A Beginner’s Guide to RPA Software: Understanding the Basics

Robotic Process Automation software, or RPA software, uses virtual machines (bots) to perform repetitive business process tasks. When trained properly, RPA software follows highly specific instructions to give organizations precise results.

RPA software can learn over time, so it has connections to machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and intelligent automation (IA).

 

How Robotic Process Automation Software Learns?

 

RPA software learns how to perform business process tasks by “watching” human employees complete those tasks. For example, if you want RPA software to automatically fill out insurance forms, you would have the bot observe several employees entering accurate information into a form’s fields. You can then ask the automation RPA software to mimic the actions. If it does the job correctly, you can let it start completing insurance forms. It should work much faster and more accurately than humans assigned to the same task.

This is a rather simple, straightforward application of RPA software technology. With the right training, RPA bots can perform much more complicated business processes with minimal oversight.

 

What RPA Platforms Are Available?

RPA builders use platforms specifically developed for making automations. Some of the most popular platforms for building RPA bots include:

• UiPAth
• Automation Anywhere
• SS&C Blue Prism
• WorkFusion
• Kofax RPA
• Pega
• Microsoft Power Automate

CampTek prefers UiPath because it offers numerous benefits that help developers build effective automation bots quickly.

Some benefits of choosing UiPath include:

• Prebuilt templates that let developers quickly build RPA bots by adjusting the specifics of popular tools.
• Access to the UiPath Marketplace, where developers can purchase additional templates that match unique needs.
• Excellent security and regulatory compliance features.
• An intuitive dashboard that doesn’t require in-depth knowledge about coding, ML, or AI.
• Options to deploy automations locally on a desktop, share with colleagues, or run them companywide.
• Support for many other popular platforms, including Google Workspace, SAP, and Microsoft Office.

CampTek makes it easier than ever for your team to benefit from UiPath. Our Citizen Developer Starter Pack comes with access to the platform, connected team sharing, yearly support, an onboarding session, and one bot created by our team.

Would you like to learn more about how CampTek can help your business embrace the benefits of automation? Request a free demo and schedule a time when one of our representatives can walk you through everything.

 

Choosing an Effective RPA Software

Robotic process automation can streamline several types of business processes, saving companies time and money. If you haven’t used RPA, though, you probably wonder how you can choose an option that matches your unique needs. Before you commit to a specific tool or software developer, consider how the following criteria will influence your experience.

 

Ease of Use

Ideally, you want an RPA bot that can complete tasks with as little training and oversight as possible. When exploring your options, look for tools that offer:

• Flexible approaches you can apply to basic and complex business processes.
• User-friendly interfaces that give you more control over how the RPA functions.
• A low-code approach that business analysts can use without learning how to program software.

 

Easy Implementation

RPA should fit into your existing IT ecosystem, making it easy for practically any business to implement. Look for options that:

• Are compatible with your legacy systems.
• Won’t interfere with any of your existing tools.
• Doesn’t force you to oversee its activities often.

The best RPA solutions work in the background without revealing themselves. They aren’t there to get noticed. They primarily do grunt work that assists your employees and customers.

 

Exception Handling

Nearly all RPA tools will encounter oddities that it doesn’t know how to process. Perhaps someone inputs the wrong information in a form’s fields. Maybe numbers in a database don’t match those in a CRM.

RPA bots should know how to handle these exceptions efficiently and automatically. For example, it might send users an alert when they enter incorrect information, or it might detect the correct information and use it to propagate the field accurately.

Regardless, you need a tool with strong exception handling abilities that makes work easier instead of contributing to mistakes.

 

Regulatory Compliance

Many industries must comply with complex regulations. Failing to comply could lead to fines and other penalties. Perhaps even more concerning, breaches could tarnish your company’s reputation, making it harder for you to retain current clients and attract new ones.

Intelligent automation can comply with regulations when built and trained properly. Make sure you choose a vendor or tool with experience in your industry.

 

Ongoing Support

Some companies will sell you automation software, help you set it up, and largely disappear after that. That might seem fine for companies with full-time developers who have experience in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Most companies, however, don’t have those resources. That’s why they turn to third-party providers when they want to automate processes.

Ongoing vendor support ensures that your RPA continues to meet your business process needs. As your industry evolves, your robotic process automation software should adapt to changes. That could mean retraining your RPA to handle tasks in different ways.

CampTek is an RPA SaaS provider that can build and support your automation tools. Since we offer cloud-based RPAs, we can update your automation tools remotely instead of coming to your location. That means you get faster updates without our team disrupting your workplace.

You can also choose CampTek’s managed services. Our managed services run and test bots for you. You don’t need any technical experience because we do the heavy lifting.

Learn more about your options by visiting our RPA Services page. You’ll find information about services including:

• RPA support
• RPA development
• RPA process analysis
• Process discovery and mining
• Citizen development as a service
• Architectural design and support
• Automation strategy services
• RPA agile project management
• Legacy RPA tool migration

If you have questions that don’t get answered on this page, please feel free to reach out to our team for assistance.

 

Does RPA Software Require Much Coding?

On average, RPA tools don’t require as much coding as other types of software because they use machine learning to acquire skills. Still, you need someone to create a base RPA capable of learning from experience. You will also get better results by having someone monitor and test RPA bots for accuracy. It could also mean replacing your current RPA bots with new solutions that can do the job better.

 

Does RPA Use Physical Robots?

This is a common misconception among people unfamiliar with RPA bots. The simple answer is that RPA does not use physical robots. It is a software application that works on your IT ecosystem.

Robot process automation also goes by the term “software robotics.” Business leaders unfamiliar with the technology might mistakenly believe that RPA uses physical robots. That is not the case. RPAs are pieces of software that perform tasks. You can think of them as the “bots,” such as chatbots, that perform basic tasks for users online.

Anyone interested in applying robotic technology in the workplace should explore robot software instead of robot process automation.

 

Popular Benefits of RPA Software

The specific benefits you can expect from RPA bots depend on your industry and the tasks you want them to perform. Still, most organizations find that they benefit in the following ways.

 

Improved Accuracy and Regulatory Compliance

While you can take steps to lower human errors, you can’t eradicate them. Given enough time, people will always make some mistakes. RPA bots can perform the same task repeatedly without getting tired or distracted, improving accuracy across your organization.

Improving accuracy also helps you comply with your industry’s regulations. By adopting RPA bots and testing them often, you get tools that boost regulatory compliance and protect you from repercussions.

Additionally, you get an audit trail you can use to identify where any mistakes happen, making it much easier for you to solve small issues before they turn into big problems.

 

Cost Savings and Higher Revenue Potential

Since robotic process automation can perform tasks quickly, you reduce the amount of work humans need to do. In turn, you save money by eliminating mundane tasks from an employee’s responsibilities. With RPA performing repetitive tasks, professionals can focus on projects that lead to innovative products and services that will generate revenue for your business.

With RPA bots, you get a higher return on investment (ROI) by relying on automation tools you buy once instead of employees you must pay daily.

 

Higher Employee Morale

Experienced professionals don’t want to spend hours on data entry and other mundane tasks. Assign high-volume, repetitive tasks to RPA bots so your employees can focus on more meaningful aspects of their jobs.

 

Improved Customer Experiences

RPA bots can improve customer experiences by:

• Providing information quickly at any time of day or night.
• Performing tasks outside of standard business hours.
• Automating tasks for better user interfaces (UIs) between humans and digital technologies.
• Reducing wait times.

 

Potential Challenges of Using RPA Software

RPA software can streamline business processes and eliminate human error. That doesn’t make them perfect, though. Learn about the potential challenges of adopting RPA software before you commit to a service.

 

Upfront Costs

Buying enterprise software often costs a lot of money. Depending on the tool you choose, RPA bots can have high upfront costs. You should also consider the costs of maintenance and upgrades.

In general, you should expect to spend at least $9,500 on RPA services and products. CampTek can give you a price quote that helps you determine whether you want to invest in RPA bots. Keep in mind that they should save you money in the long run.

 

Security Risks

Some robotics process automation software doesn’t come with the robust security tools you need to protect sensitive data. Make sure you get your RPA bots from a reliable company. Also, only create accounts and passwords for managers and employees who absolutely need to access your RPA bots.

 

Integration

When done well, RPA can integrate with most legacy systems and recent tools. Ensure your RPA bots integrate properly so you can avoid issues when tools try to communicate with each other.

 

Ongoing Maintenance

RPA software requires regular maintenance, such as updating software, debugging errors, and managing changes to the underlying processes. Failure to maintain the software can lead to errors and system downtime.

You can lower the difficulty of ongoing maintenance by working with a vendor that understands your needs and will make the effort to ensure your RPA works properly.

 

Scalability

Some RPA bots have limited scalability that will create problems when given too much work to do. For example, a bot might slow considerably during your industry’s busy season. Unfortunately, that means the bots work slower when you need them to offer even more support for your employees and customers.

Again, you can mitigate this potential problem by choosing a vendor that takes scalability seriously and reviews your workflows to identify moments when RPA might struggle. That way, they can add features and bandwidth so the RPA thrives during challenging times.

 

Robotics Process Automation Software From CampTek

CampTek Software follows a rigorous methodology that includes analyzing your business processes, developing and documenting robot processes, iterative testing, review, and ongoing support.

We have ample experience working with organizations in the healthcare, insurance, financial, and call center sectors. You can read case studies related to your industry here.

Want to learn more about how RPA software can benefit your organization? Contact CampTek Software to talk to a professional about RPA software and your unique needs.