Adopting RPA to Boost Digital Transformation

The use of robotic process automation is expanding at an unprecedented rate with enterprises anticipating benefits that include cost reduction, improved customer experience, quick implementation of processes, and higher ROI. That’s driving increased RPA spending across industries: Gartner projects RPA software spending to hit $2.4 billion by 2022.

While a company can certainly employ RPA tools to boost business outcomes without having a transformation strategy in place, most digital transformation initiatives would not be possible without applying the benefits of robotic process automation and intelligent capabilities.

In this blog, we will discuss how RPA plays a key role in any organization's digital transformation strategy and its important benefits to drive innovation.

Role of Automation in Digital Transformation

According to Gartner, ‘Digital transformation is the process of leveraging digital technologies, advanced software to build new business models and deliver more value faster to customers.’

Today, C-level executives are focused on embracing digital technologies to redefine business operational models, customer relationships, sales, and service. Hence given it as a technology that helps businesses elevate further, robotic process automation can fuel up digital transformation.

For example, ASTM, an International Standards organization that develops technical standards, employed RPA to bring 100+ year old standards written in physical form to digital assets. The transformation project has helped the organization to obtain the data automatically from the underlying standards and keep a tab on materials and practices used.

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When we look at industries such as finance, insurance, legal, and manufacturing, RPA is being used widely to automate laborious back-office tasks. These include activities such as human resource processes, insurance claims processing, invoicing, customer onboarding etc. Thus, RPA is reshaping the way organizations do business and act promptly to all the dynamic needs across all the touchpoints of the value chain.

Yet, how does this all foster Digital Transformation?

RPA is one of the technologies that help organizations achieve competitive advantage and evolve along with their digital transformation journeys. Given RPA’s capabilities, organizations are able to streamline extensive operational tasks and automate manual repetitive back-end activities. Furthermore, RPA deployments when integrated with digital technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, Virtual Assistants drive end-to-end digital transformation and improve business outcomes.

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Deloitte’s research study on RPA in Digital Transformation stated that RPA which had already gained a significant place in enterprise business, the adoption ratio is likely to pick up the pace and reach 72% in the coming years.

According to a Furthermore, RPA tools continue to fulfill and go beyond the expectations across multiple dimensions like compliance (92%), improved quality/accuracy (90%), improved productivity (86%), cost reduction (59%). And the increased spending on RPA software due to its average pricing and impactful business outcomes, the growth of RPA adoption has accelerated.

Let’s delve into the ways RPA is Influencing Digital Transformation

RPA Software- Facilitate Integrated Deployments at Scale

Organizations start realizing the potential of RPA software is in more integrated deployments that support automation at scale. The combination of RPA tools and intelligent automation fits in the scope of augmented technologies that cater to modern digital objectives beyond basic rule-based tasks.

RPA software works at its best to automate existing tasks or processes when they get structured data, right from simple copy & paste task to more complex workflows like invoice processing. RPA robots mimic the actions of employees and therefore are able to complete tasks in the same manner as humans would. RPA is able to work with legacy systems by adding automated functionality and linking external systems that can’t be connected through IT options. All this can be achieved without the need to re-engineer existing platforms, allowing implementations and deployments to happen so fast.

The biggest adopters of RPA today are steadily making movement where AI and ML functionalities get integrated into the RPA product suite to bring in more types of automation like automation intelligence.

The process of automation intelligence removes the human intervention that introduces errors and decreases the execution time. Like Machine Learning can be used to review the invoice for compliance purposes. Decision modeling software is used to perform checks that managers used to perform manually.

Fast-Track Spending on RPA Software to Tackle Operational Challenges

Today, organizations are engaged in some form of digital initiatives to tackle operational challenges. They want to achieve better business outcomes like reduced operational costs, increased accuracy, and improved standards. By removing the burden of the back, middle and front office tasks, RPA can relieve employees and push them forward to a more challenging role.

More Value for Customers with Streamlined Workflow

RPA software is not on its own intelligent; it works on rules-based logic for which outcome is known; used for many transactional and standardized tasks. However, as companies inclined towards transformation, they started leveraging RPA software combined with cognitive capabilities to drive intelligent actions. For example, a company that specialized in home improvement projects, used a chatbot system along with Machine Learning intelligence to handle a lot of customer queries regarding home renovation jobs. This automation has led the companies to deliver excellent customer experience and drive more business.

Another example, contact center employs RPA tools along with Natural Language Generation (NLG) to enable chatbots that further speed up customer response times and drive sales.

Implementing RPA systems for business processes makes the customer journey more promising and helps deliver better outcomes. Automation can create streamlined workflows for underlying processes, which gives a boost in employees’ productivity and satisfaction benefits customers in many ways. Employees will have quicker access to customer insights by spending more time on direct customer interactions.

Support from People for Outstanding Results

While the role of RPA in influencing digital transformation is obvious, it is important to put emphasis on people because they are just as important as digital technology in order to bring about optimization and transformation. RPA is alone not capable of bringing these transformations; rather, it’s dependent on people within the organization and industries to make it happen.

A Deloitte article entitled ‘Strategy, not technology, drives digital transformation’ implies that the ability to remodel the business is steered by a simplified digital strategy supported by organization leaders who inspire a culture to bring innovation in the existing systems.

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In order to drive the digital transformation led by RPA, the coordination of a project team and leadership is a key driver to define success. This leadership consensus within an organization is a vital component of implementing new digital technology and speeding up business growth, and this is also the case with RPAs in uplifting digital transformation.

RPA will Continue to Influence Digital Transformation

Though it’s uncertain to predict which technology will bring more effectiveness & take our digital efforts to the next level, it’s certain to consider that RPA will continue to influence digital transformation for the foreseeable future.

The shift from menial back-office tasks to those that involve analytical capabilities is driving the transformation projects further. The efficiency, adaptability, and compatibility provided by RPA are optimizing business operations and opening new avenues of growth. In many ways, RPA proves itself to be a key to achieving digital transformation in any industry.

To learn more about how your brand can leverage digital transformation using RPA, connect with our experts today. With years of experience in bringing about transformation, we can help you solve business operational challenges and remove any technical barrier that restricts your digital growth.