Robotic Process Automation is reshaping how enterprises work. Here is where the RPA industry stands today and where it is headed next.
Robotic Process Automation services boost organizational agility, productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness by automating manual, repetitive processes through pre-programmed commands. As adoption accelerates across industries, understanding both the current state and the future trajectory of RPA is essential for organizations planning their automation strategy.
What is RPA?
RPA streamlines workflows using specialized software algorithms that mimic the actions a human would take within digital systems. Major early adopters include ADP, eBay, General Electric, HP, and Microsoft. The market has been projected to reach roughly $2 billion in 2022, growing at a compound annual growth rate of around 41 percent, underscoring how quickly enterprises are embracing the technology.
2017 Predictions and Growth Trajectory
Industry analysts set the stage for today’s momentum. IDC projected RPA revenues nearing $3 billion by 2020, with enterprise deployments expected to exceed 2 million by 2018. Looking further ahead, adoption was predicted to top 5 million software robots by 2022, reflecting an accelerating shift from experimental pilots to large-scale production deployments.
RPA Technologies and Use Cases
- Document assembly and automated data extraction from forms and systems
- Real-time reporting and error detection across business processes
- Greater operational efficiency and measurable cost reduction
- Improved business continuity and scalable, repeatable automation
Challenges of Implementation
- Personnel training costs and the learning curve for new tools
- Employee comfort with change and the need for change management
- Concerns about the appropriate scope of process automation
Selecting an RPA Platform
Choosing the right platform means weighing cost, ease of integration with existing systems, speed of implementation, quality of vendor support, and available documentation. Organizations can pursue a department-by-department rollout or adopt a cloud-based SaaS approach, depending on their scale, budget, and appetite for phased change.
RPA and Security
Security remains a central consideration. Automation can be executed on a separate virtual machine with no physical access to core information assets, isolating sensitive data while still delivering the efficiency gains that make RPA compelling.
Conclusion
To capitalize on RPA, organizations should understand its capabilities, assess its strategic fit, identify suitable functions to automate, evaluate the available tools carefully, and put robust security measures in place. Done well, RPA delivers lasting gains in efficiency, cost, and scalability for the years ahead.