A quick survey of digital transformation leaders across various enterprises would indicate that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) features quite prominently on their digital transformation roadmaps. Unfortunately, this analysis also shows that a large percentage of these RPA programs have failed to grow beyond early stage experimentation. Many of these programs have stagnated in the “pilot” or “Proof of Concept (PoC)” stage.
The ability to train a software process (bot) to handle a task by going through a repeatable set of steps spanning several systems of record has been around for a very long time. We think that there is no longer a need to prove what has been proven repeatedly. We have moved way past the early adoption stage of the RPA Hype Cycle. At this stage of their development, RPA platforms such as UIPath, are more than capable of handling any type of process automation tasks.
It is with this backdrop that we designed the Optezo RPAaaS Cycle to focus on Proof of Value (PoV) rather than PoC of the technology.
The core tenets of the Optezo RPAaas Cycle are based on quite simply finding a process that has the potential to deliver ROI through RPA, build the bot and have it up and running in no more than 3 weeks. At this point we recommend switching your focus to measuring the ROI and continuing to tweak the bots. Continue to add to the ROI equation with each refining iteration of the bot.
Optezo RPAaaS Cycle - Rapid Proof of Value
Let me introduce the Optezo RPAaaS Cycle and highlight how this is a different approach when compared to the various RPA approaches being offered by traditional consulting and system integration companies.
ROI and Process Selection
Start the RPA journey by selecting a set of 3-5 candidate processes quickly. We help move this step along by using Optezo’s process catalog. We recommend selecting processes that yield the highest benefit and don’t have a high degree of implementation complexity associated with them. Most businesses are very aware of the key processes within their organizations. We advocate examining 10-15 processes and picking the few (3-5) that are well understood as the first set of candidates for Proof of Value. Set the ROI goal for each of these selected processes and organize them in priority order based on the highest to lowest relative ROI. Duration for the above = 3 Days!
Build and Deploy RPA Robots
After processes have been selected and mapped, develop, test and deploy the bots. Optezo Experts use the Optezo Playbook for bot development ensuring a standardized approach. Business users and stakeholders should validate the working bot and provide appropriate sign-offs. Relatively speaking, this is nothing more than a well practiced SDLC. With the singular purpose of getting to Proof of Value in as short a period as possible, we limit development sprints to be no longer than 3 weeks for the average complexity bots.
Measure and Optimize
As soon as the bot is deployed in production, the ROI is real. Start to measure the actual ROI against the planned ROI goal. The Optezo Business and Operations Dashboard can readily provide this comparison as soon as the bot is deployed. It is hard to argue with quantifiable benefits. The proof is in the numbers. The bots are refined on a continual basis based on the ROI metrics. The goal is to extract the highest level of benefit from each bot until the point of diminishing returns.
In the above steps, the process owners can focus on the ROI. The Optezo technical support team can provide all the proactive bot support for steady state operations including support ticket management and bot updates as necessary.
The process is repeated for each bot in the initial set of 3-5 identified automation candidates. The Optezo team can run several sprint teams in parallel so that the point of Proof of Value is attained in the shortest possible time.
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