RPA Archives

Where should I start with RPA?

10 Dec 2019 - Craig J Willis - Blog, RPATagged Robotic Assess, Robotic Automation, Robotic Process Automation, RPA

THOSE WORKING IN THE RPA SPACE ARE USED TO SPOTTING GOOD OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLYING AUTOMATION. HOWEVER IT COMES THROUGH EXPERIENCE AND IT’S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS. SO, WHERE DO YOU START WITH RPA?

Skore’s Process Improvement Platform enables you to identify potential opportunities for RPA. However, often organisations are reluctant, the response being “we’ve tried that before but it didn’t really deliver the return we’d hoped for.”

If we look at statements like this more closely it’s actually because the processes in question are complicated. They are selected for a number of reasons; multiple systems, numerous copy and paste activities, repetition and high levels of human interaction. Most importantly these are considered low risk in case anything went wrong.

However whilst low risk they are clearly of low importance too. Only a vague scope is agreed before the team go to work developing automation ideas.

Teams may initially be pleased that the amount of copy and paste they previously did is greatly reduced and the volume of items they can handle has increased. However, the number of exceptions start to increase too, at a higher rate than the volume increase. In addition, there is an increase in rework… items that didn’t make it successfully to the end of the process and need to be redone, often manually.

In other words organisations fix one problem but create new ones. On balance there is only a small return on investment and the whole RPA initiative runs out of steam before it’s begun.

So, how do you avoid these common mistakes? Where do you start with RPA?

Understanding which processes are right for automation is essential for success. Every organisation will have a different view of what’s important. Time and cost savings are obvious benefits but you must consider the impact on customer and employee experience.

Therefore the first thing you should do is start to capture and analyse your end-to-end business processes. You need to get people aligned and identify everything that needs to be improved before applying automation. This drives out the requirements and other improvement opportunities.

RPA Business Case Report — Example of a Skore Report

Remember capturing business processes doesn’t have to be time consuming, using process mapping it can be achieved rapidly, with high levels of engagement and immediately outputs a report of what to automate and when. Skore’s Process Improvement platform was designed with this in mind and also produces a robust business case for each process. This helps you prioritise them into a pipeline of work.

If you want to get the most out of RPA you need to pick processes that are easy to automate and return high value benefits in the shortest time. At least until you’ve established your RPA capability and are able to scale it. Using process discovery will help you identify those processes rapidly and prioritise them efficiently.

Craig Willis is one of the founders of Skore, the Process Improvement platform that enables everyone in your organisation to read and understand your processes.

Learn more about Skore and how we can help you on your automation projects

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Chaos to Conviction – Essential Discovery for Successful RPA

10 Sep 2019 - Craig J Willis - BlogTagged RPA - Leave a Comment

Like any automation, when developing a new process mapping techniques for RPA a high degree of certainty is required to make it work. Teams must clearly define exactly which screens to interface with, the exact data required and the correct manipulation, if you want to achieve successful RPA process mapping.

Get any of this wrong and your robot may be fast, they may be cheaper than a human, but the output renders it worse than useless, even potentially dangerous. However, the way humans work, especially in organic process, is rarely full of certainty. Processes can be opaque, overly complicated and difficult to explain. To bridge this gap you need a stable approach to RPA process improvement.

A Solid Framework

Traditionally you could simply rely on an experienced consultant who’s done this before, however these are hard to find and can be expensive. A good analyst, or subject matter expert, should be able to achieve the same objective providing they are supported by a robust framework.

This is so key because it makes sense of what can appear chaotic. Humans each have a unique way to describe what they do so one of the first things to do is to be able to standardise that output.

As an example, in a recent project we looked at a global finance process that was executed regionally. During the initial discovery sessions one could have been forgiven for thinking these regional activities were completely different processes due to the language used and approach taken.

By applying a framework we were forced to ask: where does it start? what happens? who does it? with what? and what’s the output? This immediately provided simple data to work with – essentially – are they starting with the same input and are they aiming to produce the same output?

Using this approach meant that instantly it wasn’t us challenging the user but the framework itself. This simple technique avoids the user becoming defensive, or feeling threatened, when challenged about how they work. In our example our adherence to the Skore framework resulted in a successful process mapping exercise with the bonus of no egos hurt or relationships damaged.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.

This first pass at process mapping rarely gets you straight to the answer but it will start to make sense of what’s going on. Once you’ve established the start point and endpoint of one or more processes you need to understand how they actually work.

Take each step in a process and break that down into the next level of detail. This ensures that all your work is captured in the context of the wider process. Continue the previous line of questioning until you can clearly describe the process as if you had done it yourself. This is much easier than it might at first sound, providing you follow the guidelines of the framework. You may need to repeat several times to achieve this but you can normally complete this in one or two sessions.

Apply the RPA Lense

Once you’ve captured the process you’ll already be thinking about which parts are suitable for RPA. It’s time to combine your solid process mapping approach with available software.

This helps to quickly identify standardised inputs and outputs, interfaces suitable for RPA, decision making and so on. Software will support your decision making to ensure you can do it quicker and more accurately. Build your business case by determining how much a process costs, how many full time equivalent roles are required, who will be impacted and the potential savings.

Successful process discovery RPA business case dashboard created by Skore — Image taken from the Skore Robotic Assess Module

Capture and Approve the Detail

Finally, once you have selected the most suitable candidate for automation you can capture the step by step process. Again create a process map under the relevant step, capture the key stroke steps, along with screenshots, to develop a detailed design document in the context of the wider process and business case.

Successful RPA Process Mapping

Through years of experience I’ve rarely come across anyone that can clearly articulate their own process when asked. RPA opportunities often arise as the result of some major shift or disruption in the workplace. Where workarounds prevail however, it is even harder for a coherent process description to arise. This means that RPA opportunities can often be tricky to make sense of and get right.

Too often what looked initially like a great candidate turns out to be overly complicated with too many exceptions. A strong framework, applied methodically, will weed out those processes and help you make more informed decisions. Don’t be afraid to take the time to go back and retrace steps until you fully understand the process. Repetition and reiteration are your friends in this.

Skore is a Process Improvement Software platform designed to enable anyone in the organisation to read and understand your processes. Speedily capturing processes in workshops you can get instant insights to help you identify automation opportunities, savings and start building a business case. You can find out more by getting in touch below.

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Don’t drown in the RPA Sea of Opportunity.

06 Aug 2019 - Craig J Willis - BlogTagged Robotic Assess, Robotic Automation, Robotic Process Automation, RPA - Leave a Comment

Ensure your organisation’s preparations for RPA process discovery are watertight and ready for anything. Here are Skore’s recommendations for RPA process discovery success.

A previous blog explored the difficulties, especially in organisations new to RPA, in identifying good opportunities for implementing robots.

However, this blog focuses more on when you have some fantastic early success with RPA. Interestingly this leads to a number of different problems to consider:

how to quickly evaluate and prioritise the requests
how to collaborate with the requesting teams
how to maintain the growing number of robots.

It was the perfect example to demonstrate that getting RPA process discovery right means this situation will happen sooner than you think. We recommend that you start thinking about the following early on in your RPA journey.

Evaluate and prioritise requests

You will move from a hunting model to a servicing model. Instead of searching out for opportunities and candidates for RPA, you will be receiving requests from colleagues across the business.

Remember that very few people will have the experience you have in identifying these opportunities. Requests will vary from a near perfect fit to wildly unsuitable and will differ considerably in size and complexity. You won’t have time to do a thorough investigation into each one before deciding whether to engage or not. You need to make sure your team are as prepared as possible to evaluate these opportunities effectively.

With a Process Improvement Platform, such as Skore, you can quickly capture a high level view of the process. Plus you can determine suitability, feasibility and the potential business case.

This can be done in a single conversation with the requesting team, or, you can even ask them to do it themselves.

The information is saved directly to the system and a pipeline of candidates is produced and ranked according to the potential benefits. Process discovery and evaluation is arguably the most important stage of the RPA model, do not underestimate it.

Collaboration with the business

From the time a request is submitted, until the robot is delivered, communication with the requesting team is essential. If you’re accepting requests and managing comms via email this is never going to scale.

Consider a task management tool such as Asana, Jira or Monday. These can be configured to accept requests electronically, manage projects and provide dashboards so that both the delivery team and the requesting team can see the status of the project at any time.

With the processes captured in Skore it’s very easy to indicate which steps are to be automated and tested. This can be exported to your task management tool to provide the framework to the project, if accepted.

Robot maintenance

Ongoing maintenance of robots is something that very few teams consider… until they need it. Very few robots can be built and forgotten. Robots are using systems and forms that can change. Robots themselves are software and will receive updates and improvements that need to be considered. Data used by the robots can change too.

Ensure that you maintain a catalogue of previously built robots and their current operating status. Use monitoring to notify you of potential issues that arise before they have a significant impact on the process. Plan maintenance windows to allow you to update robots as and when required.

Ultimately, robots are like any other system the organisation manages so it’s essential that you have clear processes to deal with outages, issues and general maintenance. Don’t undervalue this step in your RPA implementation plan.

Conclusion

Get RPA right and it has the impact to transform a business and it can happen quickly. When it does you need to be ready to take full advantage. Think early about how you’re going to scale production and maintenance and what tools you will use to plan, evaluate and review. This will save you a lot of trouble and lost opportunity when your RPA vision truly sets sail.

Skore is cloud based software platform designed so that everyone in your organisation can understand and collaborate on your processes. If you’d like to learn more about how Skore could help your automation endeavours then get in touch.

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Can’t see the robots for the trees?

24 Jul 2019 - Craig J Willis - Blog, RPATagged Business Process Mapping, Robotic Assess, Robotic Automation, Robotic Process Automation, RPA - 1 Comment

Make sure you are identifying the right RPA processes straightaway.

As soon as you get into RPA you can’t help but see opportunities for applying the technology everywhere. Although not every opportunity turns out to be suitable, it’s important to keep feeding the pipeline.

The concept of using robots to automate manual activities is very simple. Logically it should be fairly simple to spot opportunities for using them. However, this whole area, despite the phenomenal growth in the RPA market, is still massively under exploited in most organisations.

Why is it so hard?

There are numerous reasons for this. Firstly RPA capability is still young and developing in most organisations and there is limited capacity to move quickly. Secondly, for many the value is yet to meet the promise, although when it undoubtedly does it will rapidly hit a tipping point. Finally, the workforce in general do not have the necessary skills, knowledge and information to spot relevant opportunities. It is vital that your organisation can identify the right RPA processes from the start.

Skore’s Experience.

Skore recently was contacted by a client working on compliance processes in Skore. It involved checking hundreds of PDF files to ensure the right data had been entered into the right fields. They could only check a sample each month which was about 1% of the total.

The client was aware of RPA, having seen it in action in their organisation, yet hadn’t spotted the opportunity to automate in their own department. It was only when they captured the reporting process and it came to life in Skore, that the light bulb moment arrived.

Identify RPA processes — Image taken from Skore

As they summarised – “the problem is that we spend so much time down in the weeds. We’re focused on getting all this work finished everyday we don’t see the bigger picture.”

When the wider process was laid out visually, with highly manual and repeatable steps clearly highlighted, it was obvious that significant improvements could be made. When the time and cost data was added to Skore there was a clear business case too. Then they were able to identify the right RPA process.

A revolutionary change…

Although it was the significant time saving that was exciting the client, the benefits went way beyond. Suddenly their 1% sampling could become 100% of documents with the team free to follow up on those that failed the compliance check. This significantly reduced the risk of poor customer experience, regulatory fines and the resulting effect that would have on the business brand.

Despite the fact that the client was well aware of the capabilities of RPA they had found it difficult to spot opportunities for applying the technology. They were so focused on the day to day activities that they couldn’t see the difference between those that were highly standardised and repeatable and those that weren’t. It was by taking the time to capture these processes that the RPA need and benefits became clear.

Conclusion

To identify RPA opportunities we need to take a step back and look at our processes objectively. We must devote time to understand what the company needs, what our staff need and what our customers need. It is very easy to get lost in the detail and lose the bigger picture. RPA promises great benefits but only if we can commit to taking the time to identify the right processes to automate.

Skore’s cloud based Process Improvement platform rapidly captures business processes and produces instant insights.

New RPA Partnership Announcement

03 Jul 2019 - Anna Roebuck - News, RPATagged Robotic Assess, Robotic Automation, Robotic Process Automation, RPA - 1 Comment

Skore Digital Discovery Platform announces partnership with leading RPA Solution & Services experts Lawrence & Wedlock.

The new collaboration will ensure an end to end solution for companies looking to achieve agility in implementing RPA technologies. Skore’s Robotic Assess module brings disruption to the discovery phase of any automation project. It considerably reduces the time to discover, engages stakeholders and produces a robust analysis of the current situation.

Lawrence & Wedlock, an experienced intelligent automation services provider, delivers end-to-end solutions from process discovery and product selection through to implementation and ongoing maintenance.

In the rush to automate it’s not always clear what to automate now and what to improve before automating. Daniel Lawrence, Managing Director at L&W said: ‘Our clients rely on Lawrence & Wedlock to deliver agile, creative and efficient solutions. The Skore platform is becoming an integral part of our delivery toolkit in facilitating this, enabling us to move away from static templates and spreadsheets in favour of a robust, scalable platform to work collaboratively with our clients to deliver their RPA programme and provide our developers with everything they need to deliver automations.’

The Skore Digital Discovery tool is an excellent match for any organisation looking to become more agile through the use of disruptive technologies such as RPA. Chris Green, Partner Director at Skore said: “Skore is the answer for organisations looking to rapidly implement automation based on an in-depth analysis of their current situation and provide a solid foundation for ongoing adoption of that technology. Lawrence & Wedlock provide a comprehensive and effective solution for their customers using RPA which makes perfect sense for this partnership.”

Notes to Editors

Skore is a leading software company whose unique solution helps organizations reduce the cost and risk of digital transformation, systems implementation and automation.

Lawrence & Wedlock are a certified RPA services partner, providing automation Services and Solutions. Their objective is to make automation enablement truly accessible for businesses through our simple, flexible and effective services.

For further press information, please contact:

Anna Roebuck [email protected]

Marketing and Communications Manager 023 92 658 268

Is RPA Just A Band Aid?

02 Jul 2019 - Craig J Willis - Blog, RPATagged Robotic Assess, Robotic Automation, Robotic Process Automation, RPA

Are we postponing the inevitable with RPA and storing up problems for the future?

When applying RPA to a manual interface, between an old legacy system and a company’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, often the instinct is to rip out the legacy system. To replace it with something more modern and efficient with the ability to integrate directly. However what is an issue today may be an advantage or opportunity tomorrow and vice versa. In other words, businesses need to be more agile so they can understand the nature of problems they face today and adapt and change for the problems they face in the future.

Making businesses agile is where RPA, and tools such as Skore’s Software platform, really come into their own. With mapping and analysis tools, an organisation can rapidly understand the current situation, align teams and get everyone on-board. It’s a completely different approach to traditional methods of discovery.

Image taken from Skore’s Robotic Assess Software Platform

Undertaking a major systems implementation may seem like the right answer today, for example, replacing a legacy system. However if it takes 12 – 18 months how can we be sure that it will be the right solution long-term?

This is where Process Discovery and RPA are so effective. Process capture workshops are fast, engaging and result in an agreed set of processes in a digital and shareable format.

Furthermore, process capturing should really be more than just ‘processes’. While a process acts as a framework for understanding how the organisation works, a mapping and analysis tool should allow you to augment the process with other information such as; roles, systems, data, duration and costs etc.

It allows you to create a more complete picture of how the organisation works. Enabling you to focus on what’s important right now.

This is why mapping and analysis fits so neatly with RPA. Robotic Process Automation allows you to quickly implement changes to, and vastly improve the performance of, how work gets done. There’s no need to run an 18 month implementation programme before you start seeing benefits. Benefits identified during process discovery can be implemented and realised with RPA within weeks or even days.

We recognise that many organisations are still using traditional methods of discovery to feed their RPA initiatives. But don’t be surprised when there’s a collective groan from your colleagues. If you really want to become truly agile you’ll need to abandon the old ways and marry your RPA programme with Digital Discovery. Only this way will you ensure that your RPA initiative is not just hiding problems for the future.

Skore has developed Robotic Assess, a Saas software solution that enables you and your organisation to rapidly discover and agree business processes, identify RPA opportunities and create a robust business case with clear ROI analysis. Find out more about what our Software Platform tool can do for you.

Are you getting Value For Money from RPA?

25 Jun 2019 - Anna Roebuck - BlogTagged Robotic Assess, Robotic Process Automation, RPA

Don’t leave your RPA Business Case until its too late.

We’ve all been there…

How do we ensure we get value for money from RPA? It’s so easy to get carried away with a new toy, tearing open the box and emptying the contents all over the floor. Start sticking the lego blocks together before you’ve even unwrapped the instructions. Plugging in the new TV without opening the manual.

Disruptive new business technologies like Robotic Process Automation are just as exciting. Unlike the old Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems of the past, with RPA tools you can start implementing from day one.

However unlike the TV in your living room, RPA could have a profound effect on your business….. Or, it could not…… Are you really sure that you are going to get value for money from RPA?

If it’s not positioned correctly, if it doesn’t align with the organisation’s objectives, if it disrupts in a negative way or if it simply doesn’t deliver the expected benefits… It will be packed away in the cupboard to collect dust like all the broken toys and missing parts.

With RPA it’s essential you start thinking about the wider business case right from the get go. With the hype around the technology it won’t be long before you’re having to answer board level questions about that business case. You must be ready with the right answers as early as possible.

Starting to build the business case isn’t difficult

You don’t need to get hung up on a detailed business case at this point but putting a simple framework together now will provide a solid foundation. Skore recommends starting to build the foundation with the 4 Ps of Robotic Process Automation. This way you can start to ensure that you will get value for money from RPA.

P is for Process

Which processes are most likely to benefit from RPA? There’s a lot to choose from and the challenge will be selecting those that make a significant difference.

Are you simply pushing process inefficiencies downstream? Processes need to be considered end-to-end. If you apply RPA at one point in a process, what’s the impact on other areas?

Are there areas of the process that need to be improved before applying the technology? Automating a bad process means you’re just speeding up a bad process.

Take the time to make an inventory of possible candidate processes. Performing a high level review of those processes will quickly identify what can and should be automated. Document the volumes and costs of those processes today so you can start thinking about the benefits of automation immediately. With Skore’s Digital Discovery Platform you can rapidly capture and analyse key business processes and start building a business case straight away.

P is for Performance

What sort of performance improvement can you expect from implementing RPA? If you’ve followed the previous step you’ll already have a list of candidates and their current performance. Start to evaluate them to understand the scale of the improvement.

What improvements are you measuring? Improvements are not just about time savings you should also be considering speed, quality, volume, cost and customer or employee experience.

It needn’t be detailed but understanding the magnitude of the improvement will help when discussing the potential benefits of the technology.

P is for Prioritisation

Where do you start when you get the go ahead for the investment? Once you have catalogued the processes most suitable for RPA and understood the potential performance improvements this should be fairly straight forward.

Which strategic priorities will give you the largest gain for the smallest investment of time and money? Consider the organisation today and which performance improvements best align with those priorities. Priorities can change but having a good argument for why you have selected them with supporting evidence is essential.

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P is for Plan

What is the impact on the existing human workforce? Applying RPA isn’t just about implementing robots and moving on to the next thing. Robotic Process Automation can have a significant impact on the way work happens in the organisation. RPA is an extension of your workforce so must be considered as such.

Are they ready for the change? How is work going to be reassigned? What new opportunities does this generate and how is that going to be exploited?

A lot of these questions can lead to unexpected benefits above and beyond simple cost and time saving. These will help strengthen the investment case and help with communications.

Finally, consider what happens 6 or 12 months from now? How do the robots you implement today stay relevant tomorrow? How are the processes maintained and improved over time?

Conclusion

RPA is an exciting technology with the potential to have a huge impact on modern organisations. However, it’s easy to get caught up in the technology and not consider the bigger picture. RPA is a strategic investment and needs to be considered as such as early as possible.

The Skore Robotic Assess module on the Skore Digital Discovery platform quickly identifies and documents end-to-end processes, assesses them for RPA suitability, calculates potential benefits and prioritise candidates. The platform has a user friendly interface with simple dashboards and clear analysis that can be presented as part of your business case.

Request a free demo of Robotic Assess

Craig Willis is the Customer Success Director and one of the founders at Skore.

The Number 1 Reason RPA Projects Fail

18 Jun 2019 - Craig J Willis - BlogTagged Business Process Mapping, Intelligent Automation, Robotic Assess, Robotic Automation, Robotic Process Automation, RPA - Leave a Comment

How to stop RPA failure? Up to 50% of RPA projects fail during or after the initial implementation according to a recent Ernst and Young’s report. Unsurprisingly for many, the main reason is that projects are IT led rather than by the business.

However this is not an IT problem, it’s a business problem. It is the business who has failed to engage with, or properly understand, the project and it is the business who has misaligned their strategy and processes.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology with strategic implications. Absolutely IT must play a significant part in any implementation but to achieve a truly transformational change to your bottom line, profits and customer experience the business must be in the driving seat.

So, how does the business become, and stay, engaged in such an important initiative? How to stop RPA failure?

Business benefits

RPA, in its simplest form, takes on many manual and repetitive tasks currently performed by humans.

More sophisticated RPA implementations can start to pick up more value adding work, often between multiple systems, where humans are performing manual interface activities such as moving data from one system to another. This is especially true when augmented with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Typically RPA should only be applied to parts of the process, significantly speeding it up and reducing errors. Very few full end-to-end processes are suitable for implementation of RPA.

Not investigating and entirely understanding your processes means potentially you are pushing the problem further along. The bottom line is that while RPA may have improved one part of the process, the rest continues to consume as much time and resources leading to little or no business benefit.

It is essential that the business leads the effort to understand the end-to-end business process. They must identify the parts most suitable for RPA and understand the impact on the rest of the process. Only this will ensure that a real and measurable improvement can be produced.

Business priorities

The old adage “when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail” is common when any new and disruptive technology comes along and RPA is no exception. Once you start to look at your business through the RPA lense you’ll quickly identify many potential opportunities.

The key is, as above, to try and identify the true business benefits. It doesn’t have to be time consuming. The days of long discovery and analysis phases are coming to an end with the advent of new software tools such as Skore’s Process Improvement platform. This capture and analysis of end-to-end processes takes a fraction of the time compared to traditional ways.

This means the business can quickly understand the potential business benefits across multiple processes allowing a comparison and prioritisation of opportunities.

Once benefits are understood in terms of time and cost savings they can be compared to strategic business priorities to ensure that your RPA initiatives are clearly aligned to your business strategy.

How to stop RPA failure — Image taken from Skore’s Robotic Assess Module

Support for IT

IT will play a critical role in the success of any project.

To support IT ensure they have the necessary budget to deliver the expected benefits. Essentially however, they must also have access to the business expertise to ensure they can build the right solution.

Any work carried out to understand the processes and quantify the benefits should include representatives from IT. This means they are engaged early and fully understand the context of what you are asking them to provide. It will go a long way to preventing unexpected problems cropping up later in the project or after going live.

Conclusion

RPA promises to transform many businesses with rapid deployment, speed of operation and quality of output. However applied in the wrong place with the wrong motives it can quickly turn into an expensive project with no tangible benefits.

Follow our tips on how to stop RPA failure:

RPA projects should be led by the business to deliver tangible business benefits aligned with strategic priorities
Processes need to be understood holistically and the impact on non-automated parts properly understood – investment in this stage is vital
Keep IT engaged throughout to ensure everyone is fully aligned

Find out more about how Skore and how our analytics could help your business identify the right processes for automation. Skore’s software platform builds a prioritised portfolio of RPA opportunities based on robust ROI analysis. It was designed with a simple two shape system which means everyone in the organisation can understand and share processes.

Learn more about how Process Improvement can transform your business by accessing our resources here

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Statistics taken from Ernst and Young’s recent report ‘Get Ready for Robots’ available here https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Get_ready_for_robots/$FILE/ey-get-ready-for-robots.pdf