The new-age digital revolution has done tremendous efforts in protecting organizations from threats, however with new technology comes risks. More and more companies are becoming digitized to stay competitive in their markets. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been adopted across all industries to help reduce the risks of possible errors. RPA offers an increase in scalability and enhances the compliance rate of organizations. This type of technology provides organizations with reliable and effective ways to save money, time, and effort to achieve maximum efficiency.
Benefits of RPA
RPA has helped revolutionize the workforce industry, it has changed the way many teams operate their daily duties and tasks. Once implemented, the bots are known to provide organizations with enhanced customer service, satisfaction, cost reductions, and increasing the rate of market interactions. Which only bolsters the bottom line.
When programmed to run effectively, RPA is a driving force of reducing risk to companies, especially for finance professionals regardless of their business. When consistency and accuracy are of paramount importance, there are certain duties that can be left vulnerable due to inadvertent human error. RPA mitigates any risks to these critical duties.
Whether it’s an accounting department in a Fortune 500, or in the finance industry, there is a need for continuous repetitive data entry daily. This includes transaction processing, gathering data information, data manipulation, and report generation. These processes are perfect for adopting RPA to help eliminate mistakes and complete tasks at a much faster rate than a human.
From there, the bots can also be tasked with other related duties such as:
- Accounts Payable And Receivable
- Project Management
- Cash Management/Reconciliation
RPA can also automatically complete more advanced tasks such as:
- Closing Books
- Consolidating Financial Statements
- Management Reporting
Are There Any Possible Risks With RPA?
Yes, just like any technology there’s always some association with risks. RPA is a technology that is programmed to do exactly what it is told to do. This technology differs from artificial intelligence (AI) because the RPA bots can not make judgments and can not learn from data patterns, they can only mimic duties a human worker carries out. With that being said, the programming of the bot has to be completed with the exact functionalities the bot must be able to execute.
Organizations are prone to setting unrealistic goals and expectations for RPA implementation, this is when risks occur. Even misusing RPA for duties outside of its capabilities has been known to cause risks. RPA is supposed to deliver enhanced value, however, RPA can fail to deliver on its promises due to the unrealistic goals set forth by the organization.
How Does RPA Reduce Risks?
Below are three ways RPA can help reduce overall risks:
Compliance Factor
RPA can alleviate the risks associated with compliance and auditing. This technology can take on the responsibility of most repetitive manual tasks that are usually done by a human. RPA helps to increase accuracy and efficiency by working alongside employees to help them carry out their compliance and auditing tasks. This in turn gives employees back valuable time to pursue other duties associated with their role.
For example, banks have vital rules and regulations they must follow. To ensure regulatory compliance they must align business practices by complying with regulations and keeping good records to be prepared for audits. By utilizing RPA technology, banks can stay competitive in their industry.
Scalability
Organizations can eliminate risks with the right RPA automation tool. The right tool can help to monitor systems that require a change and will have the ability to deal with the complexity of the new system processes. It is no secret that a digitized workplace is rapidly evolving and becoming a dynamic place for change and growth. With the help of RPA, scalability is attainable through the consistency of the bots.
In the financial sector, for example, RPA has become a growing necessity due to the competition of the virtual banking industry. Banks use human judgment and procedural systems which are vulnerable to errors. RPA is used to eliminate the possibility of errors in crucial financial situations by granting the bots routine tasks and jobs. The RPA bots are used to make the jobs more efficient and accurate for banking procedures and are used to work alongside humans to lower costs and increase overall efficiency.
Dependability
RPA is dependable because it won’t have biases or work fatigue as a human worker may have. RPA helps to increase support for automation by managing and minimizing risks. The bots are specifically programmed to supply a consistent workforce. They also help to eliminate errors within the company’s internal system.
Using customer satisfaction as an example, an organization can build an automated chatbot that can offer the customer information instantaneously, with 100% accuracy. For specific cases where the RPA bot encounters something it hasn’t been programmed for, the bot can forward the query or request to a human employee. In both cases, there is consistency in how the bot operates and its value to eliminating errors in processing.
Minimizing The Risks in RPA
Business leaders must research and follow specific instructions to reduce potential RPA risks:
Make Informed Decisions
It’s imperative for business leaders to carefully analyze their business processes and decide which processes need to be automated. Before rushing to invest in an RPA system, it’s good to research use cases for their specific organization type. A good tip is to find out how competitors are using RPA to help their business, then plan accordingly.
Hire Experienced Professionals
Organizations should consider hiring skilled professionals who are experienced to develop effective strategies for the deployment and implementation of RPA. They can help give insight on estimating a budget and what the total costs may be. These professionals can manage the technical aspects of the technology such as fixing bugs, testing, and updating the software.
Train the Staff
It’s important for organizations to train all staff members with the right resources so they know how the business processes will change and the benefits they will see. Communication is key, and the staff should be trained with tools such as tutorials, videos, webinars, onsite exercises. The training should also inform employees about changing employees’ roles and responsibilities for a new workflow process.
Manage Automated Processes
A smart business choice would be investing in a platform that will monitor all the automated processes simultaneously and offer one integrated dashboard. The organization may choose to use several different bots for different business processes, which is important to monitor in real-time. This process will help employees recover faster if automation temporarily fails. Having visibility into the machinations of the RPA bots can help an organization manage and optimize their automation in real-time.
Ensure Data Security
The organization should work together with the hired professionals and their IT departments to create an effective security process. A good place to start encrypting all of the organization’s data and credentials. Encrypting the data allows a business to detect if an attacker is trying to access their confidential data. Organizations should have persistent audits and reviews to identify any security faults.
Find the Right RPA System For You
The right automation tool can help organizations in all business sectors minimize risk by ensuring better management of business operations with RPA. Not only will it help to reduce errors and mitigate risk, but it will also increase the compliance, scalability, and dependability of your organization.
At K2 University, we’ve partnered with industry leaders Automation Anywhere to offer RPA Training for Finance Professionals. Our Mastering Bots course offers best practices, certificate guidance, web data management, and chatbot development – find out more.
