According to KPMG, Intelligent automation represents the overall umbrella of technologies that enable the transformation and automation of business processes by leveraging any combination of software robotics, cloud, artificial intelligence and smart machines. A basic component of (IA) is robotic process automation or RPA.
Any RPA discussion will invariably lead to discussion around robots or bots – software that perform what would have been done by humans. This ability of RPA to partially or fully eliminate many work roles in an organization has become one of the thorny issues that follow any RPA discussion.
KPMG cautioned that in addition to managing the disruption this will cause, organizations must determine how to address the future of their workforces: will you retrain, reskill, or retire employees affected? And if you choose to retrain or reskill, in what exactly?
But the success or failure of an RPA goes far beyond the human aspects of the technology.
Vinayak Mohan, associate director, Cognitive Automation and AI at KPMG China spoke to FutureCIO to talk about how to mitigate the risks of failed RPA projects, and conversely how to increase the success rate of the technology exercise.
Separating hype from the reality
Google ‘robotic process automation’ and you get 40 million results. Everyone has an opinion about it. As human nature tends to prioritise the negative aspects of any information, the most commonly associated idea behind RPA is job loss or employee displacement.
Thus, it’s no surprise that there is resistance within the ranks to an RPA project, regardless of who sponsors it within the organisation – including the CEO.
According to the KPMG report, Hong Kong’s Automated Future, other hurdles to RPA adoption are lack of knowledge or awareness around what is possible and where to start. Some even view automation as unnecessary. The study which focused on the finance function also pointed to perception that perceived benefits do not outweigh the costs associated with the project.
Laying out the cards is critical to mitigating any risks arising from misunderstandings around what RPA is and isn’t.
Mohan describes the process KPMG takes the client through to separate what may be built-up hype around the technology, towards understanding what the technology can and cannot do for the organisation.
Orchestrating a successful RPA project
So how does one ensure a successful RPA project?
Mohan likens undertaking an RPA project to that of cooking a good dish – there are a lot of ingredients that you into a dish. “You need to put the right amount of ingredients in a pre-defined sequence to ensure the outcome,” he suggested.
He goes on to list the three components of any RPA project: people, process and technology.
Measuring the success of RPA
At the end of the day, its about enabling the business. Making is ready for the future.
Mohan commented that the metrics used to measure the success of an RPA deployment project follow the same KPIOs as other technology investments.
“These include return on investments, does it fit with the overall technology architecture of the company, does it comply with set IT security policies, does it align with your future roadmap,” he listed out.
One question before deciding on approach
KPMG believes that any technology investment or strategy should be made keeping the business in mind. Conversely, any decision which is purely taken based on just technical aspects is not the right sort of a decision.
When asked what questions decision-makers should ask as they decide on the RPA solution to take, Mohan suggested: “There are things like ROI which you look out for, ease of integration with other applications. You also need to look at the long-term strategic roadmap of the platform which you’re choosing to make sure that it aligns with your long-term strategy – where you want to go as a business in terms of digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning,” he added.
Who should led RPA
Often times when a project has high visibility – people want to be seen as contributing, and sometimes leading, the discussion. Everyone wants to be a hero. But when you have too many cooks in the kitchen, there is a potential for the dish to fall flat – disappoint the customer.
The same is to be said of RPA. It is the buzzword of the moment and everyone may want to be seen as knowledgeable, as being the person with familiarity with the technology or the business process, and therefore rightfully should own the project.
Mohan said RPA should be led by the business but enabled by technology. Why?
“The biggest impact of RPA is on the day-to-day operations team. Therefore, when it comes to making the purchase decision, it should be jointly done by business and IT. The business team must answer concerns like ease-of-use, does it work for the business. For its part, IT will need to ensure that the solution conforms to the IT security policies, does it adhere to overall IT architecture of the company,” he explained.
