Traga os robôs! Como o RPA pode lidar com tarefas mundanas

Bring on the robots! How RPA can handle mundane tasks

Robotic process automation (RPA) can help automate increasingly complex tasks. This can free up your employees' time for higher-value activities if you understand the caveats.

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When you hear the word “robot,” you might imagine a quasi-sentient being from a science fiction movie or perhaps the adorable domestic helper Rosey from the Jetsons cartoons. While we're a long way from humanoid robots or helpful office assistants, the idea of ​​“ smart ” tools that can help us perform useful tasks is coming to the workplace.

Several tools that fall into the general category of robotic process automation (RPA) are emerging and are worth investigating. These tools are not physical robots, but digital technology that mimics mouse movements and keystrokes as they “read” the data that appears on the screen. They can make basic rules-based decisions and change their performance based on those rules.

A simple automation could “read” the fields in a column of an overdue invoice spreadsheet, create an email with a copy of the invoice attached, and send it to a delinquent customer. More sophisticated automations can receive emails and, based on the text, update some data in your accounting software, forward the email to another department with additional information, or flag the email for human processing.

Many of these tools are designed, at least theoretically, for non-programmers, and several have free versions available or are included with cloud-based software such as Microsoft's Power Automate. MT .

In a work environment where talent is difficult to find and retain, RPA can automate mundane, uninteresting tasks and free up expensive people to do more valuable work. RPA also never sleeps and can be used to perform work outside of working hours and often with greater productivity than humans.

Getting started with RPA

Broadly speaking, there are two approaches to getting started with RPA, which can be done simultaneously if desired.

IT-led approach

The first is to centralize RPA deployment: IT selects a standard RPA software package and then designs, deploys, and maintains automations for other parts of the business.

This approach is probably comfortable for most technology departments, as it follows the same flow as typical application development or enhancement projects. Requirements are collected from potential users, and then tools are developed, tested, and finally deployed. These tasks can be performed in-house or with the help of a trusted partner . An IT-led RPA implementation is often appropriate for more complex automations, as the benefits of using your technological talent to solve a problem are offset by the longer lead times required in most IT organizations.

User-led approach

The other approach is to provide tools and some basic training to users who can benefit from RPA. Some of the user communities that can benefit most from RPA are those that deal with multiple systems and spend a significant amount of time performing basic data manipulations between systems. You can often identify these groups as departments full of people using dual monitors with a “data-giving” app on one screen and a “data-receiving” app on the other.

While not everyone is willing or interested in learning RPA, you'll probably find one or two people who will adopt the technology once they see the benefits for their work. Choose one of the simpler tools that uses a graphical or web-based interface or provides simplified training to get started.

Help these individuals identify a simple automation task to start and assign them an IT “buddy” to help answer questions. You might be surprised at the excitement generated when a non-technical individual develops a simple automation that can do little more than copy data from one spreadsheet to another. However, this can be the start of significant time savings with minimal time investment on IT's part.

The challenges of RPA

There are two main challenges for RPA in its current state. The first is that, like many newer technologies, the gap between marketing and reality can sometimes be wide. Vendors suggest that “anyone” can quickly train their automations and that they offer human-like intelligence.

The truth is that most of these tools are still rules-based and require you to define explicit rules that inform your activities. An RPA cannot determine whether a line in a spreadsheet represents an old customer who must be treated with care or a new customer who repeatedly fails to pay their invoice unless there is a clearly defined rule to make this distinction. Technologists and business users accustomed to complex spreadsheets should be able to understand this nuance. Still, those not accustomed to distilling requirements into sets of logical rules may expect more than the technology can offer.

Training and development tools for RPA can also vary. Most tools include some type of graphical training component, but ultimately require the user to delve into some form of programming for all but the most rudimentary automations. This can range from visual programming similar to a flowchart to using a common programming language like JavaScript.

The second challenge is deciphering which applications your RPA tool is compatible with, especially since several vendors offer multiple versions of their RPA tools. Microsoft's Power Automate, for example, has a web-based version that's fantastic for manipulating files and components of Microsoft's cloud ecosystem, but it can't open an app on a user's desktop and doesn't have integrations with some other services. of cloud. The desktop version of Power Automate can open desktop applications and manipulate applications, but it has a different interface and slightly different features.

It's worth trying out tools and technologies you already have as part of other subscriptions. However, if you plan to invest heavily in RPA, make sure you understand the nuances of the platforms you are considering and whether they will work with the applications and tools your users will need to automate.

While we're unlikely to see cubicles full of smiling automatons anytime soon, RPA is a valuable tool worth investigating. It's easy to get started with low-cost automations using a tool you already own, explore complex IT-led automations, and empower your users to create their own automations for routine tasks.

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