The emergence of robotic process automation (RPA) has taken the world of digital technologies by storm. Not only has it provided businesses with a platform to enhance efficiency, increase productivity, and streamline processes, but it has also equipped them to reduce the margin of error caused by human interventions. However, when it comes to RPA adoption, the problem of inappropriate scaling still haunts organizations across various stages of their RPA journey.
The RPA technology, despite its multiple benefits, usually tends to get stuck at an incredibly small scale. While sometimes it doesn’t move beyond being a pilot project, other times, it does not cross the chasm between incremental implementation and large scale deployment. As a result, businesses start getting pushed to a corner, and their prospective RPA scale-up doesn’t materialize at a pace that is suitable for their operational development.
In such a scenario, if you intend to scale up your business using RPA, you will have to identify the specific factors first, which are preventing the technology’s efficient deployment and then devise a well-researched roadmap towards more effective, resilient, and intelligent automation.
Factors Preventing RPA Scaling
The RPA journey of most companies is defined by selective automation of the proverbial ‘low hanging fruit’. This is to say that organizations prefer automating those processes first, which carry both low complexity and high potential. The primary reason why they do so is that robotic process automation of these standard procedures allows businesses to familiarize their employees with the RPA technology, show credible results within a short span of time, and thus, bring multiple stakeholders on board.
Nonetheless, this mechanism of initiating an instant RPA scale-up leads to a variety of other problems like:
- Making multiple, isolated RPA deployments without any integration
- Creating an unrealistic expectation of deriving quick and immediate returns
- Inhibiting the true potential of RPA by focusing on limited processes
- Mixing RPA technology with AI and ML merely to derive ‘exotic’ solutions
- Missing the opportunity to understand what RPA can and cannot deliver
With such factors causing innumerable scaling delays, even the motivation of employees to adopt and adapt to robotic process automation within the organizational structure is severely hindered.
Roadmap for Successfully Scaling RPA
To scale up your business using RPA, you won’t just have to eliminate the factors preventing complete RPA scaling, but you will also have to craft a detailed roadmap that posits your business towards automation success. To accomplish this, you can begin by:
Integrating Inter-Departmental Processes
Each department in an organization comprises of certain complex processes which require inter-departmental collaboration and structural redesign. When you start unfurling a dynamic RPA scale-up, target these processes first. Create a joint center of excellence and use it as a platform to trigger digital transformation. This won’t just provide good visibility to your RPA technology, but it will also push departments to integrate their overall automation efforts.
Imparting Specialized RPA Training
The second step to scale up your business using RPA entails imparting specialized training to stakeholders so that they can turn into developers, analysts, and ambassadors of the RPA technology. Launch an internal training program that educates employees on the effects of using robotic process automation in their job roles. This will enable your employees to upgrade their skill sets while helping your organization develop a domestic talent pool.
Starting a Complete Automation Drive
When both the aforementioned steps have been taken, start a complete automation drive. Focus on taking the RPA approach to different sections of your organization and deploying it as a tool for improving productivity. Make sure that every department discontinues its case-by-case mindset and takes up robotic process automation as an integrated whole. Doing so will ensure that the installation of RPA throughout your business is comprehensive and absolute.
In Conclusion
As a future composed of numerous intelligent automation technologies beckons, each business will have to find a mature way to survive. The inclusion of RPA technology within their fundamental systems will provide them with just the right tools to maintain their relevance and sustain their operations over a long period of time. After all, the diligence and agility of automation is the basic premise that can help every organization scale up their business using RPA!
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