Digital transformation is a concept that’s constantly shifting shape. As new technologies are trialled, lessons are learned and businesses adapt their thinking, priorities are evolving.

After research revealed that more than 50% of digital transformation efforts stalled during 2018, Forrester predicted that 2019 will be “a year in which transformation will go pragmatic”.[1]

This involves a move, in many industries, towards digital investments that can deliver tangible business value.

One technology approach that fits into the “pragmatic” category is Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – provided it’s deployed to run the right types of tasks, as part of a sound business optimisation strategy. When used in tandem with other process re-engineering efforts, RPA can yield significant benefits.

Watch a RPA software bot in action

As a real-world example of what RPA can achieve, this video showcases a human worker and then an RPA software bot completing the same task. The demo exhibits a simple and straightforward example that showcases how UiPath RPA tools can deliver a rapid return on your investment. The demo focuses on a highly-definable process – a customer address detail change that uses Microsoft Outlook and a client’s customer portal – the 30-minute video demonstrates the benefits of delegating rote, manual tasks to a bot.

This video will take you through:

• An overview of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
• A LIVE RPA demonstration of a typical business process – witness the pace of ‘Bot’ vs. Human
• What your business can expect to gain in productivity and ROI by implementing an RPA software solution
• Tips and advice for how to begin with a Process First approach to RPA in your organisation

Watch Video

What does the introduction of RPA mean for your employees?

RPA tools can manage certain tasks with greater speed and accuracy than any human. This creates a sound business case for reducing labour costs. And once the RPA solution has been tested and deployed, it can be scaled up or down to create an agile digital labour pool. This could be ideal for companies that have to accommodate seasonal spikes in demand, for example.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the humans who were responsible for these routine tasks should lose their jobs. Rather, RPA solutions can be harnessed to free human employees from time-consuming work that’s easily automated. This allows skilled people to focus on being more productive in other areas of their roles. With bots handling the easily definable, rule-based processes at high volume, humans can focus on the tasks that require professional judgement, strategic thought, creative approaches or warmth and interpersonal skills. A bot could, for example, route exception handling to a human worker to manage.

Reduce Cost, Accelerate Productivity & Gain Maximum Value

When you think about it this way, you may well see the value in deploying RPA as part of a broader business optimisation strategy. With this approach, you can reduce error-prone and costly manual work, accelerate productivity and gain maximum value from both your RPA technology investment and your human capital.

What does this mean for your business?

When they’re applied strategically, bots can add immediate value – from speeding up processes and shrinking costs, to reducing risk and ensuring compliance with strict data regulations.

Achieving these types of benefits really does not need to be a time-consuming or costly exercise. At Velocity IT, we believe in starting small to deliver rapid ROI. From there, these solutions can be scaled as required.

Your bots can be configured to use your existing business tools. We can help you to introduce RPA solutions with minimal disruption to your existing processes or underlying systems. This way, you’re focusing your budget and time on digital investments that translate into clear efficiency and productivity gains.

[1] https://go.forrester.com/blogs/predictions-2019-transformation-goes-pragmatic/