For those organisations that are in the know, robotic process automation (RPA) is already cutting costs and having a major impact on their efforts at digital transformation. Professional services firm pwc estimates that automating work activities could save up to $2 trillion worldwide.
Yet many other organisations still aren't aware of the benefits that disruptive technologies such as RPA can bring to their business. So what exactly is RPA, and where does much of its potential lie?
What is RPA and What is It Used For?
RPA refers to the strategic use of software "robots" at a large scale in order to imitate employees' actions while using a computer. Whereas other automation strategies are heavily dependent on pre-recorded scripts and predictability, RPA agents can act in ways that are much closer to real human behaviour.
For example, RPA agents can often leverage artificial intelligence to decide how to react in an unfamiliar or unexpected situation. If the agent is truly unsure how to proceed, it can temporarily restore control to its human partner.
Which Industries Can Benefit from RPA?
Nearly every company has at least one slow, manual, repetitive process that can benefit from automation strategies such as RPA—and the effects may be dramatic. IT research and analysis firm Forrester estimates that the cost of a single RPA agent ranges between $5,000 and $10,000 annually, significantly less than a full-time employee. According to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, organisations that implement RPA see ROI between 30 and 200 percent in the first year alone.
In particular, certain industries that collect and analyze massive quantities of data have a great deal to gain from using RPA software. Financial services companies, for example, depend on intelligently extracting information and using it to perform thousands or millions of transactions every day.
Other data-dependent industries such as healthcare and finance can also use RPA to remove human employees from tedious manual tasks, letting them work on higher-value strategic projects. RPA can help streamline time-intensive and costly back-office processes and reduce paperwork, allowing healthcare providers to focus on improving the quality of patient care.