How Much Can You Automate with RPA

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RPA Automation

The question of how much can be automated with RPA depends. The extent of how much automation can help is determined by a company’s digital maturity and the specific tasks at hand. If a company has digitized its information, and undertaken some level of digitalization of processes, will effect a successful digital transformation journey. We believe that RPA can be implemented in every aspect of a company. Some of our clients like to start with specific departments, like IT or Accounting, to start their digital transformation journey. Tasks need to be repetitive and rules based to be good candidates for RPA. If your business has mundane tasks that occur in volume … these are the ones to look at first. In this article we will highlight some processes that are commonly automated and some tools that are frequently used in RPA deployments.

RPA Tools and Popular Vendors

Various tools can be used for RPA bots and for automation. Power Automate Desktop is a popular tool. Power Automate offers a low-code platform that enables the automation of various business processes. Power Automate with RPA can integrate with numerous applications and services, allowing for streamlined workflows and increased productivity. At Valenta we work with Power Automate plus other RPA software providers like UiPath and Automation Anywhere. Instead of providing software licenses and seats we take the approach of providing bots as a service. We work with our clients to identify all the processes that make the most sense to automate. From there we look to have the bots we provide to customers handle all the repetitive tasks and processes that can best help a business.

Processes To Automate with RPA

Various industries have back-office tasks that often exhibit repetitive and rule-based characteristics. Many if not all departments in organizations commonly face high volumes of mundane tasks. The application of RPA can yield significant benefits in streamlining operations and improving efficiency across multiple functions. Many of our clients choose to automate IT processes with RPA. Accounting processes are also popular ones that they choose to automate. Sales, Marketing, Operations, and HR are other departments that we frequently find automation potential in for our clients. Power Automate Desktop, as well as software from UiPath and Automation Anywhere are often great matches for automation in all these departments.

To answer the question of how much can you automate with RPA lets take a closer look at some processes many of Valenta’s clients choose to automate. 

Automate Processes Across Departments with RPA

RPA bots can bring many benefits to business processes by reducing repetitive low value work and minimizing errors and increasing efficiency. The following are some of the top processes we see clients automating across their organizations.

Data Entry

RPA is particularly helpful automating data entry tasks. Whether it involves updating databases with new information on an ongoing recurring basis or executing large-scale data migrations, RPA can seamlessly handle these repetitive tasks, reducing manual effort and the potential for errors. Many businesses that are B2C in nature deal with massive amounts of data. However, B2B businesses benefit as well.

Data Validation

RPA can compare and validate data across multiple systems, ensuring consistency and accuracy. By automating data validation processes, organizations can identify discrepancies and mitigate potential errors resulting from manual data entry or system inconsistencies. Data validation automation can greatly assist with compliance initiatives and requirements.

IT Network and User Management

Many of our clients wish to automate IT processes with RPA. Automation can help with a variety of tasks when it comes to IT. User provisioning can see benefits and so can password, software, and license management. RPA bots can also automate help desk service responses. Bots can also be used to test IT networks and validate that all systems are configured according to specs.

Order Processing

The automation of order management tasks is another area where RPA can shine. RPA bots can validate orders, generate invoices, and update inventory systems throughout a company. All of this promotes seamless and efficient order processing. RPA bots and automation can also greatly improve the time it takes to process orders, speeding up delivery times.

Invoice Processing

RPA can really transform invoice processing workflows. By leveraging its ability to extract relevant information from invoices and match them with purchase orders, RPA can automate the updating of accounting systems. RPA can also ensure accuracy and timeliness while freeing up valuable human resources.

Payroll Processing

Automating payroll tasks is another area where RPA can deliver significant value. Data validation, salary, tax, and benefits calculations, as well as report generation, can all be automated with RPA. Automation of payroll processing not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of errors in critical processes.

Communications

RPA can greatly enhance communication-related tasks. From sorting and prioritizing incoming emails to forwarding relevant documents and sending automated responses based on predefined rules, RPA can streamline communication workflows. RPA can even automate chat functions or provide assistance to human workers during customer interactions, further augmenting operational efficiency. Taking this a step further and combining RPA with Conversational AI leads to Hyperautomation.

Document Management and Collaboration

RPA bots can automate document-centric processes, such as creating folders, moving files, triggering notifications when documents are modified, and managing document approvals. They can also integrate with cloud storage services like SharePoint, OneDrive, or Teams, improving collaboration and version control. Power Automate with RPA is especially useful here.

Information Collection and Forms

RPA bots can automate the collection and processing of data through customizable forms. Users can fill out forms, and bots can capture the submitted data, perform validations or calculations, and integrate it with other systems or databases. They can also generate reports and dashboards from collected data.

Approval Workflows

RPA bots can automate approval processes by creating custom workflows that route documents, requests, or other items for review and approval. Approvers receive notifications and can provide feedback and make decisions directly from any device, improving efficiency and reducing manual follow-up.

Report Generation

RPA’s capability to collect data from diverse sources and process it efficiently positions it as an ideal tool for report generation. By automating the compilation and formatting of reports, businesses can gain valuable insights quickly and support data-driven decision-making processes. RPA report generation can also help with compliance requirements in many different types of businesses.

Customer Onboarding

RPA can streamline the customer onboarding experience by efficiently collecting, validating, and processing customer information across multiple systems utilized by a business. Automating this process, organizations can enhance customer satisfaction and accelerate time-to-value. Combing RPA with Conversational AI can yield even better results and allow onboarding to be self-service for new customers.

HR Onboarding and Offboarding

RPA can play a pivotal role in automating HR processes during employee onboarding and offboarding. Tasks such as creating user accounts, granting access permissions, and updating HR systems can be seamlessly executed by RPA bots. By using automation HR teams are able to focus on higher-value tasks and be more present for employees and job applicants.

Want to Learn More About RPA

Hopefully, the above provides a good overview of “how much you can automate with RPA.” RPA can benefit many different areas of an organization. RPA holds tremendous potential for automating repetitive and rule-based tasks.  Processes that necessitate complex decision-making, handling unstructured data, or human-centric interactions may require a combination of RPA with other advanced technologies, such as machine learning (ML) or natural language processing (NLP). Leveraging RPA to work with people in a “human in the loop” mode is also a great way to go when a process cannot be fully automated. RPA is most effective when applied to well-defined processes. For organizations undergoing frequent process changes or managing highly variable tasks, RPA implementation may require ongoing maintenance and updates to accommodate evolving requirements. At Valenta we can help you answer the question of how much can you automate with RPA.  Please contact a Valenta Managing Partner at any time to discuss RPA bots and automating workflows. To read more about Automation and bots you can find our main page on RPA here. Finally, a page highlighting all of the different industries we serve can be found here.

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