Confidence in RPA continues to grow
It is nothing new that intelligent machines and automated processes are becoming more and more important. But there is sometimes a gap between the knowledge of the necessity and the actual investment in new technologies. But this gap seems to be narrowing more and more. Companies suit the action to their words. There is countable progress in the implementation of new technologies – first and foremost Robotic Process Automation. According to a recent study by the FAZ, two out of three German companies want to modernize their outdated business processes very soon and hence automate them in many cases.
Progress in automation
Studies are already showing a rapid growth in the implementation of digital technologies in corporate structures. According to the Kofax Benchmarking Report of 2020, more than half of all companies are already using automation technologies in the digitization of information. Likewise, around half of the companies, surveyed use RPA for rule-based tasks and for back-office or front-desk activities. The findings support the thesis that investments in smart technologies will continue to grow in the coming years. Even the most cautious estimates assume that investments in automation solutions will increase by 40% in the next two years.
Companies see the need to invest in RPA
Another interesting study on the topic comes from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in cooperation with the consulting company Sopra Steria. According to the study, 71% of the German companies surveyed plan to realign their processes and value chains with the help of automation in the near future. Especially financial service providers, the manufacturing industry as well as public utilities and administrations see a need for action. The pressure on competitors to act will be correspondingly great. In other words: if someone in the industry starts to optimize with RPA, all the others will have to follow suit in order to keep up. This, in turn, will have a positive effect on providers like RPA, who will then be able to develop more extensively thanks to the new experience and turnover.
RPA as a building block for smart companies
Of course, Robotic Process Automation is not a panacea. Rather, it is a building block in a more comprehensive toolset for digital transformation. Above all, Robotic Process Automation itself is constantly evolving. For example, some solutions already use machine learning models to process unstructured information. This enables software robots to make data-driven decisions that go beyond the usual fixed rules for RPA bots. A good example of this is scanned documents, which are technically only available as image files. A modern RPA solution can read the necessary textual information from this image and then process it, as usual, using the fixed set of rules.
Integrated automation as a medium-term objective
The integrated automation of as many processes as possible through a single comprehensive platform is considered optimal for companies. However, the rapid pace of digital transformation causes great pressure to act on the part of decision-makers in companies. This often results in suboptimal decisions regarding the implementation of RPA. Solutions from different providers, for example, are often installed next to each other and do not harmonize well. In addition, some companies occasionally want too much at once. Many processes are to be restructured at the same time and as comprehensively as possible in order to exploit the expected optimization potential as quickly as possible. But this leads to higher technical debt and ultimately delayed success. The automation of smaller processes at the beginning, on the other hand, has established itself as the way to a fast return on investment. If this is done by one and the same provider, nothing stands in the way of integrated automation.
Are you interested in smart ways to integrate RPA solutions in your company? Then we look forward to introducing you to our b4/RPA Bot. Together with you, we will find optimization potential and ensure that you remain competitive. Approach the digital transformation and increase your productivity and the efficiency of your processes with RPA.