RPA, or Robotic Process Automation, is the best solution for increasing efficiency and productivity in a cost-effective manner. This can include processing lots of paper forms, mundane tasks, or any other process by which a secure and streamlined automation can cut down on work hours.
RPA refers to the practice of automating routine, repetitive business practices with robotic software assistants who perform these tasks for you. You can automate processes that you spend too much time working on, such as transaction processing, managing your IT systems, and providing virtual customer support on your website.
Mobomo can help you incorporate RPA into your daily operations and within your website. We sat down with Mobomo’s Director of Commercial Business Fred Bigden to discuss the basics of RPA and how it can help your business increase efficiency, productivity, and profits.
Q: Could you explain what RPA is? Why is it so important for businesses?
A: RPA is a cognitive solution with image processing skills that automates a wide range of business processes that exist today among all organizations. It also learns through supervised observation by people at work, increasing your digital footprint.
RPA is important today because currently we spend a large amount of time and money by continuing to rely on knowledge of workers to extract the relevant information to feed into otherwise automated processes. Data is power, each day our organizations are inundated with ever-increasing amounts of it.
RPA solutions allow us to scale and process this unstopping flow of data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with each passing day making the application smarter and smarter. By implementing the brain of the solution into a secure cloud environment, such as [Amazon Web Services], the entire organization can tap into the learning, processing, and benefits of each application before it.
Q: So why did Mobomo get involved with RPA? What benefits does it bring to Mobomo’s client base?
A: Our clients, like most, are looking for ways to be more efficient each day with all their resources. This simply comes down to ROI. Can I do more with what I already have or the same with less?
Our clients asked if we could do both, more with less, and can we do it at scale, securely, and most important of all reliably. Can we, from a company's resource perspective, use less human capital, use less money, and remove the current constraints to manual processing we see today? We can!
[With RPA], we are able to restructure the organizations human resources by removing the manual work and allocate them to verification and training exceptions in processing. [With RPA, Mobomo can] decrease the cycle time needed from processing large amounts of data, save cost in storage, save cost in headcount, and reliably meet thresholds for accuracy/automation.
Q: RPA sounds like a great solution for paper-based businesses to increase their efficiencies. What are the biggest challenges current RPA products in the market have, if any?
A: The biggest challenges today with RPA products is that the number of tasks to automate make it difficult to build a plug and play model. Each organization is like fabric, where we cannot disrupt or rip that fabric, but we must weave ourselves into their business today. This means customization at varying levels, and because of this challenge a large number of RPA products will focus on a single aspect of RPA that handles automation that is just the tip of the iceberg.
We also have a huge challenge with handwriting in that organizations today have many forms in which they receive that data. Most vendors will limit the data their solutions can process so that they can ensure the most accurate extraction they can.
Differentiation is another challenge. With the number of companies developing RPA solutions, we must all find what it is that makes us better than our competitors. You will see competitive pricing structures, niche processing features, white glove service, or transfer of intellectual property.
On the surface a good number of options available to organizations are hard to evaluate, and with cost saving measures, vendor assessments are happening less and less. So how does one stand out above the others? That is a significant challenge with many approaches.
Q: How do you know if your business needs an RPA solution? How can you tell if RPA would be a good investment?
A: The first step is to understand your level of maturity when it comes to an RPA solution. Where, as an organization, do you stand in readiness for something like this? Each company may have a different answer.
Can you support a cloud solution, or must you have an on premise application? Do you have manual and repetitive processes? Are their penalties for processing/data linking issues? Can you look at a workflow and potentially ask if you can do more with what you have or the same with less?
These are just some of the questions you must ask, and fortunately Mobomo can help an organization define its current place on the maturity scale, steps to get to the next level, and how we can help you get there.
Just as we feel our solutions can help organizations do more with less resources, in order to be successful, we need to again weave ourselves into your organization and define measurable milestones that would define what is success for you, and not just what has been successful for others.
This is not a one-size-fits-all area of technology, and you should not apply it to your organization that way. As said above, we define success using measurable standards, so is your organization in need of RPA?
First ask can you currently measure, reliably, your business processes in a way that are specific to that process as well as how it aligns to the overall goals of the company. If we can do all of that we are well on our way to being ready.
Key Takeaways: Why Your Business Needs RPA on Your Side
RPA can provide numerous solutions to your business, if you know how to implement the process into your operations. If you want to automate your routine tasks to help you use that manpower elsewhere, RPA would work perfectly in your business. But you have to think about your business model first
Let’s break down a few of the key considerations that Fred Bigden said you should ask yourself before you decide if RPA is right for your company.
- Can you support a cloud solution, or do you need an on-premise application? RPA works best when you can use the cloud to store data for ease within your business operations. If you rely on on-premises technology, Mobomo can help you determine if you can make the switch to a cloud-based solution and assist you in transitioning your data.
- Do you have any manual or repetitive products in your business operations? If you do not have any processes that RPA can take over for you, RPA would not be a necessary investment. By identifying the areas where you could use automation, Mobomo can help you develop strategies to incorporate RPA and make your operations more efficient.
- Will you face any penalties for processing or data-linking issues? Certain industries handle much more sensitive data than others, such as ecommerce solutions, government and financial institutions. However, Mobomo has the experience necessary to help you balance potential liabilities with RPA solutions so you can stay above any penalties. We have worked with several high-profile and data-sensitive organizations such as NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the FDIC.
- Can you look at a workflow and potentially ask if you can do more with what you have or the same with less? When you’re operating a business, your ROI matters in many ways – if you pay too much to have one task completed, you lose money in your overall operations. By choosing RPA to automate those mundane processes, you can cut down on your costs of manpower, paper materials, work hours, and more. You save money, complete tasks at a faster rate, and bring in more profits in a shorter period of time.
Your business will have more data tomorrow than it does today – that’s just the way that business works in our digital age. Can you support this data with the system you have now? Or can you support this data with lower costs and a higher ROI?
RPA can help you determine what data is useful for your business operations and how you can maximize this data to your greatest potential. If you can see a future for RPA processes in your business model, you can begin the incorporation process.
We understand that implementing RPA in your company is easier said than done. How can you properly evaluate your company to see where these processes can fit? Luckily, Mobomo has you covered.
Our company has the skills and tools necessary to help you answer Fred Bigden’s four questions to see if RPA is right for you. We will evaluate your business operations and identify areas where you can increase efficiency, productivity, and profit. Mobomo can help determine your maturity level for RPA and help you get there – providing all the information and support you need to succeed.
If you are ready to invest in streamlining your company’s mundane, manual processes and increase your ROI, contact us today and learn more about our RPA solutions and how we can help you reach maturity.
