Page 31 - EngineerIT June 2022

AUTOMATION

A vital journey for South African

businesses

By Wilhelm Greeff, Business Manager: Modern Workplace at Decision Inc. South Africa*

hile South African organisations have been incorporating robotic process
automation (RPA) into their business processes and strategies, a significant gap
Whas emerged between those embracing the technology and those still testing the
waters. Larger institutions, such as banks and financial institutions, have already adopted
RPA across the organisation, with some even building their own platforms. While a few
companies are doing this strategically throughout the business, others tend to focus on
introducing RPA at a departmental level, using a variety of tools and platforms.
And then there are those small and medium sized businesses(SMBs) who are just
dipping their toes into RPA by investing the minimum in licensing and only automating small
areas of work, since they would like to see the technology prove itself before allocating more
resources to it and investing into the platforms. Some smaller companies are using a bot as a
service model and rent these technologies to automate tasks without directly investing in a
specific RPA platform or license.

Dealing with difficulties
A degree of caution is understandable, given how costly the investment in RPA
platforms can be. Companies need to come to terms with the limitations to help identify opportunities for
of the technology and finding the right processes to automate. It is Robotic process automation at various levels.
the ‘identifying, evaluating, estimating the value and impact to automation (RPA) is a These considerations can
be created’ part that is probably the most important, to see productivity tool that allows a either be by having
sufficient ROI. employees identify
Those organisations that are not experts in the field may user to configure one or more scripts and explain processes
adopt RPA but not see the true potential, either because (which some vendors refer to as “bots”) which they see as being
they are automating un-optimised processes or not picking to activate specific keystrokes in an ‘automatable’ or by
good use cases for automation. Another common challenge automated fashion. The result is that the allowing RPA platforms
is that businesses tend not to communicate and share the bots can be used to mimic or emulate to monitor user and
successes gained from automation between departments. server machines. In
This lack of communication could result in a lack of buy-in selected tasks (transaction steps) turn, they can then
from those unfamiliar with the successes already gained by within an overall business or identify opportunities for
automating processes within the company. IT process. automation, using machine
learning and AI.
Targeting quick wins These process improvements will
Decision-makers should focus on automating simple processes that typically involve large allow for a more agile and competitive
volumes of data capturing, manipulation or transactions taking up a significant part of business as employees improve their
employees’ time, to mitigate against these and other challenges. Processes that are typically skillset and ensure cost efficiencies
prone to error because of data re-capturing are also good use cases. Furthermore, an throughout their organisations. Another
organisation can consider setting up a centre of excellence to identify, adjudicate and control benefit attributed to RPA is improved
which processes are automated. This centre of excellence will ensure the company does not customer service and experience.
waste any effort or resources in automating the wrong things. Organisations cannot afford to lose out
on these benefits as digitisation and
All about the training globalisation continue to cause disruption
Organisations must identify the employee groups most likely to be impacted by automation. and increased competition. Now more
These workers must be involved in discussions early to provide input into the role they will than ever before, it is not the time to get
play in these initiatives. Change management becomes critical in this regard as it will also left behind but rather to innovate, improve
contribute to employees embracing the technology and being willing to upskill and reskill and embrace the growth opportunities. n
themselves where required.
By taking these considerations into account, more effective process mining can be done * w.greeff@decisioninc.com

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