Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process
Automation
Why intelligent RPA (iRPA) will
revolutionise Shared Services

© 2017 Autologyx
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation -

Why intelligent RPA (iRPA) will revolutionise Shared Services

Shared Services has been delivering immense benefits in operational

efficiency and synergies for well over a decade. But the future has begun
to look less certain.

Outcomes targeted by Shared Services Much is being said about the transformational
today are much as they were yesterday: cost potential of iRPA. Recent research1 predicts that
reduction, efficiency gains and the ability the global Robotic Automation market will reach
constantly to ‘take on more with less’. But $8.75 billion by 2024 and that by 2025 the
what was a great boon 5-10 years ago is now equivalent work of over 110 million workers will
increasingly unable to deliver the same scale of be handled by RPA2.
advantage.
It is of immense interest to any operation trying
With benefits historically derived from the to achieve:
three main components of people, process and
technology, Shared Service is finding it tough to
outperform itself. • The ability to innovate
• Reduced levels of human error
Intelligent RPA (iRPA) - is the one technology
that can help to reduce cost through efficiency • Faster, scalable execution
gains and people re-deployment, while also • The potential to run 24/7 operations
enabling greater agility, productivity and
innovation within the business. • A competitive commercial edge
• Cost reduction

This white paper looks at the potential impact

of iRPA tools on Shared Services operations,
and its enabling effects for business.

We hope you find it useful in helping to assess

the practical applications and potential benefits
of iRPA within your Shared Services operation.

1. www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161125005287/en/Robotic-Process-Automation-RPA-Market-Reach-8.7
2. Source: McKinsey Global Institute January 2017. “A future that works: Automation, Employment and Productivity”

© 2017 Autologyx
 Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

What is RPA?

The Institute for RPA defines it as the application of technology that allows
employees in a company to configure computer software or a “robot” to
capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction,
manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other
digital systems.

As a McKinsey report3 But not all RPA technologies are created equal. They have
developed from simple desktop assistance in the early
stated in January 2017, 2000’s to the introduction of machine-Learning and AI
“Advances in robotics, today. Intelligent RPA (iRPA) embraces tools that can also
artificial intelligence, and sense and respond to other conditions or the surrounding
environment.
machine learning are
ushering in a new age of So, at its core iRPA is a smart technology that can not only
automation, as machines automate all the tedious stuff and unburden costly human
resources – but also better mimic the way people work to
match or outperform intelligently handle complex, non-linear applications. As
human performance in a such, it holds out the prospect of inspiring a new phase of
range of work activities, innovation, collaboration, agility and value for those working
in or establishing a Shared Services centre.
including ones requiring
cognitive capabilities.”
The Competitive Landscape
Degree of Automation potential

“ML/D-AI” “Desktop RPA” “Fabric RPA”

“Point Solutions” “BPMs” “Component Automation”

None (people!)
“Point Solution” vs Platform
3. Source: McKinsey Global Institute January 2017. “A future that works: Automation, Employment and Productivity”

© 2017 Autologyx
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

iRPA in Shared Services

This is an important moment for Shared Services and iRPA stands ready to
help meet the challenge.

An Ernst & Young report4 ‘Elevation to the
next generation of shared services’ graphically
described the typical shared services evolution
path. It states, “Many SSC’s complete the
transition and stabilisation phases, but then never
exploit the new model that has been implemented
through continuous improvement and expansion.”
This means that despite all the investment
over years in establishing the shared services
environment, ROI tails of into minimal
performance improvement after the initial
deployment. And this trend is set to continue
without automated intervention.
In a 2017 survey of nearly 2000 companies,
ServiceNow identified that 86% expected that
the pace of work would reach breaking point
by 2020 and that intelligent automation was
inevitable in order to keep up and remain
competitive.
However, in a more competitive, more
regulated and even more uncertain world,
the pressure still remains to achieve those
important operational gains.
Eventually it gets to the stage where
productivity can’t be increased or costs reduced
any further using established tools, methods
and thinking. The only alternative is to raise
prices – but consumers of goods and services
are reaching their limits on price and looking for
cheaper alternatives.
SSCs must quickly look to how they can
introduce innovation to compete effectively.
Stagnation really is beginning to seem like the
only alternative. So, the question is not ‘if’ but
when the organisation will embrace the new
wave of intelligent automation.

Let’s imagine a successful, expanding Shared

Services operation that, over a period of
years, has implemented an ERP platform, BPM
systems, offshoring to reduce transactional
costs, replaced core systems and added a few
extra point solutions.

4. www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Elevation_to_the_next_generation_of_shared_services/$FILE/Shared-services-optimisation.pdf

© 2017 Autologyx
 Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

Operational impacts

Introducing iRPA into a Shared Services operation can release the latent
potential within.

As McKinsey reported5, “Automation of various This potential difference is summed up in a

activities can improve the performance of almost
any business process. Beyond enabling reduction
in labour costs, automation can raise throughput,
increase reliability, and improve quality, among
other performance gains”.
iRPA allows organisations to build on past
successes – achieving previously unimaginable
levels of scalability, generating granular
real time data helping to fuel a process of
continuous improvement – and freeing up
personnel to create more strategic value.
The same Ernst & Young report6 pointed to
the fact that many shared services centres
“never exploit the new model that has
been implemented through continuous
improvement and expansion”. RPA – and
especially iRPA – now offers an affordable
technology that enables that to happen.
concise list of ‘Fast Facts’ in Outsourcing Portal’s
website article7 on how RPA is applied in
Finance, HR and Procurement. It states:
• RPA employs a variety of tools for
grabbing digital data, which can
include screen scraping, digital image
recognition, or the ability to access a
server or be linked to a website.
• It makes use of rule engines similar
to those found in business process
management tools.
• It is considered a virtual workforce
controlled by the business operation
teams.
• RPA does not disturb underlying
computer systems.

5. Source: McKinsey Global Institute January 2017. “A future that works: Automation, Employment and Productivity”
6. www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Elevation_to_the_next_generation_of_shared_services/$FILE/Shared-services-optimisation.pdf
7. www.outsourcingportal.eu/en/robotic-process-automation-in-shared-services-how-rpa-applies-to-finance-hr-and-procurement

© 2017 Autologyx
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation
Intelligent RPA offers another dimension
altogether: the ability not only to automate
‘machine’ tasks, but also to manage complex
processes and activities that persist over
time.
iRPA is smart: it brings in elements of AI
and cognitive computing – it can learn how
to work seamlessly between people and
systems. This is because iRPA operates
at the Layer 7 Application level where it
can function as an intermediary between
systems and a content layer of its own – as
well as working down through the lower
levels to perform ‘traditional’ RPA functions,
interacting with people and the physical
world.
This creates the capability to use, update and
reuse both structured and unstructured data
objects, which can be incredibly powerful. It
can literally automate the thinking, tracking,
remembering and intervention needed to make
the right decisions and implement them on
time, every time – faultlessly and unsupervised.
Moreover, it creates its own data record of every
event that can be used for audit or analytics at
any future time.
© 2017 Autologyx
Such capabilities mean that iRPA does so much
more that de-risk and eliminate many of the
human factors that hamper Shared Services
productivity and scalability. It also creates a
platform for innovation – the ability to rapidly
develop and deploy rich automation of complex
applications, networks or supply chains and the
capability to exploit new opportunities.
Is it realistic to think such transformative gains
can be achieved so easily? In fact, low barriers to
implementation also make iRPA accessible by a
far wider range of organisations and operations.
The enabling of communication between legacy
systems and the overlaying of sophisticated
algorithms also generates enough information to
engage machine learning.
This removes the problem and costs of replacing
deeply embedded legacy systems, giving them
a new lease of life. It enables the automation
of process across legacy systems, ‘powering
up’ & binding disparate systems and solutions
together to offer more than the sum total of
their parts.
 Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

Delivery of Benefits

iRPA can drastically reduce headcount costs in back office operations,

evidenced by recent figures compiled by Outsourcing Portal EU8 specifically
for the payroll sector.

As well as the significant savings that can be achieved, this also

has the benefit of enabling knowledge-workers to be redeployed
onto activities that make a higher contribution to value-
creation. Keeping employees stimulated and engaged is widely
acknowledge as one of the key factors in delivering a higher value
contribution to the organisation.

iRPA technologies also have the ability to quickly adjust to the

demands of the business. PwC are quoted as saying9 “Besides the
cost and efficiency advantages, a couple of RPA’s greatest benefits are
often overlooked: its ease of deployment and the speed and agility it
confers on the enterprise”.

There is invariably a cost whenever companies want to

deploy new technologies within a business, both in term of
purchase and time committed to their rollout. But iRPA can be
progressively rolled out, business process by business process
across an organisation. This means that high-volume, repetitive
transactional environments can easily provide a return on
investment with the first year.
SSON Analytics’ shared services 2016 RPA survey10 also points
to advantages derived from this ability to roll-out automated
business processes in a matter of days rather than months.

61% of non-RPA respondents believed that RPA took 12 weeks

to implement, while almost half of RPA-enabled SSCs reported it
took less time – with one-fifth of RPA-enabled SSCs reporting that
implementations took just 4-8 weeks.

8. www.outsourcingportal.eu/en/robotic-process-automation-in-shared-services-how-rpa-applies-to-finance-hr-and-procurement
9. PwC White Paper: Organize your future with robotic process automation
10. www.sson-analytics.com/blog-entry/infographic-robotic-process-automation-shared-services

© 2017 Autologyx
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation
Smart Platforms for the future
iRPA brings with it the prospect of greater management confidence and
control.
It represents a step-change in the ability to
deliver on SLAs and to meet governance and
compliance criteria – even in complex, dynamic
operations. It also signals a new era in the
availability and transparency of analytical data,
driven out of the ‘digital workforce’.
Moreover, iRPA has the effect of enabling a truly
connected enterprise. With iRPA, it’s perfectly
feasible to create connected, end-to-end
processes that unify operations across a business.
Business processes exist in nearly every
industry. iRPA cares little about the processes
themselves, and focuses instead on the data,
systems and technologies that drive them. This
can deliver significant business advantages
because intelligent tools are also better at
interacting with other business systems and
software agents – thus creating a digital eco-
system within the business.
Organisations already utilising RPA tools
have become more capable of running 24/7
operations, more able to deliver on SLAs, and
are better equipped to interconnect with other
digital systems both internally and externally.
Another attraction of RPA tools generally is
that they are relatively easy to use and require
almost no integration effort. Ease-of-use also
democratises the development of new business
applications. The best iRPA solutions reduce
dependency on IT resources. Instead, they
enable business and operational areas to build
their own new processes and workflows, often
from core iRPA templates.
© 2017 Autologyx
Machine-learning gives iRPA tools the capability
to drive highly complex, non-linear process
applications. These kind of tools behave more
like a human operator – but with the rigour,
accuracy and speed that only automation can
provide.
With systems like this, every action is dated and
time stamped and persists over time, providing
you with an audit trail even if the criteria on
which a historical decision was made has
subsequently changed.
iRPA can thus analyse data and take action –
processing multiple task simultaneously in a
fraction of the time a human can. Changes in
data that may also effect the status of historical
decisions are immediately identified and
highlighted. The significance is that any need
for remedial action or renewal is automatically
flagged up when circumstances change.
The smartest iRPA solutions also provide data
reusability. Very simply this means that where
some robots simply complete tasks, more
sophisticated ones capture and store all the
related data – so that organisations can access
and use it for any purpose, indefinitely.
This capability to reuse and share data assets,
documents, process objects and audit-trails
in other business applications – and between
other automated processes – builds an
organisational knowledge-base that can be used
to help create business value.

Practical Application
There are many ways that iRPA can be used in organisations. Here are a
few of the most prominent general user cases across key areas in Shared
Service operations such as Finance, HR, and Procurement:
Cost Management
Reduced deployment costs – iRPA
applications are typically quick and easy to
configure, offering lower cost of implementation
and faster speed-to-market.
Lower operating costs – Automated back-
office processes are more streamlined and
efficient and can be run 24/7 at no incremental
cost with improved accuracy.
More accurate forecasting – Operating costs
are more predictable with iRPA tools and also
generate detailed management information
enabling improved analysis and planning.
Resource Management
Resource Utilisation – iRPA delivers the
capability to do more with less. So, aside from
potential head-count reduction, there is a real
prospect of redeploying staff to more profitable
activities.
Reduced IT dependency – iRPA removes the
reliance on IT to develop applications that
address basic operational challenges.
© 2017 Autologyx
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation
Finance and Risk
Risk management – iRPA tools can virtually
eliminate the risk of non-compliance with
regulations, SLAs or other operational
frameworks, thus reducing the overall risk
profile.
Advanced analytics – Process automation
makes gathering and organizing data easier,
which enables improved monitoring, planning
and reporting.
No Capital Expenditure –Intelligent platform
architectures allow organisations to access all
the benefits of iRPA and enterprise-class service
with no capital outlay.
HR and Workforce
Onboarding Compliance and Competency
– iRPA de-risks onboarding of both permanent
and contingent staff, but also ensures ongoing
compliance throughout employee lifecycles.
Distributed Workforce Management –
Intelligent automation makes it easier to
manage a high-churn, transient workforce over
multiple remote locations.
Employee Engagement – iRPA tools can
promote employee satisfaction by replacing
routine tasks with smart, accessible self-service
tools that also reduce training costs and
encourage collaboration.
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

Operational Performance Innovation and Growth

Consistency and integrity – Centralised
control of processes, data and documentation
de-risks any task, so you can confidently
manage remote distributed operations in an
end-to-end connected organisation.
Performance and productivity – iRPA
eliminates operational errors, workflow delays
and repetitive manual tasks – with data-driven
behaviour driving improved efficiency and
reliability.
Legacy integration – iRPA tools have the
capability to integrate legacy systems together
with existing business systems, new processes
and external databases.
Controlled delivery of complex projects – Key
decisions can be taken promptly and effectively
through process transparency and data-driven
analytics.
Business agility – iRPA tools facilitate a rapid
response to dynamic business situations or
sudden changes in demand, enabling shared
service operations to adapt more quickly.
Innovative technology – iRPA technology
is able to change the way people think, build,
connect and run business operations.
Supporting business growth – iRPA is an
enabling technology, capable of powering
rapid innovation of new propositions that help
gain entry into new markets or to offshore
operations.

Final Thought:
“It’s a safe assumption that robotic process
automation will soon become part of shared
services’ modus operandi”
Quote Source: “Will Robotics Leapfrog BPO”? Barbara Hodge, Editor, SSON (Shared Services & Outsourcing Network)

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© 2017 Autologyx
 Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

About Autologyx

Autologyx’s next-generation agile Fabric Automation® Platform,

enables enterprise businesses to take control of automating complex
processes to drive real business value. Its proprietary SaaS (software-
as-a-service) platform and unique Think Build Connect Run® capability
enables any enterprise to successfully and quickly apply iRPA
technology.

What is Fabric Automation?

Fabric Automation® describes autologyx’s proprietary next generation of connected

and intelligent Robotic Process Automation (iRPA) technology that makes its Think,
Build, Connect, Run® capability possible
The autologyx Fabric Automation® platform liberates businesses from the limitations
of first generation RPA with an intelligent automation engine that combines simple
drag-and-drop user authoring with a library of hundreds of powerful ready-to-
use components. These include modules for machine learning, Internet of Things
devices and out of the box data connectors, enabling non-technical operations or
administration staff to ‘think, build, connect and run’ sophisticated and interactive
applications quickly in a ‘no code’ environment and without the traditional integration
and deployment barriers.

By delivering unique iRPA technology solutions, autologyx enables you to free your people
to focus on the things that create 90% of your value and difference, that need the human
touch, that build your brand and reputation.

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© 2017 Autologyx
Autologyx / Whitepaper: Robotic Process Automation

Taking the next step….

As many leading consultancy firms, iRPA analysts and user-organisations

have identified, iRPA adoption is growing exponentially. With many SSC’s
already running pilots or POC exercises, there are signs that the early-
adopters will gain competitive advantage and the gap will be hard to close.
One initial step could be to start by identifying which business areas or processes could benefit from
introducing iRPA. Deloitte published a simple 5-step plan with a useful infographic in their RPA guide
for business leaders11. They key points were:

1. Assess for automation opportunities

2. Build your business case
3. Determine the optimal operating model
4. Identify your automation partner(s)
5. Plan the automation roadmap

Autologyx are ideally placed to help guide you through the discovery phase. If you’d like to
learn more about iRPA in the context of your business, please contact us now.

Chris Northam
Commercial Director

T: +44 (0)203 884 1814

M: +44 (0)7747 771 551
E: chris.northam@autologyx.com
www.autologyx.com

Autologyx | Cody Technology Park| Farnborough | Hants GU14 0LX

11. www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/innovation/articles/guide-to-robotic-process-automation-and-intelligent-automation.html

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© 2017 Autologyx