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Robotic
Process Automation - Tool Selection Process |
Introduction
It is very important for
organizations to select the right tool / service provider when they embark on
their robotic process automation journey and this blog focuses on this of tool
selection approach.
In this blog, we had taken a peek at the 'RPA Tool Selection' approach
typically taken by organizations, the typical questionnaire items and how the
IT partner can be prepared with these and how it can plan adding a value by
strict adherence on these asks.
Tool Selection
As a prerequisite to tool selection, organization needs to analyze its
business processes and identify the areas which are good candidates for RPA.
Identification of these business processes can be done by scoring the specific
business process against the following simple questions:
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Q. No |
Question |
Score |
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1 |
Is
the process or step routine / simple and involve repetitive steps? |
1 - Less Likely |
2 - Agree |
3 - Strongly Agree |
|
2 |
Is
the process or step rule based and doesn't involve ad-hoc or unstructured
decision making? |
1 - Less Likely |
2 - Agree |
3 - Strongly Agree |
|
3 |
Is
the data involved in the process or step captured or available in a
structured format and fields? |
1 - Less Likely |
2 - Agree |
3 - Strongly Agree |
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4 |
Is
the data involved in the process or step digital? |
1 - Less Likely |
2 - Agree |
3 - Strongly Agree |
For the identified business process, multiple relevant stakeholders
(Business Process Users, Business Process Owner, Functional SMEs, IT) should be
involved for evaluation of the RPA Tools to be used.
Below parameters are typically used by organizations to select one of the tools offered by different service providers:
Above mentioned points are elaborated in below chart. Scoring for each option being considered is done by Organizations against these parameters and 'winner' can be identified.
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Parameters for Evaluation |
Tool Capability |
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Dashboard & Reporting |
UI simplicity, user friendliness and navigation |
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Ease to generate standard or ad-hoc reports |
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Customization ability to modify look and feel of dashboard, charts,
etc. |
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Design & Build Usability |
Ease of using for development or change of process automation |
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Out of the box connectors with common platforms (e.g., Excel, Siebel,
SAP) |
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Robots triggering capability for executing automation |
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Process automation recording capability |
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Capability to automatically create KT documents like produce process
flow diagrams, guide |
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Capability of tool to identify process improvement opportunities |
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Available documentation for training & support |
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Administration, Management and Allocation of Robots |
Sequencing and Workload Distribution & Prioritization
capabilities |
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Centralized and decentralized robots allocation capability |
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License sharing for usage of robots or dedicated licensing |
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Impact on IT Architecture |
Ease of integration with other Internal and External systems in the
organization's IT Landscape |
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Centralized or decentralized change configuration management
capability |
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Solution adherence towards IT architecture standards |
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Ease of code migration to TEST, PROD environments and rollback methodology
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Scalability of tool to handle higher volume during peak hours and
increased volume over the time |
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Access &
Security |
Role/Group based access and ease of access management |
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Ability to integrate with existing SSO or Authentication tools like
Active Directory, LDAP |
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Audit Trail maintenance |
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Compliance
& Regulatory Standards |
Adherence to regulatory guidelines e.g. SOX compliance |
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Audit trail and Log creation for audits |
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Licensing |
Robot license costs and license sharing options |
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Design and
Build Cost |
Cost and Effort estimates for end-to-end implementation including
design, build and test |
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Change Mgmt.
/ User Training |
Train the Trainer, Change Management activities support i.e. training
material availability |
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Maintenance
& Support |
Cost and resource support estimates for technical upgrades and
maintenance |
Conclusion
This tool selection and business process identification activity though
as simple it sounds, is one of the key activities involved in the robotic
automation process tool identification and laying down the scope. Due diligence
is very important at this stages to avoid any scope creep, misalignment with
business process and wastage of time and efforts of team involved.