, we proceed as follows:
-Demonstrate the new system to business process owners and IT system owners
-Train operators to manage the robotic processes
-Put the RPA system into production mode
Monitoring
In all systems, there is a difference between operating for short stints, and continuous operations. Once the RPA is deployed in production, monitoring occurs to:
-Assess effectiveness
-Make improvements and optimizations