Robotic process automation explained

1. ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION Software robots are on the rise, and they have successfully been orchestrated into the business community and they are contributing their quarter to the success of quite a lot of businesses all over the world. One of the most popular software robot that is currently being used to improve a lot of businesses all over the world is the Robotic Process Automation. Robotic Process Automation is a software-based technology utilizing software robots to emulate human execution of a business process. This means that it performs the tasks on a computer, uses the same interface a human worker would, clicks, types, opens applications, and uses keyboard shortcuts and lots more. RPA is versatile and flexible software that is capable of being used by any form of businesses, no matter its size and structure. Established businesses with a lot of clients can use it without forgetting a small start-up firm that is just trying to get its footing in the business world. The software mimics and integrates human actions within digital systems to optimize business processes. It also captures data, runs applications, triggers responses and communicates with other systems to perform a variety of tasks. RPA is predominately used to automate business process and tasks resulting in reductions in spending and giving businesses a competitive edge. The two common types of RPAs available in the market are: 1)Programmable bots - A programmable robot is defined by programmers before the bot can get to work. Ultimately, this involves mapping out a process step-by-step which can be very time consuming for more complex tasks. 2)Intelligent bots - Bots with artificial intelligence can analyze data, bot current and dig deep in the historical antecedent of the data. It can learn how employees perform a process, through following the clicks, the movement of the mouse, actions and other commands. After a while, the bot will have enough material to go on, so it will analyze the data and complete the process itself. Intelligent and self-learning bots are better suited to perform processes involving unstructured data and processes that involve fluctuating parameters. With so much enthusiasm and razzmatazz on RPA, quite a number of people are skeptical about how it works, because information about the processes are not readily available in the open, so this article will try to analyze how the system really works. How does RPA work? RPA has been in the market for quite a time now. It is not like the new product that has not tested the test of time. It has been around for like 10 years, but recently, the technology has reached an impressive level of sophistication while retaining ease-of-use. It is no longer a tool that is easily used to facilitate the automation of simple and repetitive IT tasks. The technology is maturing and with the convergence of other technologies – such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML), we are beginning to explore new possibilities.

2. Although the potential of the new technology is enormous and huge, but just like all other technologies, people might not understand it very much and it might not reach its full potential at the initial stage. One of the benefits of the RPA is that, while other technologies can’t prevent something, RPA has the required technology to decide if a process should take place or not. It can also analyze data presented to it and make a decision based on the logic parameters set in place by the developer. In comparison to the other forms of automation, it does not require system integration or other integration processes. The technology is broad, wide and has quite a lot of products which actually differs greatly from one another. But most of the products will comprise of RPA developer tool, a controller and a reboot itself. One of the questions virtually on the lips of everybody is how the technology can integrate into different forms of businesses available in the market. RPA can easily fit into businesses because it is flexible and very easy to implement. Due to its friendly and easy to use process, it makes it quite understandable to most business owners and makes their business unique and peculiar, especially when comparing it with others that use a different form of technology. Whilst it is great at driving operational excellence, some processes are more viable for automation than the others. It is always a good practice to rollout the RPA slowly to mitigate teething issues that often comes with technology implementation. The most viable candidates for automation are those that tend to process in a way that is simple, repetitive and very easy to define. Technology is the new other of the day, any serious business owner that is really interested in taking his/her business to the next level must embrace new technologies that would favor their businesses and RPA(Robotic Process Automation) is the future and it’s ready to be exploited.