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The word ‘robot’ conjures up images of our favourite androids like C-3PO and Maria from Metropolis, but robotics in real-world applications for modern businesses don’t quite take the same form.

And by real-world applications for businesses, we mean Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA is nothing new. Any Business Process Management (BPM) practitioner with a sense of history knows that RPA has been present for quite some time. For example, call centres have been implementing Interactive Voice Response Systems for years, while optical character recognition has been used for a while to deliver auto-extraction efficiency. And of course, internet BOTs that auto-post data. The most notable development in the recent wave of RPA is the maturity of both technology and the business processes to which it is applied.

RPA is implemented by smart software that interacts with business applications and interfaces to systems to streamline processes – not by androids and humanoid robots. That said, RPA and classic fictional robots do have a few things in common.

RPA is Intelligent

There’s a great chance your organisation has already been touched by RPA in one form or another. It may be a job scheduler or a custom script written to carry out a single task.

RPA is more intelligent than that. Imagine a scenario where a process that you want to automate needs a certain file, but that file doesn’t arrive at the time it’s expected to. Your traditional automation software is likely to run the process at 7 pm regardless, as it always does. As a result, the entire workflow fails.

RPA is smarter. It can launch your automated workflow depending on whether that file has been received. If one of the steps fails, the RPA software can work on an alternate task for the next step in the process.

RPA Does What You Would Do

RPA is able to manage your applications at the graphical interface level, as you would. In effect, it’s easier to set up your RPA solution to follow prescribed functions, in the process that includes interfacing with multiple applications in a single workflow.  

RPA is Designed to Make Life Easier

Because RPA can interact with interfaces that human operators can, it’s possible to set up customised workflows. If you are able to fully automate processes with an RPA platform, you can save dozens, even hundreds, of hours per week.

More and more, IT departments face the challenge of finding solutions that support business objectives while reducing IT costs. RPA frees up organisations and enables them to tackle processes that matter – the innovations and strategies that move the business forward.

Currently, RPA has the greatest impact in centres running repetitive, high-volume, rules-based work. The good news is that with RPA, the industry return jobs onshore should higher-value chain activities performed by humans become increasingly required.

At Tanna Partners, we understand the demands of modern businesses and supply highly specialised talents to Australian and Asian markets, including automation specialists to configure RPA system into businesses.

If we can be of assistance to you, feel free to get in touch with our Melbourne and Sydney offices.

Over a career spanning 21 years, Greg Tanna has established himself as an executive recruitment leader in the APAC Customer Contact/BPO/ICT/Consulting domain.