Robotic process automation has been getting a lot of sensationalised media coverage lately with threats of mass unemployment making the headlines several times. The thing is, whilst it’s exciting to think of shiny robots joining you at the water cooler, that’s not what RPA is about! It’s quite boring actually, compared to the flashy computer-generated images of robots you see floating around today (of which we are guilty too).

So, what is RPA and how could a bot be better than me?

All RPA is, at the end of the day, is another piece of coding that makes steps in a workflow happen automatically. What makes RPA different – and better – than other process automation tools is that you can literally ‘teach’ the bot what it needs to do as if it were a human doing it, only much faster and with zero chance of mistyping or accidentally sending an email to the wrong person like a human might do on a Friday afternoon at 16:30. And on the topic of time – the bot can ‘work’ 24/7 regardless. So, it’s no surprise that there is an increasing business interest in this technology. The next level up from RPA is the emerging tech we know as Artificial Intelligence (AI), or Machine Learning (ML). This is where, not only do you ‘teach’ the bot to perform tasks, but the bot also ‘learns’ as it goes.

Why should I care about the process if the bot is going to be doing it for me?

The underlying issue with adding robotics or even artificial intelligence to a business process is that, if your process is badly designed or inefficient, then no number of bots is going to make much difference. What you want is a smart process, such that when you do add bots, you’re sticking them in the right places and making them perform tasks that add significant value to the outcomes. That’s why it’s so critical to take a process-first approach.

UiPath Enterprise RPA Platform

Velocity IT is a certified UiPath Partner, through our expertise we can help to build a business case for RPA technology; and understand where this automation approach could add value to your organisation on your journey to digital transformation.

UiPath is the most widely used Robotic Process Automation platform in the world and is renowned for product leadership and technical excellence. UiPath boast the largest development team in the industry, which enables continuous innovation to accelerate value from robotic process automation.