Learn to set up an RPA CoE (Center of Excellence) for your company in five steps.
RPA or Robotic Process Automation automates manual, repetitive, high-volume tasks that humans perform every day. For example, an RPA could take over the task of entering data into a spreadsheet. The robot or bot as they are popularly called would enter all the information, exactly the same way, each time, saving you time and effort.
Another example can be an employee submitting a request to update his address, contact information, etc., and the bot would automatically update it in all the relevant database fields for various departments such as payroll, HR, IT, and so on.
As you can see, Robotic Process Automation is more about Automation Software and not the shiny physical robots roaming around. RPA bots interpret, communicate with other systems, and trigger actions to automate a wide variety of manual repetitive and rule-based business processes. These bots are ‘trained’ to mimic human interaction and can interact with any IT application or website in the same way a human would.
What is an RPA Center of Excellence (CoE)
RPA adoption is increasing by leaps and bounds across various industries. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global RPA market was valued at USD 1.89 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 38.2% from 2022 to 2030.
When done correctly, Robotic Process Automation provides many benefits to the business otherwise it can be a costly overhead. Sometimes, organizations proceed to RPA implementation without proper planning and fail miserably at it. This is where an RPA Center of Excellence can be useful.
In layman’s language, the RPA Center of Excellence is the enabler of RPA adoption across the organization. It is the heartbeat of Robotic Process Automation taking place in a company.
A Center of Excellence for RPA is a central unit that identifies automation opportunities, builds use cases for automation, and provides structure, best practices, support, and runs automation projects in an organization.
It helps a business achieve end-to-end automation of business processes by combining people, technology, and processes together. It also measures the success of RPA initiatives in an organization. The responsibilities of an RPA CoE are listed in the image below.
Fig – Responsibilities of an RPA CoE
Why you need CoE for RPA
RPA CoE is essential to realize the full potential of RPA in an organization. It helps break down silos and encourages better communication among various entities and business processes within an organization.
The main benefits of RPA CoE are listed below-
- Maximize ROI and reap full benefits of RPA investments
- Implement and embed RPA effectively and efficiently
- Monitor, measure, and accelerate automation
- Manage RPA pipeline and delivery
- Make automation scalable and achievable
- Improve operational efficiency
Steps to Setup Robotic Process Automation CoE
Follow the step-by-step process explained below to set up a Center of Excellence for Robotic Process Automation in your company.
Step 1 – Select a cross-functional team for CoE
It is important to have representation from different functional areas in the Center of Excellence. These may include executives and/or business leaders, project managers, architects, automation developers, testers, etc. It is essential to select the team members based on their skills, relevant experience, and necessary qualifications.
Team size will depend on the size of your company and the scope of RPA projects you plan to implement. You need to find the right balance as a small team size will be more agile but you also need to provide enough resources to handle the workload effectively.
Step 2 – Define team structure and governance framework
The next step is to build a governance framework that includes operational guidelines, best practices to follow, change management and release management guidelines, and standards for bot management. This is an important step for the smooth functioning of the RPA Center of Excellence that should not be overlooked.
Step 3 – Define responsibilities for RPA CoE Team Members
Once you have the team in place and the operational framework is ready, you need to clearly assign responsibilities to team members so there is no ambiguity and communication gap. This step will set the expectations right among the team members and also define who is responsible for what.
Step 4 – Design your automation roadmap
Designing an automation roadmap starts with reviewing the current processes and shortlisting the candidates fit for automation.
Next, you need to start asking questions like what are your goals? Which processes will be automated first? What is the target RoI for RPA? What tools you will need? Which RPA platform is the ideal fit for your needs?
Brainstorming the above questions and recording the findings will lead to a well-formed automation roadmap.
Step 5 – Launch your RPA CoE
With all the basic planning in place, you are now ready to roll out the Center of Excellence for Robotic Process Automation for your company. Start small but aim and prepare for big goals. Initially, start with small goals like preparing templates for automation tasks such as processing a new bot request or fixing issues with existing bots, etc.
It might take months to see measurable progress but it is important to keep reviewing the RPA implementation and refining the CoE model. Having a great RPA tool like Automation Anywhere is quite helpful to monitor, measure and analyze your progress.
Factors to consider while selecting an Automation Tool
- Enterprise Ready – Tool should have all the necessary functionalities such as reporting, auditing, asset management, release management, etc. that an enterprise will need.
- Scalability – Does the tool support scalability? Consider on-prem as well as on-cloud deployment as a must-have requirement.
- Security – The Automation tool must have security built into its DNA. With the unprecedented rise in cyber-attacks and data breaches, this is a non-negotiable feature that you must consider while selecting a tool.
- Easy to use – The tool must be intuitive and easy to use for better adoption.
- Flexibility – The RPA tool should be flexible and easy to integrate with 3rd party tools.
Contact Incepta Solutions to start your Automation Journey today!
A well-formed Center of Excellence builds trust among the customers, instills self-confidence among employees, and creates a better reputation within the industry thus adding tremendous value to an organization. At Incepta Solutions, we have implemented our own Center of Excellence which is driving innovation and excellence within our company.
Along with the proven experience in building and running the CoE, Incepta Solutions has a seasoned team of Automation Anywhere RPA developers, testers, and executives with relevant experience across industries to help you set up an RPA CoE.
Our RPA champions can help you choose the right tools and technology to implement the ideal RPA solution your company needs. Connect with us to start your automation journey today!
Are you ready to embark on your Automation Journey?
Connect with our RPA team by emailing hello@inceptasolutions.com or calling +1 877 797 0406 to get started with Robotic Process Automation!
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