Common RPA Pitfalls and Challenges

What are the challenges associated with RPA?

Robotic process automation, albeit relatively new, is being institutionalized by organizations worldwide. You’d be surprised to know that it hasn’t been much time for automation to have gained momentum.

It was only In May 2013, Mckinsey published a report outlining ‘advanced robotics’ amongst the disruptive technologies- ones that are capable of transforming life, business, and even the global economy.

Although Robotic process automation promises great benefits, there are associated challenges that your business needs to identify, deal, and overcome effectively.

You can even follow (or save it for later) this RPA implementation guide we did a while back. It’s worth your time!

We’ve outlined the key challenges while implementing Robotic process automation for you can make savvy automation decisions, whenever the situation asks for.

1. Set Reasonable Expectations

The demand for Robotic process automation is at an all-time high, and falling prey to the hype and over-enthusiastic success perspective is nothing new to enterprises.
Here’s a pro tip: Start by setting clear business objectives. What is it that you want to achieve through automation?

Identify the growth objectives and access if Robotic process automation (RPA) can help you attain them; or is it the hype and vanity-metrics that you’re after?

1. Wrong Automation Process

Not all processes are suitable for automation. A thumb rule to access a process for automation is to check whether the selected processes comply with the standardized and predictive rules.

If not, it’d be good to drop it and start-over; saving your time, money, and efforts.

Another crucial point is to check for processes that require repetitive manual inputs and are susceptible to clerical errors.

1. Mismanagement of Responsibilities

Implementing Robotic process automation the right way will yield positive results eventually, but getting it ‘right’ is where businesses fail initially.

Whenever an organization tries to implement or adapt to new technology, there’s inevitable mismanagement of responsibilities.

For a successful business process automation, it’s imperative to point out duties and answer questions like- who will be managing what, which process RPA will automate, who will be involved, and the likes.

1. Inability to Automate Effectively

There are simple processes, and then there are complex processes- Robotic process automation alone can’t effectively automate both of them.

But fret not, for there’s not one but two solutions.
You can either redesign the complex process into small sophisticated tasks, and then automate each task individually or, you can integrate Robotic process automation with AI and ML technologies.

For instance, when RPA’s abilities are combined with Natural Language Processing (NLP), these bots can then analyze huge chunks of data, build cognitive abilities, and perform the desired actions.

Either way, when automating a process, make sure to do it effectively, or don’t do it at all.

1. Overcoming Technical Issues

RPA’s ease of implementation and customization accounts for its radical success. Though, features like these can often override the technical suggestions and inputs from your technical staff.

Nonetheless, ensure to establish and follow through RPA maintenance protocols, just in case you face some technicalities down the line.

Challenges are a crucial part of any technical achievement, but what’s important though, is to acknowledge, and overcome them.

Let expert RPA developers take care of RPA challenges whilst automating your business processes.

What are the Pitfalls of RPA?

RPA offers ‘n’ number of benefits to businesses, but it’d be naive to quote it beneficial for all sorts of enterprises. RPA automates tasks, which ultimately poses an imminent threat to jobs.

Pitfall #1

Though enterprises are in continuous pursuit of implementing Robotic process automation and transitioning to the technologies of the future, there’s a dark side to all this positivity.

Here’s a study to make our point:

According to Forrester research, RPA automation is expected to hijack the livelihood of 250 million workers, i.e, 9% of the total global workforce!

Though, that is not to say that do not invest in business automation technologies. Change is the course of business and not abiding by the changes will only make your obsolete.

Pitfall #2

RPA implementation fails more often than you’d like it to be.
Even if you could mitigate the actual workforce conundrum, RPA fails more often than it starts to even yield benefits. And the reason isn’t the technology itself.

Wrong implementation, wrong processes automation, lack of inputs, and a wide array of other reasons add to RPA failure (refer to the challenges stated above).

In a 2017 McKinsey & Company report, it was highlighted that more than half of RPA programs are put on hold just after inception, whilst several CIOs blatantly refuse to automate their processes.

Why?

For implementing bots and automating processes demands for resources, and is far costlier than it appears to be on the surface. Moreover, positive economic outcomes aren’t assured- they’re, if anything, a far fetched idea that entrepreneurs desperately seek to be true.

To put it another way:

Whilst it is possible to automate 30% tasks, the results needn’t translate to 30% cost-reduction. On the contrary, the operational costs are only likely to spike, leaving RPA as yet another standalone process.

For successful and smooth RPA integration, businesses need to follow the right implementation process. You can refer to this detailed guide on RPA implementation on sites.bubblelife.