Unmasking The Myths About Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps businesses grow in their respective areas, reduces commercial costs, and enhances the commercial o

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps businesses grow in their respective areas, reduces commercial costs, and enhances the commercial outcomes of the business. It reduces output variability and increases productivity. The best feature of RPA  is that it doesn’t require a new IT setup for implementation. It is flexible and provides analytics with faster service responses. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the most innovative technology available that saves time and manual effort. It offers the best services for repetitive and high-volume activities. Though a large number of industries deploy RPA, its failure rate is 30 to 50 per cent. If you know the RPA benefits, you must know the myths too.

11 RPA Myths That You Must Know 

1. RPA is expensive

Most companies are still hesitant to implement the RPA in business because of the myth that automation leads to variable costs, affecting the budget. But ironically, one of the benefits of RPA deployment is that you get instant results and require a small start-up scale.

It’s a fact that machines are meant to work more efficiently and faster than humans. RPA technology does not require you to replace the existing systems, which is an advantage. Instead, it adds to your automation feature, which can emulate human behaviour. By adopting Robotic Process Automation, you can save the costs of implementing a new IT infrastructure.

2. RPA is not for my industry

The banking and finance sectors adopted the RPA technology in the early days and labelled it as a technology, which suited only these two sectors. Implementation of RPA in banking and finance has increased, but it also provides services to other industries.

Different sectors like – Manufacturing, Healthcare, Shipping, Retail, Hospitality, Transportation, and IT companies can implement RPA technology with similar scale and features. Moreover, as front office and back-office tasks are mundane and exist in almost all industries, RPA can automate these tasks and save time and cost. Therefore, you can implement RPA irrespective of the industry.

3. RPA means the end of BPM

It is easy to get confused with the two terms, RPA and BPM, as most don’t understand the core difference between these two terms. RPA is different from Business Process Management (BPM) as it works on repetitive business tasks, which are discreet. And BPM works as a holistic approach to automate and optimize other business processes.

BPM is an end-to-end process and works according to tasks. RPA can be a part of BPM, but it won’t replace BPM. RPA helps to simplify the amount of manual work and makes tasks more manageable. BPM works on decision-making and outflow solutions for businesses. The approach and processes work according to business requirements.

4. RPA can cause unemployment

One of the popular myths about RPA is – it will replace employees in the coming years. On the contrary, RPA is meant to make repetitive and mundane tasks more efficient, which doesn’t mean that it will cause unemployment. Moreover, RPA intends to free up employee tasks that may take hours to complete.

It can fill for value-added tasks that computers can’t do. According to a Forbes insight, more than 92% of companies agreed that employee satisfaction improved after the adoption of RPA. Additionally, in most companies, productivity improved due to Robotic Process Automation technology adoption.

5. RPA is only for large organizations

Automation is not limited to large organizations. A startup or a mid-level company can also adopt the RPA technology and start automating business for improved efficiency and productivity. In some organizations, the RPA process can assist the employees and work at a faster speed. Once you know your business goals, implementation of RPA becomes easier.

Medium and small organizations struggle with limited resources, so they look for quick solutions to lower costs. Though RPA is not an instant fix, it is a specific one for sure. RPA can offer solutions for repeatable tasks in mid-size organizations and help scale businesses.

RPA for small businesses can manage tasks and provide an easy way to handle operations. RPA suits individual tasks rather than working on extensive processes. Large-scale processes may require automation, but companies mainly adopt RPA technology for smaller jobs. Small and mid-size companies can benefit more from automation. There is no limit to RPA benefits, they are beyond business size. No matter what your business size is, our RPA consultants can help you discover your true potential.

RPA benefits

6. RPA can automate from A to Z

RPA works on structured data, and the task is performed sequentially. It works with simple computer operations like clicks and mouse movements. RPA can retrieve data from your system and store the data on another system. Then, it fills out the spreadsheets and forms with data that you input.

You can achieve excellent efficiency if all the tasks are conducted corresponding to each other. RPA is not the process to work if the methods are span for days. It mixes bot operations, and the efficiency depends on the task. RPA does not automate functions from A to Z, as most people believe.

7. Robots are always accurate

Do you think robots are always accurate? Well, this is purely a matter of perception. Bots do eliminate human errors and reduce the issues in stats. But they can be wrong if the information provided by you is wrong. This is because bots work on input and information.

And wrong input means the results won’t be accurate. Most RPA processes work on the formulas they are fed with. With a code error, they will replicate the errors infinitely. You can derive ROI from RPA processes only if it is adopted uniformly in all the departments. Successful adoption depends on the company and its management.

8. RPA means humanoid Robot

It is a strange myth, but people still want to believe it. The cue comes from different Hollywood movies that show human robots taking over the world. Based on this concept, people think that RPA is a humanoid robot.

You will find images of RPA taking over the humanized robots and adapting them to the workforce, which makes you believe this myth is true. RPA refers to the software codes that can help to perform manual processes. Humans usually perform it, but it creates a streamlined workflow for business tasks, as it works with Machine Learning (ML) technology without human input.

Robotic process automation

9. RPA does not require programming skills

RPA is projected as a simple technology, and most companies believe it is easier to implement it without programming skills. However, not all the processes that need to be automated are complex.

Expertise in automation is required to handle complex tasks in the system. For example, a robot developer may use different elements to select the best onscreen codes for applications. There is technicality involved in the whole process.

 10. RPA is not Intelligent Automation

Most people are aware that RPA automates digital tasks that are repetitive or mundane. Hence, RPA is referred to as software robots and not physical ones. But there is a significant shift from Robotic Process Automation towards Artificial Intelligence automation.

Robotic desktop automation works with manual intervention, which means there is the involvement of the human chain. On the other hand, Robotic Process Automation works with different digital triggers and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technology with decision-making.

11. Robots can be left unattended 24/7

It is a popular myth that robots don’t need attention and can run 24/7. However, once you automate a task, you will need to supervise it. You will require a process controller, who will be responsible for running, monitoring, and tracking robot performance.

Robots do break down, so you will need to have a continuity plan to supervise the whole process of RPA. Robots can never eliminate humans from the workforce.

Final words

Misconceptions about RPA can lead to companies avoiding the technology. RPA is easy to implement and offers many operational benefits. RPA works with employees of the organization to complete repetitive tasks.

It is more suited to structured processes. It is cost-effective at a smaller scale and is excellent for automating individual tasks. Implementation of RPA is flexible. Now you know about some common myths, it is time to adopt RPA in your organization with a more significant effect. Get in touch with our RPA consultants!

Do let us know about the RPA myths that keep you from adopting this technology, we love to debunk the myths!

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