8 Important Criteria to Follow Before Selecting the Right RPA Tool

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the technology that allows businesses to configure computer software, or a “robot” to emulate and integrate the actions of a human interacting within digital systems to execute a business process. RPA robots utilize the user interface to capture data and manipulate applications mimicking human actions. They interpret, trigger responses and communicate with other systems in order to perform on a vast variety of repetitive and mundane tasks. What acts in the favor of an RPA software is that unlike humans, robots never sleep, make zero mistakes and costs a lot less than an employee.

According to Gartner, RPA is the fastest-growing segment in the worldwide enterprise software market. Gartner predicts that by the end of 2020 the RPA services are going to be valued at $5.98 billion.

Although this technology is picking up popularity consistently, it is still obscure to numerous organizations in terms of its framework, feature, deployment models and several other things. Before implementing the RPA programming, an organization must figure out which is the best Robotic Process Automation tool.

Now, who can provide these RPA tools? Leading Players in this technology include the likes of UiPath, AA and Blue Prism, they offer the best in class automation software experience. But how to choose the best from them…

Criteria for Choosing the Right RPA Tool

Creating a checklist while choosing the best robotic process automation tool is the best criteria to single out the RPA solutions. Using a checklist allows you to evaluate the vendor, their software’s characteristics, in relation to the objectives that you recently spelled out. Let’s look at some necessary checklist items that are a must.

“The first rule of automation used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. 

The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”

~ Bill Gates

Understanding the Requirements

Before looking for the best RPA tool, you need to have a crystal-clear set of goals that you would like to aim towards. A thorough knowledge about the status of your tasks (for e.g., the degree to which they are rule-based, repetitive and non-intelligence and other questions), as well as a distinct authority of needs and goals, will help with the choice.

Learning (Ease of use)

The tool needs to be chosen in such a way that it is easy to work with, requires minimal training, is easy to understand, can be controlled easily and is adaptable enough to support fundamental automation tasks. In addition, the decision ought to be a perfect fit for business analysts who require information in programming.

Technology

There are some significant technical highlights that an organization needs to check out for e.g. Base Technology, Re-Usability, adaptability, and others. Since the RPA tool will be accessing and handling a lot of private data also, the company should take a note of the security features of the tool. Important Safety measures are vital and the organization needs to assure the degree of security being expected from an RPA tool.

Otherwise, the framework may get powerless against external attacks leading to leak and misuse of confidential data.

Accuracy

Robotic process automation permits you to take out the human error, which on account of tedious tasks is set somewhere in the range of 5% and 10%. To eliminate human errors first, count the number of tasks that need to be redone due to human errors. The tool must be able to function accurately irrespective of the platforms you are working on.

Speed

Speed is one of the main reasons behind the implementation of RPA. Therefore, we need to check whether the selected RPA tool increases the speed in terms of quick mapping of the process, execution of the tasks and more. Bots’ capacity to self-learn can accelerate tasks massively by minimizing the extra efforts which were being put in the deployment process.

Cost

Apart from the speed and adaptability of the RPA tool, the cost of ownership is another important aspect that an enterprise must evaluate while making a decision. It relies upon different factors, for example, the vendor’s fees, the license agreement, the maintenance fees, the cost of implementation and more. Any organization would like to spend minimal in the beginning and then take it higher as per usage. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the cost of RPA keeping the company’s RPA roadmap in mind.

Scalability

The scalability of the RPA tool has to be measured by its capability to support a large number of robots working simultaneously to execute different tasks. Another factor is extending the extent of utilization by offering steady help for widening how and where the solution will be used in any corporation. The tool must be easy to integrate with new technologies.

Architecture

A well-planned RPA tool management has favourable outcomes for any organization. It provides a vision to when and where we can utilize the RPA tool and also provides deep insight into how well it can be adjusted to perform several tasks. Therefore, before selecting any RPA tool, we should ensure we have the correct aptitude and skills to utilize the tool. We need to understand the architecture of the tool and how it can fit within our processes.

After following every option from the checklist, if we get the best RPA tool that suits our requirements, any complex design and process can be robotized to become more productive and viable.

Conclusion:

“Automation is good, so long as you know exactly where to put the machine.”

~ Eliyahu Goldratt

Choosing any RPA tool mostly depends on ones’ understanding of the process of automation and where and when to use it. It goes with saying that the best RPA tool is the one that offers the most benefits… Benefits applicable to the plethora of situations and scenarios.

As a digital solutions provider with more than 12 years of domain presence and expertise, BigStep would like to suggest UiPath as a solution for all your automation needs. Stay Tuned for our next update on RPA where we will be discussing Why major decision-makers prefer UiPath over other automation tools?. 

Previously published at https://www.bigsteptech.com/8-important-criteria-before-selecting-rpa-tool/