As RPA is maturing, many organizations are looking to take the technology in. We see a wide range of maturities in the organizations we work with, with some being extremely process-oriented and having documented their entire internal process flow – and others, where processes are ingrained in each employee in a department. Others are already looking into tools and have a prioritized backlog of processes, and a few have already started up by selecting an RPA solution that are not suitable for automating all the company’s processes and must be extended to cater for front-office and self-service process automation.
The process of getting started with SmartRPA Kapow differs based on the context you are currently in. We have tailored our offering around three parts of the maturity spectrum:
- Organizations who are completely new to RPA
- Organizations who are in the process of choosing an RPA solution
- Organizations who already have an RPA solution and are looking to replace or expand
Where on the RPA Maturity Scale are you?
New To RPA
Despite RPA greatly simplifying the automation processes compared to coding workflows or requesting APIs, the journey towards automating processes through robots has many steps and potential pitfalls.
To ensure a good return on investment and added agility to your organization, it is important to have an idea of the game-plan before jumping in. At the same time, it’s hard to get to best practice without practice, so it’s essential to get going before scaling.
Step 1: Understanding where the potential lies
As organizations differ in the systems they use, their processes, organizational departments, and their way of working, there is no plug-and-play solution for RPA. The start to adopting RPA in any organization should be to get an understanding of where and how the technology can be used.
Proof of Concept (PoC)
Over the course of two weeks we pinpoint where and with which systems RPA is best suited in your organization. At the same time, we can help you estimate the business case for your organization. We further automate 1-3 of the processes chosen. The purpose is to demonstrate the “happy-path” automation of each of the chosen processes.
How we do it
SmartRPA has developed a set of tools for the identification of processes (often called the discovery phase), which enables us to quickly gather and display information regarding systems, processes and the suitability of both for RPA. This is done by interviewing the people performing the processes to understand the process in a bit more depth, and testing the suitability of the RPA tool for automating on the underlying systems.
Once a backlog of processes has been made, our framework allows for a simple method of evaluating and comparing processes based on:
Suitability of the process for automation (x-axis)
Suitability of the underlying systems for automation (y-axis)
The expected value of automation (size of bubble)
Step 2: Get Started!
Once the potential is identified and a preliminary prioritization of processes has been made, it’s time to get going. Rather than planning grand schemes and huge scale, start small and learn. It’s easier and much less expensive to learn the fundamentals first and then scale, than it is to have started at scale and then figure out what you should have done.
Basically, the goal of the first two months should be to set up the team, establish the governance format, and automate the first few processes. If you don’t have experienced RPA developers available in your organization, it’s highly recommended to get external help for this period – typically referred to as a pilot project, to establish the potential of the RPA capability.
How we do it
SmartRPA typically calls this phase the Pilot – within 6-8 weeks, we ensure that 1-3 processes are automated and the robots doing the work are put into production. During the period we’re involved in this phase of the project, our primary task is to build a platform for your organization, including the structures and best practices that enable you to continue your successful journey after we leave.
In The Process
If your organization already has decided to implement a RPA solution, we recommend starting out with a technical PoC alongside any other solutions you may consider.
Selecting the right RPA solution from the beginning will save you time and money in the long run.
Step 1: Proof of Concept (PoC)
Depending on where you are in the process of choosing a tool, we can help with various aspects of this part of the journey. The staple of our offering is a one-week PoC, which allows you to compare the SmartRPA Kapow platform to the other vendors you are considering. Apart from that, we can advise you on setting up an evaluation framework based on our extensive knowledge working with a wide range of the RPA tools on the market. Further, we can help you identify processes in your organization that test the tools on all areas of your evaluation framework.
Evaluation framework
Typically, this revolves around the solutions’ fit with your systems, the ease of automation in each solution, the solutions’ capabilities in different areas of the business (back-office, front-office, and self-service), and commercials.
Process identification for PoC
Typically we find 1-3 processes that can be attempted for automation in each solution, giving a good idea of strengths and weaknesses of each solution.
Proof of Concept
The staple of our offering is the one-week PoC, in which we automate the processes chosen for the PoC processes. This week includes installation and configuration of the SmartRPA Kapow platform on a developer machine. The aim of the PoC is to demonstrate the “happy-path” automation of each of the chosen processes. The PoC is successful when the evaluation criteria are meet.
Step 2: Get Started!
Once the potential is identified and a preliminary prioritization of processes has been made, it’s time to get going. Rather than planning grand schemes and huge scale, start small and learn. It’s easier and much less expensive to learn the fundamentals first and then scale, than it is to have started at scale and then figure out what you should have done.
Basically, the goal of the first two months should be to set up the team, establish the governance format, and automate the first few processes. If you don’t have experienced RPA developers available in your organization, it’s highly recommended to get external help for this period – typically referred to as a pilot project, to establish the potential of the RPA capability.
How we do it
SmartRPA typically calls this phase the Pilot – within 6-8 weeks, we ensure that 1-3 processes are automated and the robots doing the work are put into production. During the period we’re involved in this phase of the project, our primary task is to build a platform for your organization, including the structures and best practices that enable you to continue your successful journey after we leave.
Already Doing RPA
You’ve already taken the first steps on your RPA journey – you have chosen a tool and have probably implemented a series of solutions for automated batch runs of back-office tasks in your tool. Now you want to broaden the range of automations and services you can provide with RPA into the front-office and self-service domain. SmartRPA Kapow also excels in these areas of RPA, allowing you to automatically generate webforms and webservices to initiate your robots from anywhere. This allows you to create solutions that your employees or customers can start on the fly by simply clicking a button on your intranet, website or mobile.
How we do it
SmartRPA recommends a one-week suitability check to verify the suitability of the SmartRPA Kapow platform in your front-office and for self-service before purchasing. During the suitability check, we find identify suitable processes for automation and implement a “happy-path” automation of a set of 1-3 processes.
Process identification for PoC
Typically we find 1-3 processes that can be attempted for automation in each solution, giving a good idea of strengths and weaknesses of each solution.
PoC
The staple of our offering is the one-week PoC, in which we automate the processes chosen for the PoC processes. This week includes installation and configuration of the SmartRPA Kapow platform on a developer machine. The aim of the PoC is to demonstrate the “happy-path” automation of each of the chosen processes. The PoC is successful when the evaluation criteria are meet.
Enablement and quick ROI
After a successful PoC the level of enablement is decided. In some cases, our consultants assist in realizing quick ROI’s depending on the resource situation at the customer.
Get Started – Contact Us!
We can enable you in your RPA work, either by automating processes alongside your team, or taking an advisory role to help you structure, organize, and train your organization.
