New times are upon us. Businesses across the globe are experiencing unprecedented change. Some of it is fleeting change. When the dust settles, some things will return back to the way they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in lots of other ways, they will not. For those instances, there will be a new normal—a paradigm shift in how we approach the construct of work. What’s more: This shift is happening regardless of industry, business size, or market value.
One of the biggest ways business is affected right now is the necessitation for remote work and offsite collaboration. As organizations look to robotic process automation (RPA) and other automation solutions to alleviate some of the new pressure of these remote work dynamics, a few key considerations can make implementation go smoothly and successfully.
RPA and Remote Work Considerations:
1. Look at the Business Process as a Whole
As if navigating the uncertainty of the crisis isn’t hard enough, wrapping your mind around what needs to be done can be challenging and confusing. While some process areas might be taxed by a sudden influx of remote staff, others might be relieved. The good news is RPA bots can be used to make adjustments that will both fill the new gaps created by the crisis, and also optimize the process for the future. But, without proper planning, automation can only help so much.
It is ever-more important to take this time to look at the entire business process. Process mining will help uncover bottlenecks, repetitive tasks, impediments, and other areas where workflows are primed for improvement, and process intelligence will provide easy-to-follow recommendations and business analytics. Only when you have this full picture can you begin to determine which areas of the process are best suited for automation and make sure you truly optimize the process and maximize your ROI.
2. Security
Once deployed, RPA bots need privileged access and credentials to work as intermediaries between systems and people. This, combined with a new remote workforce now logging on from various locations and VPNs, means risks are unfortunately heightened, and so security must be also. These risks include external and internal threats, accidental data breaches, network vulnerability, and DOS attacks and interruptions among others. To confidently deploy RPA and get the most value from the technology, be sure your security strategy covers all your bases.
3. Implementation, Deployment, and Management
With RPA, implementation is everything. While every business has its own specific needs and challenges, there are a few common issues we see over and over in RPA implementation.
As mentioned, defining the process as a whole is a critical component, but relying on people to do it can be problematic. Usually, it results in inaccurate process details. That’s why, with EPSoft, you don’t need individuals to lay it out. Our smart technology scans your systems for event logs so you capture accurate, real-time data to build your workflows.
Another big issue with implementation is the failure to plan for change. Flexibility is a must with any technology implementation because compliance changes, market fluctuations, and more (things out of your control!) will all affect your business process. There must be flexibility to make changes as needed.
Click here to read more about potential pitfalls with RPA implementation, and how to plan to avoid them.
Ultimately, businesses should aim to have a Center of Excellence, or CoE, to oversee bot development and deployment. This dedicated team within the organization that can ensure the bots are successful.
From automated emails to save time for overwhelmed call center associates to AI-powered chatbots, automation can bring much-needed relief in less certain times. But as with any sweeping change, proper planning can make all the difference.
If you’re looking for more answers for your new remote workers, we can help. Schedule a free demo today.