What should I automate?

By Bethany Savage, RPA Practice Lead

Perhaps you’ve purchased a ‘bot’ or two. Or maybe you’re hearing about RPA for the first time.  Regardless, experience has taught us you likely have the same question: “What should I automate?”

Another thing experience has taught us: you’re looking at RPA because you want to achieve a high ROI and have a meaningful impact on your organization’s daily operations.

Here’s the good news. If you can effectively identify automation candidates, “the what,” then you can influence “the why”—improved operational outcomes. Here’s how.

Assess your needs

If you’re newer to RPA, here’s a quick recap of what it is, so we’re all on the same page.  RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is a technology solution that uses programmed digital workers (aka ‘robots’ or ‘bots’) to mimic the routine, rules-based, time-consuming work a human does on a computer.

When adopting RPA, you first want to assess the needs of your organization:

• Are there areas with frequent open positions, high turnover rates, or dissatisfied employees?
• How are your areas with high demand for data-driven outputs like financial transactions or reporting?
• Do you feel like you’re missing a part of the picture due to limited visibility across multiple platforms or technologies?

Look for ROI

I’ve previously written that the value of RPA exceeds return on investment (ROI). But the traditional ROI calculation is still worthwhile. In fact, when measuring the time and/or cost saved by utilizing RPA versus the cost of licensing bots, the value is significant.

To assess ROI potential, ask:

• Do you have operations-essential processes that occur regularly—daily or weekly?
• Are there processes that produce outputs used to drive business decisions?
• What transactions have a high volume (e.g., recurring numerous times in a given period)?

Search for speed

One of the great advantages of RPA is how quickly it can be implemented and the immediate results it can generate. To identify what processes might have the quickest turnaround time, ask:

• What transactions are highly rules-based (meaning a logical path is followed from start to finish)?
• Are there any processes already clearly defined or even documented?
• Do you have repetitive transactions that involve a high volume of data?

Prioritize for impact

While this is just meant as a ‘teaser’ to get you started, it also demonstrates the type of process you will get when you partner with Garnet River to begin (and then grow!) your RPA practice. From process assessment to selecting proof of concept (PoC) candidates, we limit costs and minimize disruption while creating measurable impacts for your business.

Want to learn more?  Let’s talk. We can help you identify good automation candidates today!