The robot instead of the person: why it is important to business to implement RPA? TADetails

What business processes can be robotized

Let's make for a start a half-step backwards and we will understand what is program robots and what their role in implementation of initiatives of digital transformation of the company applying them, including — a ratio of a concept of robotization and business process management.

Now in professional literature there is no lack of determinations of the fact that such RPA (Robot Process Automation is process automation by means of program robots). Determinations vary and include (or do not include), depending on the interests of the author, the features of RPA technology reached business benefit with its help, the used tools, etc. However main and basic is what distinguishes RPA from all other automation equipment. It is such technology of automation of work of users which is based on simulation of actions of the person during his work with different computer systems, applications, information sources. Due to such feature, RPA, first, is ideal for automation of regular and monotonous tasks which are inevitably forced to execute very many categories of users; secondly, imitating interaction of the person with the application, she does not demand radical changes in the current processes and expensive completions in the operating corporate systems.

These two factors attract noticeable interest in RPA technology, and this interest only increases recently. And it is very likely that it is not just flash of the tactical interest dictated by the moment, and, really, one of strategic directions of automation of business operations not only in Russia but also around the world what, actually, and tell numerous analytical works of the leading world consulting companies about.

One of methods to understand some new entity identification of its difference from some other, long ago the known entity is. In this case it will be very useful to compare RPA and BPA (Business Process Automation is control automation by business processes). Speaking shortly, RPA technologies are not intended for business process automation at all, oddly enough sounds at first sight.

A certain external similarity between automation systems of management of workflows and control automation by business processes, undoubtedly, is available. In either case it is about control automation by the sequence of the performed works. Essentially in it that, this control is for what purpose exercised. For the second time, but it is important — using what means this automation is performed.

Business process management is always exercised for the sake of achievement of key business objectives of the company and provides first-priority automation of those processes which are the main chains of generation of added value of the company — the user of a system. In a narrow sense this term, business process is a separate problem of string management of the certain transactions executed in the environment of corporate information systems with participation of the person. Execution of business processes is, as a rule, performed by specialized modules ERP- or ECM EIM/-systems or, more rare, specialized industrial BPM- systems. Anyway, business processes interact with a corporate program environment by use of program interfaces (API). Application of API for integration of BPM into a corporate system has so mass character that acquired the status of the standard, and other options, upon, are not considered at all. Development and deployment of such systems are necessary for management of work of any large organization, however the cost of such projects can be rather high, as well as duration.

However it is obvious that the total covering of the company the automated business processes is impossible for economic, technical and very many other reasons. Always there are specific sites of works on which employees are forced to execute the repeating, routine and low-productive transactions.

Automation of workflows using RPA technologies is directed to these fields of business of the company. These low-productive transactions are executed, as a rule, in the context of key business processes of the company. However, even if they are executed, even within the providing processes, then dead times, labor input, regular need of employee involvement, including, external, for overtime works, additional costs on control of compliance of the performed works to corporate standards and all the rest that with evidence follows from such organization of processes — all this negatively affects profitability of the company, its capability quickly to react to requests of clients and also that is important, on psychological climate in such divisions.

The second important difference consists in how processes of RPA interact with corporate applications. The possibility of RPA to interact with corporate applications via their user interface, and with web applications — through an object model of the website is essentially important. And, though it is extremely obvious that such mode of work can be not so productive as work through API, it opens huge opportunities for integration into applications at which API essentially is absent, it is unavailable or its use is impossible for economic, organizational or technical reasons. If the task requires integration with several systems, use of each new API increases duration and cost of consulting in geometrical progression, not to mention cost value of development and support.

Thus, thanks to the features, RPA allows to get access to content of any information system absolutely without intervention in its functioning that is extremely important for industrially used 24/7 (including — inherited) systems.

It will be fair to tell that the subject BPM are business processes of the second (rather main chain of added value), and RPA — the third or even the fourth levels. These and some other, important in our opinion, distinctions of the BPM and RPA systems are given in the table below.

Here it is absolutely necessary to make some important clauses concerning API and BPM.

First, from told above follows that RPA is ideologically much closer to the systems of a class [ETL] (Extract, Transform, Loading is Extraction, Conversion, Loading), than to BPM.

Secondly, application of API does not contradict the idea of RPA. For expansion of the functionality robots, undoubtedly, can use API, as well as the external performed modules or text command files (scripts) if it is necessary and it is reasonable.

And thirdly, BPM systems can quite use RPA blocks during the execution for implementation of those tasks for which the last are most adapted, and, of course, if the respective RPA platform gives such opportunities.

What robots can do instead of the person

Transaction types

We came to understanding that a scope of RPA are working activities, and in certain cases — even rather long sequence of such transactions. The general signs integrating transactions which have the greatest chances robotic to be effective are following.

• Regularly and rather often repeat. In order that any automation was effective, frequency repetition of process is necessary. It is fair also for RPA.

• Companies, important for business. Really, nobody will spend money for insignificant transactions. At the same time process can repeat and is not so frequent, however to be very important for the company, for example, data collection for the reporting to a weekly meeting of Board of Directors.

• Require processing of considerable amounts of data. It is just that aspect which shows advantages of robotization. At increase of loads of people it is inclined to make more and more mistakes while the robot will continue stable work.

• Use strict business rules. Robotic processes by determination assume an exception of the person of making decision on the choice of option of execution of process. Therefore any judgment, approval, use of external data should be most excluded. The robot is able to make decisions concerning the processing course, however rules of their acceptance should be strictly defined and recorded. Inclusion of the person in robotic process is possible — and often meets in practice as happens it is necessary, but it is necessary to understand all shortcomings of such method of design of RPA process.

• Require work not less than with one electronic system (external, internal). Here, of course, there is a certain tautology. The robot is obliged to interact with this or that corporate system to perform the work. At the same time the greatest effect is observed when using the robot in those processes where it interacts with two and more systems, for example, transferring data from one system to another instead of the person. There are also such examples when the robot takes data from one transaction of SAP and after analysis/processing transfers the transformed data to other transaction of the same system.

The analytics shows: what less involves the person in processing, that its efficiency is higher.

The choice of transactions for robotization

In any company there is always a considerable pool of unproductive workflows which take away time of qualified employees. What of them should be considered as first-priority candidates for robotization? Criteria, except considered above, can be a little. It is necessary to pay attention to working activities of which the following is characteristic.

• Use of personnel over normal working time. Your employees are forced to remain after work to fill all forms and to transfer all data without what tomorrow all company performance can just stop.

• Peak periods. Closing of the accounting period, cameral checks, planning of the budget for the next year and you never know still. Look attentively — almost for certain an overwhelming part of these transactions could be executed in the automatic mode, and at the time of H it is simple to deal with all revealed deviations and violations.

• Cannot be solved by other means quicker and more effectively. Attention! We do not call for any radical actions, and we against fanaticism. As a rule, it is not recommended to use RPA for integration of such industrial systems which already have ready connectors from their producers, for example, of SAP ERP and OpenText Extended ECM for SAP. And though, perhaps, use of RPA also in this case can be quite appropriate for automation of some separate transactions, is extremely inexpedient to use this approach in strategic objectives. If you have to wait for half a year of selection of resources of developers or a system is installed in other country, and you cannot take from it the report necessary for you, or it is some obsolete system to which documentation is lost long ago, but its data are extremely necessary for you for work, then all this is very good occasion to seriously consider application of RPA in your company.

Examples of transactions

Let's review a real example from the Mindfield company investigating metrics of implementation of RPA for processing of standard requests of clients of bank. The sequence of transactions before implementation of robotization included four steps and required employee involvement not less than for three production roles:

• The client manager receives a request via the portal.

• The employee checks a request for relevance, completeness and correctness, using data of several accounting systems.

• If the request is correct, then the employee processes a request, entering during its processing of change into several connected systems.

• The employee sends the letter to the client with results of processing of a request.

After implementation of RPA processing of a request consists of two steps, and the first is executed by the robot, and the second — the employee of the bank.

• The robot begins and consistently executes all formalizable transactions of process:
  • a. automatically selects a new request on the portal;
  • b. checks completeness of information and verifies it by requests to all necessary accounting systems, automatically recording at the same time all executed transactions, registering separately all deviations and exceptions;
  • c. solves a query according to its type, enters necessary changes into the accounting systems connected with a request, automatically recording at the same time all executed transactions, registering separately all deviations and exceptions;
  • d. sends on completion of processing the letter to the client and also the letter to the employee with both protocols of the performed works.
• The employee needs only to check protocols and to perform, if necessary, corrective operations according to the deviations and exceptions revealed by the robot.

Let's note that all data for the further reporting form also automatically.

In the research Mindfield it is mentioned that reduction of the general operation cycle of one request for 45% was reached, and the need for the personnel servicing process was reduced by 40%.

What is RPA technology

The broadest choice of the systems of robotization — from highly specialized to universal, from systems with open codes to the complex proprietary systems from the leading vendors of this direction is available to the modern user. Enthusiasts can quite develop the robot, using the Python language or, say, using as a basis some usual to them the system of the automated testing. However, if to consider the systems of industrial level, then, as a rule, all products RPA, anyway, include the following components:

• Process design-time environment

Usually all producers call it traditionally — "studio". Here the developer in details describes steps of process, the rule and an order of access to the integrated systems, conditions of transitions from a stage to a stage, cycles, etc. Some systems allow to perform automatic recording of actions of the user, others — are focused on application of Java programming languages, the third — are guided by visual programming. Anyway, the executable code which, actually, and is that required program robot becomes result.

• Process execution environment

Here the user (either the schedule, or an event, or other robot) initiates operation of the robot who, actually, and executes the transactions charged to it. The fundamental difference between systems presented at the market consists in that, where exactly there is an execution of the robot. The majority of the provided systems is traditional offer the only option — installation of the robot in a workplace, i.e. — on the client, and, as a rule, in virtual machine environment. More modern systems can provide execution of robots on a dedicated server or even on a server cluster that provides absolutely clear technology, but also and other numerous advantages.

• Environment of management

As industrial application of RPA in the large company can provide simultaneous execution of tens and even hundreds of robotic processes, need coordinating/managing components becomes obvious. Different producers can call it differently: "orkestrator", "managing console", "command tower", "staff room", etc. Components enter creation of schedules, differentiation of user rights on start of processes an area of responsibility of this, coordination of work of processes, etc. Depending on architecture of RPA of the specific producer, such a component can be or difficult, expensive and separately be licensed, or be a part of licenses conditionally free of charge.

• Environment of the analysis of course of execution of processes

It is obvious that the customer has the right to expect the maximum loading of the robots and also would like to predict emergence of critical situations, like overload cycles in advance — idle time of a system. For this purpose it needs the analytical system providing the reporting and visualization of a current status of a farm of robots. Depending on the politician of the producer, such system can be delivered conditionally free of charge within an industrial packet of robots and/or separately be licensed.

• Additional components

Producers can provide these or those additional components over the main set of means of robotization. So, integration of robots from some specific producer with external means of recognition of texts while other producer can provide use of solutions with the open code or own approved industrial solutions for recognition and mass input of texts in advance can be provided. Also there are variations regarding means of ensuring of dialogs with the user and many other things. Existence in a portfolio of the supplier of RPA of various service components is undoubted criterion of a maturity of proposed solution.

It is necessary to understand clearly that really universal industrial robots in the market are not much, and their price can puzzle the unprepared customer while simpler and cheaper solutions are focused on some certain, and, as a rule, a narrow class of tasks. Therefore the choice of the suitable solution for robotization — not the simplest thing and to trust it to someone, even to the most sweet-voiced vendor / integrator, is not necessary. It is easy purchase, and to knock about with the improper solution moreover purchased for noticeable money, then it will be very offensive.

What advantages are brought to business by implementation of RPA

Strictly speaking, a basis for assessment of economic effect always is only one: comparison of cost value of the current workflow on the one hand, and purchase costs, implementation and maintenance of technology — with another, with economic benefits and the economy reached as a result. For thinner calculation it is possible, though it is much more difficult, still to estimate risk hedging and/or a change in value of financial resources in time. However organizational and strategic effects, as a rule, difficult give in to economic evaluation.

For forecast calculation of economic effect it is possible to rely on the following conventional digits:

• Key measurable indicators

The Deloitte company provides information that application of RPA answers expectations of customers in the analysis of results of implementation of RPA and even exceeds them in the following areas:

It is possible to find also following data in some other sources:

• Important immeasurable indicators

Accounting only of quantitative indices does not give the broad picture concerning benefits of application of RPA for business. The major indirect effect is an opportunity for the customer to fully make use of professional knowledge and experience of the employees, without distracting them on low-productive manual transactions.

RPA allows to organize joint work of several, before not the connected, information systems even if they have incompatible architecture or even if their integration with something in principle was not provided by developers. Moreover, integration using RPA allows to get access to content of an information system absolutely without intervention in its functioning that is extremely important for industrially used and legacy systems.

And, at last, but not least, RPA provides formalization and standardization of workflows, their transparency and adaptability that allows to accumulate knowledge and to exclude risks of loss of efficiency at rotation or involvement of new employees.

So, without applying for the academic completeness, it is possible to summarize effects of implementation of RPA as follows:

• Quantitative effect:
  • reduction of operating costs.
• Qualitative effects:
  • exception of errors;
  • reduction of an operation cycle;
  • quality and availability of service;
  • decrease in operational risks;
  • ensuring compliance to requirements of regulating authorities and to corporate standards (komplayens);
  • accumulation and knowledge transfer;
  • decrease in personnel turnover.

And I will also be extremely glad to discuss with readers of the TAdviser portal of a metrics which they will receive as a result of implementation of RPA in the organization!

In what industries RPA is most popular

Application of RPA has no accurately expressed industry specifics and is focused, first of all, on the solution of the specific working objectives which are most consuming labor resources of the customer, based on a manual information processing method. Such examples can be found practically in any industry. It is possible to speak only about correlation between structure of the implemented tasks and industry specifics.

Based on the professional press and project experience of TerraLink company, it is possible to mention a number of tasks, besides, without applying at all for absolute completeness of transfer in which application of RPA already proved the efficiency.

• Request processing of state bodies (FTS, FPP, FSSP, etc.)

The robot processes requests and prepares replies of standard structure on the basis of information of corporate systems.

• Logistics

The robot processes information posted on the websites of transport companies, creates a pool of orders and/or controls the status of order fulfillment by carriers, manages information input, arriving on channels of global professional networks. Judging by publications, the number of applications in this area grows quicker, than in others.

• Personnel management

The robot looks for on the specialized websites of the curriculum vitae of candidates of a necessary profile and, having revealed suitable, sends to the candidate the meeting request with the recruiter, and to the recruiter — the curriculum vitae of the candidate. While voice bots cause more likely laughter and irritation of the candidate so far, application of RPA is natural and absolutely imperceptible. Besides, the robot can organize placement of information on the employed employee in the accounting systems of the company, and at his dismissal — correctly and unmistakably to change its status and to execute all this in full accordance with corporate politicians.

• Internet trade

The robot can analyze the prices and offers on the websites of competitors, to collect media content from the websites of suppliers for formation of an electronic show-window of online store.

• Finance and accounting

It is, certainly, the most natural and fertile area for application of RPA. Here the range of use of robots can include tasks from loading of primary information in the financial accounting systems of the customer before formation of reconciliation statements, preprocessing of orders and integration with the legacy and low-level systems at which program interfaces are absent or are unavailable.

As we see, all listed above tasks are equally characteristic of the majority of the industries, a question only in whether enough means generate the specific enterprise of this industry to perform investments into the development on the basis of digital technologies. Probably, therefore, including, the majority of business cases is published for such industries as bank, telecommunications, oil and gas production and processing, trade and also it is necessary to mention the freshest and bright of recently published examples – insurance.

The most characteristic task for the banking sector, based on the number of its references by RPA developers, is information analysis about the potential client in opened (and even closed) sources for the purpose of making decision on its acceptance on service. However we have no reasons to claim that control of information on the potential partner is not necessary in the enterprises of other industries. For telecommunications, perhaps, it is necessary to select, first of all, work automation service - and call centers when the robot supports work of the operator, quickly collecting in corporate systems information on status/a history of the client in the corporate accounting and technology systems. However, as well as above, for the sake of objectivity we are obliged to note that such task is very characteristic of all industries focused on services.

There are many tasks which are not necessarily reflecting at all industry specifics where application of RPA can be profitable to the customer already today and also it is possible to predict scopes in which in the medium term with high probability new mass implementations of RPA can be expected.

Popularity of robotization in the West and in Russia

So far, really, in Russia implementations of RPA are performed, mainly, in the large companies capable to accumulate financial resources and to aim them at the development of corporate digital technologies, but to draw from this a conclusion that Russia lags behind in this direction it would be extremely wrong, and, above all — it is unproductive.

It is quite clear that, alas, for the present demand is one RPA lower than the potential capacity of our market. The factors working for us against robotization development, first of all, are lower, than on average in the West, the price of labor power and import substitution policy. We will hardly be able to do something with these two factors, they should be accepted as initial data and rules of the game. From subjective factors it should be noted that customers for the present in the majority just do not understand those benefits which implementation of RPA can bring them. Perhaps also, they are a little confused in the concepts BPA and RPA. And, with guarantee, not really understand a difference between Workflow and BPM.

However informing and formation of the market, an explanation of the principles, ideas and benefits of robotization, undoubtedly, will change this situation to the best. And, in the nearest future. In general, I personally consider prospects of development of RPA in our market as very and very favorable.

The Russian center of robotization and artificial intelligence (RPA Russia) which in the annual report "Robotic automation" for 2017 predicted that more than 50 large Russian companies in 2018 will begin not only to implement RPA is also very positively configured, but, moreover, to create Competence Centers on RPA. Also in the report increase in volume of reengineering and the business process optimization which are in focus of RPA for the purpose of maximizing potential of automation and release of corporate resources is predicted. RPA Russia expects that demand for RPA will be so high that many companies will probably face deficit of specialists in the field of RPA.

We look forward to release of the annual report of RPA Russia to check implementation of this forecast and to study the new forecast for 2018.

The Russian solutions in the field of RPA technologies

The Russian solutions in the field of RPA technologies, definitely, exist. Cannot but exist! They appear and will continue to appear in connection with state policy of import substitution and increasing demand for RPA technologies. Personally I heard already about two such solutions only lately. However I had no opportunity to study them neither in the information plan, nor in practice therefore I cannot tell anything about them. I do not doubt that they will be demanded by many Russian enterprises in specific market segments, for example, in public sector.

Judging by observed marketing activity, one our very reputable leading Russian developer of the systems of recognition of texts too, probably, will release in the nearest future the robot.

Implementation of RPA: stages, terms, cost, payback

There was a time when each new information technology caused sacred fear and involuntary awe in users. And here consultants were glad to think up some own unique methodology under its implementation, to think up staging or something else. Today already anybody has no questions concerning implementation methodologies of information automated systems — for each serious and approved methodology there are corresponding standards: GOST, ISO, etc. Implementation of RPA is just the same project on informatization of the customer, as well as many others, and here it is not necessary to invent any bicycle in the field of project methodology. And especially — to feel any fears connected with novelty of technology. Understanding, however, realities of our market and perception of users, it makes sense to begin initiatives of RPA in the company with a small pilot project which will show to users the basic principles, and to business — advantages of new technology.

It is not possible speak abstractly about terms and cost of projects on robotization. Everything depends on with what systems it is necessary to provide interaction, from their features, and the most important — from a maturity and stability of the workflow intended for robotization.

On the available information, the first project on robotization in one large bank proceeded 5 months, however it did not disappoint the customer who according to the results of this project planned robotization of sixty more processes. At the same time, some simple transaction can be robotic in 20 konsalto-hours so we can leave an output of average temperature on hospital to our readers as independent exercise.

The specifics of RPA, nevertheless, undoubtedly exist, and it can affect, first of all, training of the customer for the project. Here it must be kept in mind the following.

Choice of the platform

There is no couple of completely interchangeable RPA platforms, and, moreover, the universality of some of platforms is strongly exaggerated. The platform which is well untwisted using Internet advertizing not necessarily will guarantee you scalability, flexibility, convenience of debugging, capability it is equally good to work with all external resources necessary for you. Not to mention that its mechanism of pricing it will not be obligatory to be ideal for you. How the authority of your integrator was high, do not agree to purchase licenses until you do not understand the volume of application of RPA in the company at least in the medium term and at least at the level of implementation of the first 20-30 processes.

Determination of priorities

In any company there is always a pool of the processes executed in the manual mode, and which, thereby, are eating personnel time and also resources and money of owners. Even proceeding from the criteria which are stated above the list of such processes can include not one ten points. The correct determination of priorities — a right way to success, and the wrong choice can give greasy up as a bad job your initiative of robotization of the company. There are several formalized techniques based on scales of separate characteristics of processes, however accounting of opinion of company management and owners of processes can be much more right reference point when choosing priorities.

Strategy of personnel management

Implementation of RPA, owing to the specifics, can have the direct result reduction of the employees occupied earlier on manual transactions. In order to avoid conflict situations, the company management should have the precise plan of repositioning of employees, or in advance develop the program of employment of personnel outside the company. Anyway, the staff of the company shall be informed on the perspectives in connection with robotization implementation.

Inevitable completions

In spite of the fact that on a banner of RPA the slogan is written: "I guarantee non-interference", the reality can give small surprises. So, if you are going to organize joint work of several earlier not connected systems using RPA, then, most likely, you will find out that these systems are incompatible not only architecturally, but also is information. For example, the same object can have different codes in the different systems that, in particular, is observed in trade when the accounting product code in an information system of retail chain stores differs from a product code of the producer.

For example, the main obstacle of implementation of robots for automation of the order of products at achievement of the minimum level of a remaining balance is widespread practice of maintaining APL (Approved Product List) in the form of tables of Excel which complexity absolutely excludes any formal methods of work with it. In this case it is necessary to develop special applications or to look for essentially other solutions.

When it does not turn out to implement RPA

RPA will not be able to replace completely the person if information managing course of execution is not formalized or badly structured. If for robotic processing of the arrived account and the subsequent its registration in ERP it is necessary to take some data from the agreement presented in the form of the literal text (as the operator does usually), then the RPA technology in pure form can be unsuitable.

Performance review

Investment soundness in robotization directly depends on with what intensity robots and on what processes are used. Use of means of analytics, including panels of data, is absolutely necessary already for rather small implementations from 3–4 robots. Using these means you will be able to understand a real picture of information processing by robots and to predict possible emergence of bottlenecks and other problems.

Management of powers of robots

As the robot interacts with this or that corporate application as the user, it should have for this purpose the corresponding account. Nothing prevents you to start the robot under an account of this or that employee as the robot will store the corresponding login and the password in the type excluding external use. However will be more correct to select for the robot own account for work with each of your corporate or external systems. Here it is absolutely necessary to have support from the network administrator, but it is even more important — to get approval from corporate Information Security Service. And from finance too as each new account can have a cash equivalent in a cost type of the license of this system.

Testing of the solution

Rollback of set of the consecutive transactions executed by the robot is an uncommon task. And if the robot sends letters or posts data on the external websites — at all problematic. Therefore debugging of the robot and preparation for his industrial start-up should be especially careful. The customer should take care of existence of a test system as close as possible to industrial. Besides, before industrial launch of the robot it is necessary to execute stress testing. How? Naturally, using other robot!

How to select integrator

Consulting

As we set earlier, the main specifics of RPA consist that robots can repeat in accuracy actions of the person at the computer, and, thus, they can be implemented quickly enough because do not require radical changes in the existing business processes and in work of corporate systems. Moreover, means of RPA allow to write in accuracy the sequence of the transactions executed by the user that can also promote (at least, theoretically) to reduction of terms of development and deployment of the robot. And, generally speaking, any employee of department of IT capable to read and understand the installation instruction of software can execute such implementation.

However such policy of implementation well works only at the first steps of a big way of robotization to the companies. In process of finding of experience and better understanding by the customer of benefits and features of RPA technology for his business, inevitably there will be a question of optimization of strategy of implementation, creation of standard libraries, accumulation and knowledge transfers, and, at large-scale implementations, say, from 50 robotic processes, creation of Competence Center. "make the politician as was, only that worked quicker" it is replaced on "make as it is better for business", i.e., it is about growth of a maturity of the customer in process of mastering of new technology by it.

Thus, actually, main competence of provider of services in robotization is not so much ownership of information technologies, how many existence of practice of management consulting. Points to it also the fact that the first implementations in Russia of technologies of robotization were performed by consultants of "Big Four".

Experience of implementation of the systems of the Enterprise level

We also should take into account that robots work not in a vacuum, but are intended for active interaction with corporate information systems. As we, at least, at this stage, assume the large Russian and global companies as preferential users of RPA, respectively, robots will function in an environment of information systems of appropriate level. First of all, in any way discriminating mentioned further, productions SAP Oracle, OpenText Microsoft, 1C ERP and others. Thus, nobody denies importance of a maturity of integrator as supplier of information solutions in general, but more important to pay attention to its experience of implementing solutions of the corporate level. It will provide higher level of implementation of those components of robots who are responsible for interaction with corporate systems.

Project and special experience

The integrator should have the standards of project management and postproject user support set at the corporate level. To the customer will not be superfluous to examine experiment of integrator on implementation of similar projects on subject of RPA and responses of other customers, including, on projects in other directions of automation.

If could seem to someone from readers that I described a profile of TerraLink company, then it, perhaps, will be not really far from the truth!

On the available forecasts, the market of services of robotization will grow at the rates which are multiply advancing growth of the market of production of the appropriate software tools that will be, naturally, reflection of increasing demand of customers for similar technologies.

Mass market is always inevitably stratified on numerous offers with minimum/average quality of the offered services, rather limited service offerings with high quality and single – with quality "luxury". The customer should understand clearly on what service layer he has an opportunity to be guided, and even in case of limitation of the budget to demand necessary competences from the provider of robotization.

Example of the most successful Russian case

I will give an example of the most successful project of TerraLink company. I cannot tell the name of the customer for confidentiality reasons.

Project business context

The customer — the global service telecommunication Russian company holding — as one of the most important priorities of corporate policy considers digitalization of the business for the purpose of further improvement and maintenance of the highest standards of service of the clients. Within implementation of this strategy by the company accomplishment of a number of tasks among which — improvement of interaction with the industry regulator was considered. When implementing this task there were effective objectives considerably to reduce personnel labor input on preparation of answers to the regulator, to reduce a set-up time of answers and at the same time to increase their quality. The company had all necessary technical premises for implementation of this project, namely — industrially working corporate system for management of financial and economic activity and a corporate system of management of business content. Besides, the company has smoothly running processes of exchange of electronic documents with partners on the basis of use of legally significant document flow (YuZDO).

Implementation

The robotic solution is implemented for support of work of the general service center (GSC) which, among other functions, processes the regulator requests addressed to each of legal entities of the customer. The task of the robot consists in consistently to check corporate offices of each of legal entities of the customer regarding receipt of a new request. In case of a request, the robot registers it, takes from it necessary details using the system of optical recognition (Optical Character Recognition, OCR) and saves in a corporate ESM-system. On the basis of the taken details the robot creates requests in the corresponding information and technology systems of the customer and creates the text of the answer. The answer which is previously checked by the responsible goes to the regulator on the channel of the operator of YuZDO.

All executed transactions without fail are registered in corporate registers and are recorded.

For increase in efficiency of process in general, actually, four specialized robots working asynchronously were implemented. Each of them executed the amount of works characteristic of one of roles of participating employees of paper process. One of these robots during commercial operation showed impressive characteristics of performance. So, he performs a full stroke of processing of one transaction, at least, three times quicker, than the person. The robot completely executes all amount of works expected from him, its execution is provided at night, and total time of its work in a month was a little more than 30 hours.

The project was implemented by us on the Kapow RPA platform from Kofax company.

Analysis of an example

The customer was forced to support the whole division which was responsible for acceptance, registration, request processing and preparation of answers to them. At the same time processing procedure of a request is absolutely standard, is defined by the current legislation, and all information necessary for preparation of the answer contains in the information and technology systems of the customer. And inapplicable to any other customer the structure of the information systems used in processing, a format of requests in these systems and responses of systems to these requests is specific. While (and even strictly regulated) only formats of entrance requests of the regulator and answers to them are universal.

It is interesting to note that all most characteristic signs of application of RPA are reflected in the given example, namely:

1. Initial data arrive to the robot on processing in electronic form and have the standardized structure. In case of need additional data translations these conversions are performed by either trivial, or known and well algoritmiziruyemy method.

2. Processing procedure of information is strictly regulated and defined by either industry, or corporate standards.

3. The information flows which are subject to processing differ in high intensity, however the exact diagram of receipt of information does not exist.

4. The efficiency, quality, an adherence to deadlines of answers are critical factors.

5. All information necessary for preparation of answers, already contains in corporate technology and information systems.

6. For information processing not less than two information systems are used, and some of them have no publicly available program interface.

In connection with the scales and specifics of the services rendered to clients, the customer, as well as other companies of this industry, is under strict control of state bodies. However this fact is not specific to this customer — all industrial companies receive numerous requests from different regulatory authorities, including tax, pension, executive and others. Therefore the given task and experience of its solution can be interesting to very wide range of the Russian companies — both commercial, and state.

Perspectives of RPA technologies

It is possible to expect continuation of development of software tools of robotization in the direction of both expansion of their functions, and increase in level of stability of their work. Development in the direction of implementation of the latest formats of the offer of software, such as SaaS, cloud computing, etc. is also obvious.

It is obvious that this market will attract and (already attracts) grandees of the corporate software. Till the most recent time from large names of the producers releasing more than one known software product was only present at the market two: IBM with AutomationAnywhere and Kofax with the product Kapow. Other producers or release only one product which is focused on RPA, or, despite the beautiful name, after all, are not really widespread in our market.

However practically the other day already and the SAP company, the undisputed leader of global market of the corporate software, announced inclusion in the portfolio of the Contextor software product. In the press release it is mentioned that the product will be used together with SAP solutions in the field of artificial intelligence. According to the press release, the company SAP considers this acquisition as an important step to orchestration of processes of automation which will help to include further RPA in other SAP applications, mainly — in SAP S/4HANA. As other purposes it is mentioned, including, simplification of interaction of users with SAP applications and the third producers.

So, one may say, that all the most interesting in the field of RPA just now also begins.