How do I build and sustain an automation pipeline?

The first couple use cases for RPA might have come pretty easily, but building the “sequel” use cases and a robust automation pipeline takes dedication, and a lot of care and feeding. Finding the right use cases for RPA can be stressful, unsure where to start, who to talk to, or how to begin. Many RPA initiatives begin with solving a specific problem, but have no attention on scaling the program to solve the next set of problems. Growing RPA across departments, divisions, and geographies is critical, but to many “enterprise-wide adoption” of RPA is a difficult undertaking.

How do we move from “random acts of RPA” to corporate adoption?

Most starter RPA programs are funded at the business unit level, or often referred to as “bottom-up adoption”. The dollars come from the folks who are the beneficiaries of the initial automations, solving business-unit level challenges. Many organizations may have multiple of these “bottom-up” efforts, lacking alignment of goals, technology and processes, as well as a lack of corporate vision and funding.

Conversely, other programs are defined at an enterprise-wide, or corporate digital transformation strategic level. These programs, commonly referred as “top-down adoption” may begin with strong vision and objectives and funding, however they are typically slow to start due to a lack of tangible use cases and in-depth process knowledge.

Do I need consultants involved to build RPA success?

Most organizations look to outside help initially to stand-up their RPA program, but when those consultants are no-longer needed full time, companies are faced with a challenge: Keep an expensive consultant and reduce the ROI of their program or let them go and watch their RPA expertise walk out the door. When that consultant leaves, typically so does the momentum and RPA knowledge that created your initial successes, and your program is left without a path forward.

Can we achieve RPA success without CIO and IT involvement?

In “bottom-up” strategies, a business unit may implement RPA with the basic minimal IT involvement. As an RPA program begins to grow, so does the optics from the CIO, asking valid questions around data security, hosting, supportability, process definition and development, reusability, testing, system availability, and disaster recovery aspects of the RPA program. Without solutions for these components, and without corporate alignment of the RPA program and the IT organization, the program will never expand out of the “RPA Stall Zone” and the benefits that RPA can provide your organization will not be realized.