The 4th industrial revolution and RPA
We are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution, and this type of technology will continue to help redefine the way we think about how we work.
Software Robots (RPA) are used globally and have added value in every part of our business and across all teams. They take the pressure off our teams while reducing costs, helping us to improve communication both with clients and internally. Front and Back office Operations and IT are becoming ever more intertwined and will become the new normal very quickly.
With the development of software robots & AI, continually reviewing our business’s ability to deliver and how we go about this is paramount. It is essential to know what is out there to help improve and take advantage.
Businesses must continually strive to improve or be left behind, and the technology we use plays a significant role in this. Maintaining slick and efficient back-office operations with world-class customer service delivered efficiently is the magic combination we all strive to achieve and maintain.
There is the reason process automation is taking the world by storm: it increases our ability to combine IT and business operations that have inherently been managed by people. When robotics automation/software automation is implemented correctly with planning, in the right place, your businesses will deliver more at a lower cost.
The benefits of RPA
Strategically reducing human touchpoints where possible through RPA has benefits (lower cost to deliver, more governance, capacity, standardisation, and resilience (particularly relevant for what were challenged with now during COVID-19)). As with any new way of working, it is essential to take the time to do it properly. Develop an internal capability to plan on a short, medium, long term basis. Developing the ability internally to support your robotic processes is paramount. Who, how, and what do you use to do this properly?
Businesses must also keep abreast of new robotic functionality as their capability is increasing exponentially. Reading, writing, calculating, talking are all considered normal now, imagine what will be next! With this growing capability comes an abundance of use cases that will help us more and continue to redefine the way we run our teams and businesses.
It is essential to have the internal capacity.
Without this, it is not possible (or extremely expensive) to fully realise the benefits. Make sure you maximise this new way of working, with an internal Robotic Process Automation Centre of Excellence using the Nine Pillars.
Why do you need an RPA Centre of Excellence (RPA COE)?
Taking a short-term view of automation and then wondering why this new superpower is not delivering is not uncommon. We have all seen the bots work, it is breath-taking, but you may be asking: “why am I not seeing the benefit of RPA in my business?”
In as soon as three to five years, the way we run our business will be a mixture of Intelligent Automation, people, and associated IT. Not accepting that things are changing and making the necessary changes in understanding & developing some internal capability is a mistake. Internal capacity does not mean to employ a developer, it is to explore how this new tech can add value to your business from a strategic perspective.
It would be best if you had a mechanism internally to maximise this new way of working. Ensuring your people & technology are both doing what they are best at and what is best for the business. This can be done through an RPA COE.
An RPA COE allows you to:
- Strategically allocate the right work to the right places.
- Free people to be creative and add value in different ways they did not have time to do before.
- find new ways to communicate and add value.
- Drive down cost to deliver.
- Increase resilience.
- Produce more automation.
- Remove automation errors.
- Create the capacity to scale when required at a moment’s notice.
Use robots for what they are built for: running our business’s admin and operations. A Robotic Process Automation Centre of Excellence using the Nine Pillars will provide the foundation to deliver this and allow you to plan for the short-medium and long term.
The way we work has already changed and its better.
Embrace the challenge and make sure your business is fit strong lean and capable of competing in this new world.
