To achieve significant growth in their RPA operations, organizations must have a clear and ambitious vision for their digital workforce and actively work towards it.
By surveying over four hundred executives in charge of transactional operations, such as global business services, shared services, finance, procurement, HR, marketing, and operations, it was determined that their top strategic priorities include utilizing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to address these priorities :
Focus on continuous improvement (35 percent)
Increase level of automation (24 percent)
Develop analytics capabilities (17 percent)
It is not unexpected that organizations continue to invest in RPA due to its significant impact on key priorities. However, many organizations have yet to fully take advantage of the technology. In comparison to the previous year, there has been a slight rise in the number of companies exploring RPA or developing a proof of concept, but only a small percentage of advanced leaders have achieved a significant implementation with over 50 robots in operation.
Although some companies have started to implement RPA on a larger scale, the technology is still in its early stages and many organizations have yet to fully understand and take advantage of its potential benefits.
To fully realize the benefits of RPA, a change in mindset and approach is necessary, moving from experimentation to transformation. This requires strategic decision-making to establish a strong foundation for a "premium" digital workforce to gain a competitive edge. As the automation market is still developing, large organizations may take longer to adopt RPA at a large scale.
Think broad
In 2016, a limited number of respondents, at just 15%, stated that their RPA program was included in a broader corporate initiative. However, by 2017, that number had significantly increased to 64%. This demonstrates that as organizations begin their RPA journey, they are now more likely to view it as an enterprise-wide or strategic initiative.
It is important to note that not all RPA implementations begin with an enterprise-wide scope. It is recommended to "think big, start small" by starting with a specific functional area where there is stakeholder support and a clear opportunity, such as in finance or human resources, or in a shared service or global business services organization. Once the program has been proven successful in these areas, it can be expanded to showcase the broader opportunity across the entire enterprise.
Think big
On average, respondents who had implemented RPA estimated that 20% of capacity in their operation could be delivered by robots, which aligns with the expectations of organizations at the proof of concept or pilot stages. However, among organizations that are scaling robotics, the average target is as high as 52% of capacity. These organizations believe that their digital workforce will exceed their human workforce in terms of delivery capacity for administrative and repetitive tasks. While cost reduction is a common goal of RPA implementation, the survey found that other benefits such as improved productivity, compliance, quality/accuracy, and 24/7 availability also exceeded expectations and ranked higher than cost reduction. In fact, 86% of respondents indicated that their expectations of productivity improvement from RPA were met or exceeded, while 61% said the same for cost reduction.
Think high
Out of the respondents surveyed, 72% reported that the C-suite and functional leadership were the most supportive stakeholder groups, while only 31% viewed IT as being supportive or highly supportive. It was also noted that there has been an increase in C-suite awareness and support for RPA since the last survey. Organizations can take advantage of this trend to overcome organizational obstacles and speed up scaling, which can be particularly beneficial in situations where there is resistance from other areas of the business.
There must be a focus on the process
The top challenges for those who had implemented and scaled RPA include, in order:
In simple terms, the complexity of a process directly impacts the complexity of the robot needed to automate it. This can lead to increased design and implementation costs, higher operating expenses, and disruptions to business operations. Robots must be programmed with precise instructions, and it can be difficult to fully understand processes, even when documentation is available. Additionally, processes may vary significantly between different locations or departments. To ensure successful implementation, teams must work closely with the business to understand the details of processes and address any issues. It is also important to involve global process owners as stakeholders, as they are often supportive of RPA. A strategic decision to make with them is whether to automate current processes with minimal changes or to consider significant process changes as part of the automation.
Implementing RPA requires responsive and secure technology support
To successfully implement RPA, it is crucial to have responsive and secure technical support. Additionally, gaining buy-in from the IT organization and effectively integrating the RPA solution are key challenges that must be addressed. To address these challenges, it is essential to involve the IT organization from the beginning and integrate them into the governance process. Regular communication and collaboration with executive sponsors are also important. If the IT team is facing difficulties, seeking support from the CIO and assembling a team of agile and tech-savvy individuals can aid in the successful implementation of RPA and navigate the wider IT organization.
Robotics requires a transformation program
Organizations that have successfully scaled their RPA implementation are moving beyond experimentation and focusing on transformation. They have recognized the potential impact of RPA and are adopting strategies for large-scale change. Investment in RPA is significant and increasing, with a typical range of $2m to $4m for those with strategic or enterprise-wide initiatives. Of those that have already implemented RPA, 78% plan to increase or significantly increase investment in RPA in the next three years. Additionally, 63% of organizations will work with a dedicated third-party partner to provide scarce skills and expertise, ranging from turn-key solutions to building internal RPA-delivery capability.
Achieve high-velocity change with RPA
As robotics technology continues to advance, various support models are being developed. The most prevalent among these is the hybrid model, which combines local responsibilities specific to the operation with centralized functions that provide coordination on a larger scale and specialized tasks (38 percent). This approach maintains local ownership and flexibility while also allowing for economies of scale and enterprise-wide coordination in areas where it is beneficial. In our experience, centralized support is typically provided for tasks such as managing relationships with RPA vendors, disaster recovery, and third-line support.
RPA is a crucial step toward digital transformation for organizations, but it is only the beginning. As companies continue to adopt RPA, they tend to become more ambitious with the use of cognitive technologies. 28% of those who have implemented and scaled RPA are also implementing cognitive automation, while only 6% of those who have not implemented RPA are using cognitive automation. RPA can not only increase interest in other digital technologies but also provide the agility needed to continue on the digital automation journey.
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