There is a lot of excitement and interest in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) these days, and for good reason. Intelligent automation helps improve flexibility, response and service; all distinguishing capabilities in the age of digital transformation. As a result, business owners and executives from all industries are taking notice. According to one AIIM research study, 55% of organizations plan to implement some form of robotic process automation in the next 6-12 months. Over 80% say they plan on automating over the next 1-2 years.
To apply RPA in the real world requires a number of important tools, foremost being automated software “Bots.” While the term often conjures an image of a far-away future, the fact is that bots are at work every day, automating and streamlining a wide variety of processes and interactions.
That was the subject of our recent AIIM On Air interview with author and futurist, Chris Surdak. We explore what bots are, how they are at work in a variety of businesses today, and suggest ways to use bots to improve the performance of your organization.
“The technology works, and that shouldn’t surprise us,” says Chris. “Most of what RPA is built on is 20-year-old technology. Realistically it’s macros and screen scraping, and we’ve been doing that since the 1990’s."
But according to Gartner, only 4% of organizations will succeed with RPA at scale. “What that number tells us is that the technology does work, it’s just that most people can’t make it work. Therefore, now is the time to step back and evaluate what are we doing wrong and what do we need to do to really make RPA work.”
All of this points to the rising demand for what AIIM and others are calling “The Digital Workplace,” an environment enables new, more effective ways of working, raises employee engagement and agility, and exploits advancements in intelligent automation.
If you thought that automated bots are something out of a future world of science fiction, it’s time to think again. Bots are a reality today and understanding how they work and how they can be applied to specific business processes is essential. Listen to the complete interview on the Care and Feeding of Bots here.