E-guide

The ultimate guide

to Robotic Process
Automation (RPA)
 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide The ultimate guide to Robotic Process

Automation (RPA)
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation) Linda Tucci, Linda Tucci, Industry Editor -- CIO/IT Strategy

What is RPA technology, and Robotic process automation is a hot commodity in today's enterprises. In just about
how is it used by businesses? every industry and across business units -- from finance and HR to IT and marketing --
RPA's software robots are automating routine and often mind-numbing work formerly
How is RPA different from done by humans. Its impact has been described as transformational and disruptive.
automation?
Still, RPA software is not without risks. For starters, not every work task lends itself to
What are the benefits of RPA? robotic process automation. Technical problems, security issues and vendor volatility,
for example, can undermine RPA's vaunted upsides -- or worse, cause implementations
What are the risks of RPA? Why
to fail. And, as with any fast-growing, wildly popular technology, misconceptions about
do RPA projects fail?
RPA are legion.
RPA software: Who are the
Our comprehensive guide to robotic process automation software is here to help,
vendors? What is the cost?
explaining everything from the basics to analysis of where this rapidly evolving market
Where the RPA market is
is headed. For a deeper dive, be sure to click through the hyperlinks on this page to
heading access expertly curated industry tips and analysis, including an in-depth report on how
to harness RPA software.
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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide What is RPA technology, and how is it used by

businesses?
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation) RPA software automates repetitive, rules-based work tasks that rely on digital data.
These tasks include queries, calculations, creating and updating records, filling out
What is RPA technology, and forms, producing reports, cutting and pasting and performing other high-volume
how is it used by businesses? transactional tasks that require moving data within and between applications.

How is RPA different from Broadly defined as software scripts that automate other software, RPA "robots" work
automation? at the surface and user-interface level, mimicking the keystrokes and mouse clicks
made by human workers and completing the task in much the way workers do by
What are the benefits of RPA?
logging in to applications, entering data, performing calculations and logging out.
Unlike a human worker, however, the bot doesn't need a physical screen to complete
What are the risks of RPA? Why
do RPA projects fail? the task, instead executing the task's process steps in a virtual environment. Moreover,
unlike most software applications, humans can develop these bots without the
RPA software: Who are the specialized knowledge of coding, making business units the target customer for RPA.
vendors? What is the cost?
RPA software is used by many business units. HR departments, for example, are using
Where the RPA market is RPA to automate aspects of employee onboarding and offboarding. In financial
heading services, RPA bots are configured to handle credit card authorization disputes. IT teams
are implementing RPA to automate routine help desk services (see the section below,
Getting more PRO+ essential "What business processes are automated by RPA?").
content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

Although still a relatively small slice of the enterprise software market, RPA revenue
In this e-guide has increased rapidly and shows no sign of slowing down, despite pressures from
COVID-19. Gartner projected global revenue from RPA to grow 19.5% in 2021 to nearly
The ultimate guide to RPA $1.9 billion, up from $1.57 billion 2020, and to achieve double-digit growth rates
(robotic process automation)
through 2024. Forrester Research said RPA software platform revenue is on track to
reach $2.9 billion by 2021, and the market for RPA services (deployment and support)
What is RPA technology, and
will climb to $12 billion by 2023.
how is it used by businesses?

Interest in this emerging technology is not surprising. RPA aims to improve efficiency,
How is RPA different from
automation?
boost productivity and save money by assisting with -- or entirely replacing -- the
routine and error-prone digital processing tasks still done with human labor at many
What are the benefits of RPA? companies. First-year returns on investment for RPA implementations can be in the
double and even triple digits, according to industry analysts. Done right, RPA not only
What are the risks of RPA? Why saves companies time and money but also frees up employees to focus on higher value
do RPA projects fail? work.

RPA software: Who are the As important, RPA offers traditional companies a pathway to digital transformation.
vendors? What is the cost? That's because by working at the user-interface level, RPA provides companies a way
to automate parts of critical business processes without ripping out and replacing the
Where the RPA market is
costly legacy systems that support them (see the section below, "How is RPA different
heading
from automation?").
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Moreover, as RPA tools are combined with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such
content
as natural language generation, optical character recognition, intelligent character
recognition and machine learning, RPA's virtual agents are poised to take on higher-

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

level and longer tasks, including whole job roles, becoming what some envision as a
In this e-guide 21st century self-improving digital workforce (see the section below, "Evolution of RPA
and RPA 2.0").
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation)
How is RPA different from automation?
What is RPA technology, and
Automation encompasses a very broad and diverse set of technologies, ranging from
how is it used by businesses?
continuous delivery and continuous integration tools to hybrid cloud management to
How is RPA different from
the machine vision tools deployed in autonomous vehicles.
automation?
Robotic process automation software is a subset of business process automation (BPA),
What are the benefits of RPA?
an umbrella term for the use of technology to execute the activities and workflows
that make up a business task with minimal human intervention.
What are the risks of RPA? Why
do RPA projects fail? The most important differentiator between RPA and traditional workflow automation
tools is the skill set needed to accomplish the automation task. In traditional workflow
RPA software: Who are the automation, an experienced software engineer writes code to create a set of actions
vendors? What is the cost? that automates the task and connects the software to the underlying compute
infrastructure by the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) written in
Where the RPA market is Python, Java or other software languages. In contrast, RPA systems typically develop
heading
the action list simply by recording the users' actions as they perform a task in an
application's graphical user interface (GUI). Once recorded, the system repeats those
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content
tasks directly in the GUI without human effort required.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

RPA differs from business process management, or BPM, which uses a variety of
In this e-guide methods to discover, model, analyze, change and optimize business processes. While
RPA is best suited for automating a discrete number of tasks, BPM, which may or may
The ultimate guide to RPA not include automation, is designed to orchestrate complex business processes from
(robotic process automation)
end to end. In BPM, business processes are managed collectively to not only reduce
error rates and improve workflow efficiency -- which RPA does -- but also, for example,
What is RPA technology, and
to clarify job roles and responsibilities associated with the process and to improve the
how is it used by businesses?
process over time.
How is RPA different from
automation?
RPA software and BPMS (business process management software) are not mutually
exclusive, but can work in tandem. This expert tip digs into how BPMS and RPA can be
What are the benefits of RPA? used together to drive digital transformation.

What are the risks of RPA? Why DPA vs. RPA vs. IPA
do RPA projects fail?
Forrester Research further dissects the business process automation field by renaming
RPA software: Who are the BPM digital process automation (DPA) and dividing DPA into two types: DPA-deep (the
vendors? What is the cost?
BPM approach described above) and DPA-wide (a business-friendly automation
approach using low-code/no-code platforms and Agile methodology to extend process
Where the RPA market is
heading
redesign to business users). DPA-wide is closely related to RPA. Find out more about
RPA vs. BPA vs. DPA in our other coverage.
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content
Finally, RPA is also different from IPA, or intelligent process automation. IPA combines
RPA with traditional BPM software, machine learning and emerging AI tools to
automate more -- and bigger portions of -- enterprise jobs, enabling RPA's tactical bots

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

to pass along intelligence from AI and respond to process changes. Enterprise adoption
In this e-guide of IPA, sometimes referred to as intelligent automation or IA, however, is still a work in
progress. According to the latest global robotics survey from Deloitte, although 73% of
The ultimate guide to RPA businesses report using automation technologies in 2020 (up from 58% in 2019), only
(robotic process automation)
about a third of organizations have an IA strategy.

What is RPA technology, and

how is it used by businesses?

How is RPA different from

automation?

What are the benefits of RPA?

What are the risks of RPA? Why

do RPA projects fail?

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?

Where the RPA market is

heading

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide Three different types of RPA

Robotic process automation tools offer two distinct modes of deployment: assisted
The ultimate guide to RPA
automation and unassisted automation, also referred to as attended and unattended
(robotic process automation)
RPA. Hybrid RPA combines the two models.
What is RPA technology, and
RPA experts David Brain, chief digital officer and president at Sykes Digital Services,
how is it used by businesses?
and analyst Phil Fersht, co-founder and CEO of HFS Research Ltd., explained in their
How is RPA different from
foundational article on creating RPA architecture that each RPA model has its benefits
automation? and limitations. It's important that companies determine which model best meets the
organization's needs before deploying RPA.
What are the benefits of RPA?

What are the risks of RPA? Why Assisted (aka attended) automation. In assisted automation, the RPA is automating
do RPA projects fail? applications running on a user's desktop typically for the purpose of helping the user
complete an involved process in less time. This usually generates cost savings and
RPA software: Who are the helps deliver a better user and customer experience. Drawbacks to assisted
vendors? What is the cost?
automation, explained Fersht and Brain, is that inconsistencies on the desktop setting,
such as changing graphics or display settings, can cause the RPA to fail. In addition,
Where the RPA market is
heading
sometimes the user's desktop is locked when the automated steps are being executed.

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content
Unassisted (aka unattended) automation. Unassisted automation requires no human
agent. The RPA software performs on its own, notifying the user only when something
goes wrong. Unassisted automation can work 24/7 -- "an ideal scenario for optimizing

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

a process," Fersht and Brain said. But they added that, in order to work, unassisted
In this e-guide automation requires structured data and clearly defined rules, which may not exist in
every case.
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation)
Hybrid RPA. In hybrid RPA, the employee and bot essentially work as a team, passing
What is RPA technology, and tasks back and forth. Hybrid RPA automates the work that can be completed solely by
how is it used by businesses?
the bot (unassisted) as well as work that that involves unstructured data or requires
decisions by an employee (assisted). In hybrid RPA, the software bots and employee
How is RPA different from
automation?
can work on different tasks at the same time for optimal efficiency. The Institute for
Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence, an association for automation
What are the benefits of RPA? professionals, touts hybrid RPA as helping "companies leverage the power of
automation in a more diverse range of processes and scenarios." Learn more about the
What are the risks of RPA? Why three types of RPA here.
do RPA projects fail?

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?
Evolution of RPA and RPA 2.0
The term RPA entered the tech lexicon in 2012, but its roots go back to mainframe-era
Where the RPA market is
heading
screen scraping. With screen scraping, a software tool would take legacy application
data formatted to appear on an IBM 3270 -- or a similar old-style terminal -- and
Getting more PRO+ essential reformat the data for use on a client-server or web-based system. This approach
content provided an inexpensive and noninvasive way to link systems.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

Present-day RPA also provides an unobtrusive approach to integrating systems by

In this e-guide emulating the steps humans take when interacting with an application's user interface.
It remains a relatively inexpensive way to connect disparate systems where APIs don't
The ultimate guide to RPA exist and there is not the time or budget for recoding applications or heavy-duty
(robotic process automation)
systems integration. But RPA has evolved well beyond screen scraping. It can handle
more complex processes, adjust to changes in the underlying systems and scale
What is RPA technology, and
beyond localized deployments.
how is it used by businesses?

How is RPA different from RPA 2.0

automation?
RPA 2.0 refers to the fact that RPA platforms continue to evolve, pairing up with
What are the benefits of RPA? technologies such as process mining to identify the right automation candidates for
RPA and incorporating machine learning, which enables platforms to automate longer
What are the risks of RPA? Why and more complex tasks, including whole job roles.
do RPA projects fail?
"The fact that RPA has advanced so quickly beyond task automation as to replicate
RPA software: Who are the whole job functions is fascinating, from both a positive and negative perspective,"
vendors? What is the cost?
noted Pankaj Chowdhry, founder and CEO of the AI and RPA startup FortressIQ, in a
report on the evolution of the robot workforce.
Where the RPA market is
heading
Read more on the evolution of RPA in this in-depth look at RPA's transition from screen
scraping to AI-assisted process automation.
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content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide COVID-19 and 'hyperautomation'

The workplace disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital
The ultimate guide to RPA
transformation efforts at many companies. The massive shift to remote work not only
(robotic process automation)
underscored the need for digitizing manual processes, but it also shone a spotlight on
the benefits of coordinating automation across the enterprise.
What is RPA technology, and
how is it used by businesses?
Hyperautomation, a term coined by Gartner, refers to the framework and set of
How is RPA different from
advanced technologies required for making enterprise automation scalable and
automation? strategic. The concept reflects the insight that RPA can be challenging to scale and is
limited in the types of automation it can achieve.
What are the benefits of RPA?
The ultimate goal of hyperautomation is to automate process automation in the
What are the risks of RPA? Why enterprise. As explained in our in-depth definition of hyperautomation, advanced
do RPA projects fail? technologies used to achieve scaled automation include the following: process mining
tools, RPA, no-code/low-code development tools, iPaaS, and AI tools, including
RPA software: Who are the machine learning and natural language processing.
vendors? What is the cost?
A new forecast from Gartner predicted that the worldwide market for technology
Where the RPA market is enabling hyperautomation will reach $596.6 billion in 2022, up from $481.6 billion in
heading
2020 and a projected $532.4 billion in 2021.

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content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide

The ultimate guide to RPA

(robotic process automation)

What is RPA technology, and

how is it used by businesses?

How is RPA different from

automation?

What are the benefits of RPA?

What are the risks of RPA? Why

do RPA projects fail?

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?

Where the RPA market is

heading

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content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide What business processes are automated by RPA?

Traditional RPA is not appropriate for every business process. Automating a mission-
The ultimate guide to RPA
critical, long-running and complex business process is typically a job for IT using API-
(robotic process automation)
based automation. (Indeed, Gartner stated in its July 2019 Magic Quadrant on RPA that
the word task would be more accurate than process in the RPA acronym.) Here are
What is RPA technology, and
how is it used by businesses? some characteristics that make a process suitable for traditional RPA:

• It is high volume and repetitive.

How is RPA different from
• It relies on structured digital data.
automation?
• It has clear business rules and low or no exception rates.
• It is prone to error when using human labor.
What are the benefits of RPA?
• It is time-sensitive or highly seasonal.
What are the risks of RPA? Why
Business processes and their associated applications should be stable before applying
do RPA projects fail?
RPA. For companies embarking on RPA, Forrester Research analyst and RPA expert
RPA software: Who are the Craig Le Clair has recommended they heed the "rule of five" when determining which
vendors? What is the cost? processes are suitable for RPA:

Where the RPA market is • Five decisions: RPA works well for simple applications that operate in high
heading volume. Applications involving more than five decisions will require a BPM rules
engine, Le Clair said.
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• Five apps: Because RPA doesn't rely on APIs, bots are sensitive to changes in
content
applications. "When applications change, they often break the bot" and cause

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

companies to give up on RPA, Le Clair said. Limiting the number of applications

In this e-guide involved to five or less will help companies keep on top of changes.

• 500 clicks: Keep the number of keystrokes a bot has to master to 500 or less.
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation)

What is RPA technology, and

What is RPA used for?
how is it used by businesses?
RPA is used by business functions across the enterprise. Top RPA use cases include the
How is RPA different from following:
automation?
Customer service. RPA can improve customer service by automating contact center
What are the benefits of RPA? tasks, including verifying e-signatures, uploading scanned documents and verifying
information for automatic approvals or rejections. In addition to standardizing and
What are the risks of RPA? Why speeding up rote tasks, RPA frees up agents to focus on solving customer problems and
do RPA projects fail? strengthening brand relationships.

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost? Finance and accounting. Finance and accounting processes that lend themselves to
RPA include procure to pay, accounts receivable, general accounting, tax accounting
Where the RPA market is and compliance, financial planning and reporting. Read this article on the benefits of
heading using RPA in finance for more examples.

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content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

Human resources. HR tasks being automated by RPA include payroll, time and
In this e-guide attendance management, onboarding and offboarding, compliance and recruiting new
hires.
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation)
IT management and services. Examples of how RPA can be applied to IT include
What is RPA technology, and automating software audits, managing source-code control, handling incident
how is it used by businesses? resolutions such as password resets and server restarts, and optimizing email
notifications.
How is RPA different from
automation?
Supply chain management. RPA can be used for procurement, automating order
What are the benefits of RPA? processing and payments, monitoring inventory levels and tracking shipments.

What are the risks of RPA? Why

do RPA projects fail? What are the benefits of RPA?
RPA software: Who are the Hard data on the benefits and drawbacks of RPA by industry not only varies from study
vendors? What is the cost? to study but also is often contradictory. In a fast-moving market where the research is
colored by vendor interest, the absence of agreed-upon statistics is perhaps not
Where the RPA market is
surprising.
heading

The following benefits are widely cited by companies that have deployed RPA:
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content • Accuracy. Set up correctly, bots complete the process the same way every time
and don't get fatigued, reducing error rates and inconsistency.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide • Compliance. RPA tracks bot performance and stores the data for auditing
compliance with regulatory and governance requirements. It also reduces
human interaction with sensitive data, reducing the potential for fraud.
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation)
• Cost savings. Job loss due to automation is a sensitive topic, and companies are
circumspect about using RPA to eliminate jobs, preferring instead to tout the
What is RPA technology, and
revenue and business benefits generated by a 24/7 bot operation with no
how is it used by businesses?
downtime. Companies that hire seasonal workers for data transcription work,
such as retailers during the holidays and accounting firms during tax time, have
How is RPA different from
reported that RPA has allowed them to handle peak times with far fewer
automation?
seasonal hires.

What are the benefits of RPA? • Employee productivity and morale. Automation of repetitive, mind-numbing
tasks allows employees to be more productive and frees them up for higher-
What are the risks of RPA? Why value work.
do RPA projects fail?
• Digital transformation. Using RPA, companies can automate parts of processes
RPA software: Who are the without making changes to legacy systems or investing in costly and time-
vendors? What is the cost? consuming back-end integration with existing systems, allowing them to move
forward on digital transformation.
Where the RPA market is
heading For firsthand accounts of the benefit RPA is providing companies, check out this panel
discussion with executives at TTI, Suncor Energy and Keppel Corp. on how to succeed
Getting more PRO+ essential with RPA. One tip: It's important to get a few quick, easy wins.
content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide

The ultimate guide to RPA

(robotic process automation)

What is RPA technology, and

how is it used by businesses?

How is RPA different from

automation?

What are the benefits of RPA?

What are the risks of RPA? Why

do RPA projects fail?

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?

Where the RPA market is

heading

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content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide What are the risks of RPA? Why do RPA projects fail?
EY, a provider of RPA services, reported that as many as 30% to 50% of initial RPA
The ultimate guide to RPA
projects fail.
(robotic process automation)
One common mistake companies make, according to the study, is assuming that RPA is
What is RPA technology, and
an IT project. Because RPA mimics how humans complete the various tasks associated
how is it used by businesses?
with a business process, it is important that RPA implementations be driven by the
How is RPA different from
subject matter experts and employees who understand the steps of the as-is process
automation? and have informed opinions about how it could be improved with automation.

What are the benefits of RPA? Underestimating human capital, implementation failure
What are the risks of RPA? Why That said, it is critical IT be involved in full-scale RPA deployments. Companies often
do RPA projects fail? underestimate the IT expertise and infrastructure required to maintain and fine-tune
the RPA bots. While it's the case that most business users can automate a simple
RPA software: Who are the
process themselves using the drag and drop menus RPA vendors typically provide,
vendors? What is the cost?
launching and maintaining a full-scale enterprise RPA implementation requires
Where the RPA market is
administrative and IT oversight.
heading
Indeed, the ease of getting RPA up and running -- one of the automaton tool's big
Getting more PRO+ essential
selling points -- is also a major risk and can result in bots run amuck. Simply automating
content the work flows of employees who are not doing the task correctly, or each doing it in a
different way, is bad practice, explained Bob De Caux, vice president of AI and RPA at
enterprise software provider IFS, in his primer on the benefits and downsides of RPA.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

Without a strong governance plan for RPA bots, companies can end up with a
In this e-guide hodgepodge of redundant bots instead of the end-to-end process automation that
brings measurable economic impact.
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation)
Security risks
What is RPA technology, and
RPA also introduces security risks, but not the ones you might expect. Saurabh Gupta,
how is it used by businesses?
president of research and business operations with HFS Research Ltd., and Martin
How is RPA different from
Sokalski, principal in KPMG's Emerging Technology Risk division, explained in an in-
automation? depth interview on security risks and remedies that big data breaches have not thus far
been seen in RPA implementations. They said that's in large part because the
What are the benefits of RPA? technology works as a top layer and is not integrated into the under layers where the
data is. However, RPA security risks do exist: They include fraud, inappropriate access
What are the risks of RPA? Why to sensitive data, being able to affect system availability and continuity, and abuse of
do RPA projects fail?
administration privileges. "Data privacy can be in that bucket as well," Sokalski said.

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?
What companies and industries use RPA?

Where the RPA market is

Industries that are computer-dependent and have large volumes of rules-based
heading processes currently handled by full-time employees stand the most to gain from RPA.
The finance sector led the way in RPA adoption, followed quickly by insurance,
Getting more PRO+ essential government, manufacturing, retail and utilities. Click on the hyperlinks below to get
content the details on how companies are using RPA.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

Banks and insurance providers were among the first to see the value in using RPA for
In this e-guide automating data transcription tasks. Read about how executives at John Hancock and
Citizens Group are using RPA to automate business processes.
The ultimate guide to RPA
(robotic process automation) Government: Federal agencies are under mandate to modernize their operations,
including automating the manual processing of data and documents. The Trump
What is RPA technology, and administration's 2020 budget called on agencies to upgrade the consumer experience
how is it used by businesses?
with RPA.

How is RPA different from Healthcare: Use cases for RPA in healthcare range from handling patient records and
automation?
claims to customer support, account management, billing, reporting and analytics. A.J.
Hanna, former head of Ascension Health Alliance's digitization strategy and now a vice
What are the benefits of RPA?
president of client advocacy at Sykes, laid out the potential benefits of RPA in
What are the risks of RPA? Why healthcare.
do RPA projects fail?
Manufacturing: Shibaji Das, senior director value engineering for UiPath, discussed the
RPA software: Who are the role of RPA in manufacturing and how it can help improve efficiency in organizations.
vendors? What is the cost?
Retail: Read about how U.K. retail group John Lewis Partnership has automated 40
Where the RPA market is business processes using 60 software robots with technology from Blue Prism.
heading
Utilities (electricity oil, gas, etc.) use RPA for accounts and billing, meter-reading
Getting more PRO+ essential exceptions, customer service queries and debt recovery. Read about Schneider
content Electric's ambitious, multivendor rollout of RPA in its customer care, finance, HR and
supply chain divisions.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide

The ultimate guide to RPA

(robotic process automation)

What is RPA technology, and

how is it used by businesses?

How is RPA different from

automation?

What are the benefits of RPA?

What are the risks of RPA? Why

do RPA projects fail?

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?

Where the RPA market is

heading

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide RPA software: Who are the vendors? What is the cost?
Below is a brief description of the three leading enterprise RPA vendors -- Automation
The ultimate guide to RPA
Anywhere, Blue Prism and UiPath -- along with a select group of up-and-coming and
(robotic process automation)
niche players. For more information on RPA vendors, including pricing and licensing
information, click on "Consider these 12 RPA software vendors for deployment."
What is RPA technology, and
how is it used by businesses?
• Automation Anywhere provides a "wide array of integration components that
users can string together to create automation scripts," according to Gartner,
How is RPA different from
as well as a well-developed partner ecosystem. Updates include a mobile phone
automation?
app for managing bots and more ability to automate unstructured data;
Gartner noted that its 2020 roadmap includes an improved bot store,
What are the benefits of RPA? conversational AI and an RPA-as-service option. Forrester Research called out
its focus on "human-bot collaboration."
What are the risks of RPA? Why
do RPA projects fail? • Blue Prism focuses on providing organizations in regulated industries, in
particular financial services, desktop-aligned robots that are defined and
RPA software: Who are the managed centrally. The publicly traded company maintains its focus on IT-led
vendors? What is the cost? enterprise deployments and has a strong innovation roadmap, according to
Forrester Research. This includes its Blue Prisms Lab, an AI lab "targeting
Where the RPA market is document-centric use cases, computer vision and attended [aka assisted RPA]
heading scenarios."

• UiPath offers a "well-structured partner ecosystem … that enables it to support

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integrations with major products and applications covering BPM, process
content
mining and AI," according to Gartner. Its new "AI integration fabric" is touted as
adding the cognitive power of AI to software automated by RPA. Developers

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

looking for a Windows-oriented environment "will be comfortable," according

In this e-guide to Forrester Research.

• EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of business process outsourcing

The ultimate guide to RPA
(BPO) vendor Infosys Limited, is an example of how the BPO industry -- thought
(robotic process automation)
to be a casualty of RPA -- has become a major user of the technology. Forrester
Research noted that EdgeVerve "blends services expertise with platform
What is RPA technology, and features." The product includes frameworks for an automation center of
how is it used by businesses? excellence, governance and process discovery as part of an overarching vision
for converging AI and automation, the consultancy said.
How is RPA different from
automation? • HelpSystems enables companies to streamline IT and business operations by
automating tasks and workflows without the need to write code.
What are the benefits of RPA?
• Kofax is strong at "document-heavy process automation and orchestration,"
What are the risks of RPA? Why
according to Forrester Research. Gartner stated that the vendor excels in
do RPA projects fail?
delivering end-to-end automation.

• Microsoft "has caught up with" RPA leaders, according to Forrester Research.

RPA software: Who are the
The mega vendor moved closer to its vision to "deliver the most comprehensive
vendors? What is the cost? SaaS intelligent automation product," the firm noted, with its acquisition in
May 2020 of RPA provider Softomotive.
Where the RPA market is
heading • NICE established an RPA line of business in 2016. The product focuses on
enterprise-grade implementations, providing both attended and unattended
Getting more PRO+ essential RPA workloads; Customers are attracted to the vendor's expertise in using RPA
content to automate contact centers, driven by a focus on voice and text analytics.
Specialized attended bots "augment [NICE's] workforce management

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

functionality across a range of vertical industries, including finance, banking,

In this e-guide telecom and manufacturing," Gartner said.

• WorkFusion combines robotics, AI-powered cognitive automation and

The ultimate guide to RPA
workforce orchestration to automate enterprise business processes. Its
(robotic process automation)
product's focus on governance of RPA bots makes it a "strong choice" for banks
and insurance companies, according to Forrester Research. Gartner has noted
What is RPA technology, and WorkFusion's sophisticated ML capability.
how is it used by businesses?

Vendor capabilities in the fast-evolving RPA market keep expanding, as do the number
How is RPA different from
and types of companies claiming to offer RPA tools. According to a July 2020 report
automation?
from Gartner, RPA software tools "at minimum" should include the following
What are the benefits of RPA? capabilities: "low-code capabilities to build automation scripts, integration with
enterprise applications, and orchestration and administration, including configuration,
What are the risks of RPA? Why monitoring and security."
do RPA projects fail?
C-level decision-making around RPA
RPA software: Who are the
vendors? What is the cost? As companies continue to increase their use of RPA, lack of leadership and IT expertise
threaten to undermine the benefits of RPA and magnify its drawbacks, according to IT
Where the RPA market is
research firm Everest Group (see chart "5 RPA pain points C-level leadership needs to
heading
address").
Getting more PRO+ essential
content

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

To capitalize on RPA, strong C-level

In this e-guide leadership is required to ensure that
business outcomes are achieved, new
The ultimate guide to RPA governance policies are met, and the
(robotic process automation)
people whose jobs have changed due to
RPA are trained to take on new
What is RPA technology, and
responsibilities (see section "What are the
how is it used by businesses?
risks of RPA? Why do RPA projects fail?").
How is RPA different from
automation?
To take RPA use cases to the next level,
experts recommend companies establish
What are the benefits of RPA? an automation center of excellence, or
control center. "From this center,
What are the risks of RPA? Why administrators are provided with the
do RPA projects fail? operational agility to properly launch,
maintain and upgrade their RPA systems," explained Fersht and Brain. An enterprise
RPA software: Who are the
center of excellence (CoE) team often includes C-level "champions," change
vendors? What is the cost?
management experts, solution architects, business analysts, software developers,
Where the RPA market is engineers and support staff.
heading
But CoEs can also "crumble under their own weight," warned Gina Schaefer, managing
Getting more PRO+ essential director and intelligent automation leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP. A detailed look at
content how C-level execs can direct and support RPA projects is laid out in this expert tip on
RPA guidance for C-level decision makers.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide What to look for in RPA software

Enterprise leaders should consider a number of features when vetting RPA software,
The ultimate guide to RPA
including the following:
(robotic process automation)
• Scalability. Organizations should look for RPA platforms that can be centrally
What is RPA technology, and managed and scale massively.
how is it used by businesses?
• Speed. Enterprises should be able to design and test new robotic processes in a
How is RPA different from few hours or less, as well as optimize the bots to work quickly.
automation?
• Reliability. As companies launch robots to automate hundreds or even
What are the benefits of RPA?
thousands of tasks, they should look for tools with built-in monitoring and
analytics that enable them to monitor the health of their systems.
What are the risks of RPA? Why
• Simplicity. Organizations should look for products that are simple enough that
do RPA projects fail?
any employee in the business can build and use them to handle various kinds of
work, including collecting data and turning content into information that
RPA software: Who are the enables leaders to make the best business decisions.
vendors? What is the cost?
• Intelligence. The best RPA tools can support simple task-based activities, read
Where the RPA market is and write to any data source, and take advantage of more advanced learning to
heading further improve automation. RPA combined with AI capabilities is still a
developing field. Read more about intelligent process automation in this expert
Getting more PRO+ essential tip.
content
• Enterprise-class. Companies should look for tools that are built from the
ground up for enterprise-grade scalability, reliability and manageability.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide Where the RPA market is heading

The RPA market continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments in the enterprise
The ultimate guide to RPA
software market. It grew 62.9% in 2019, compared with 11.5% growth for the overall
(robotic process automation)
enterprise software market, according to Gartner's 2020 Magic Quadrant on RPA.
What is RPA technology, and
Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism and UiPath continue to dominate the field. But, as
how is it used by businesses?
Gartner and others have noted, the market is evolving quickly. Mega-vendors,
How is RPA different from
including Microsoft, SAP, IBM and Google, have entered the RPA market, along with
automation? vendors from "adjacent product sectors" such as intelligent BPM suites and low-code
application platforms. In addition, more BPO vendors are offering RPA.
What are the benefits of RPA?
"There is still a great deal of fragmentation of vendor offerings and interest from
What are the risks of RPA? Why vendors in adjacent markets (software and cloud)," Gartner observed, adding that it
do RPA projects fail? expects the market to consolidate and mature over the next three years.

RPA software: Who are the Meantime, RPA spending shows no signs of cooling. As enterprises accelerated their
vendors? What is the cost? digital transformation efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, RPA played a key role in
automating paper-based, routine processes.
Where the RPA market is
heading Concerns that RPA will hit a wall once enterprises have automated routine tasks and
move on to automating complex processes have been mitigated by advances in RPA.
Getting more PRO+ essential Leading RPA vendors are extending the capabilities of their tools. New capabilities aim
content
to better support management, scalability and integration with other tools, including
AI, digital process automation, process mining and business rules engines.

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 The ultimate guide to RPA

As noted in the guide's section on hyperautomation, enterprises are seeing the value
In this e-guide of a developing a comprehensive strategy for process automation that combines
automation tools -- including RPA, digital process automation, low-code/no-code
The ultimate guide to RPA platforms and business rules engines, among others -- with machine learning and other
(robotic process automation)
AI technologies.

What is RPA technology, and Enterprises should look for RPA providers that enable "scaling and scope extensions,"
how is it used by businesses?
Forrester advised in its March 2021 Forrester Wave review of 14 RPA providers. Some
examples of RPA augmentations cited by Forrester include "AI-decisioning tools that
How is RPA different from
automation?
automate processes in the banking and insurance industry" and "digital assistants that
offer an additional channel to the RPA platform."
What are the benefits of RPA?

What are the risks of RPA? Why

do RPA projects fail?

RPA software: Who are the

vendors? What is the cost?

Where the RPA market is

heading

Getting more PRO+ essential

content

Page 27 of 28
 The ultimate guide to RPA

In this e-guide Getting more CW+ exclusive content

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The ultimate guide to RPA
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(robotic process automation)
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RPA software: Who are the

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Where the RPA market is

heading

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