RPA
RPA
Robotic process automation is a technology solution that allows end-users to configure a software robot to use existing applications to perform transactions, manipulate data and communicate with other systems. Software robots can be easily programmed or trained to perform repetitive, rules-based, high-volume operations by replicating human actions when accessing multiple systems, applications, and documents. The robots can operate in the user interface the same way people do, which eliminates the need to modify applications or the underlying information technology infrastructure. The robots are assigned their own user accounts and credentials, and they can work in parallel with other robotic or human users. Each operation is tracked and logged to ensure data integrity and meet audit requirements.
Application
Typical office work operations that software robots can take over include:
- opening, reading and sending emails. Robots can send email notifications to inform employees about the completion of a task
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searching, extracting, updating, validating and entering data across multiple applications. The robot can log in to different programs, search for specific information based on given criteria and then use it to create, update or validate records, and fill in forms in other corporate systems (ERP, CRM, Office etc.). Access to other systems can also be implemented via application programming inter-faces(API). The data include both machine-readable formats (text files, spreadsheets, XML, HTML) and those requiring further processing (e.g., scanned documents, PDFs, images) usually supported by character and image recognition solutions
- data processing and formatting .Robots may be taught to clean or format data, or make calculations based on it to provide standardized reports
- decision-making. Robots use prescribed rules and decision paths to change their behavior in response to variable conditions (data availability, communication errors, application exceptions)
Comparision
RPA is an alternative to traditional (integrated, full) automation. Traditional automation requires programmers and software suppliers to develop dedicated software and to integrate it into existing systems. Multiple applications may need to be modified so that they can exchange information in a universally agreed format. The potential benefits of traditional automation are higher, but the implementation is more difficult and requires spending significant effort, time and money. RPA can be deployed as a non-invasive technology solution without the undesired interference with existing infra-structure, offering cross-functional and multiple systems operations. It is particularly suited for business environments with numerous modern and legacy applications, whose operation is at least partially interrelated. RPA offers an opportunity to improve the performance of processes in companies, where traditional automation is either impossible or too complex, and thus too expensive to deploy. The basic approach to RPA implementation is to run the robotic software on the employee’s desktop. Typically, robots use previously recorded or configured sequences of human actions. An automated agent takes control of the desktop to perform delegated activities. The solution offers direct feedback on the workflow and its progress. It proves useful for processes involving non-automatable steps that require human approval, decision-making or immediate exceptions handling. The attended software robots act as virtual assistants instead of replacing humans completely.
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