Robotic process automation (RPA) isn\u2019t new, but it has emerged as an effective tool for organizations to automate repetitive tasks, increase efficiency and reduce overall costs. In fact, the RPA market has grown to five times the size it was five years ago, according to Gartner<\/a>.<\/p>\n As your organization begins the journey into robotic process automation, there are several ways to approach an initiative, each of which will vary based on your company culture, available resources (human and technical) and investment in RPA technology.<\/p>\n No matter which method you choose, we recommend establishing an RPA center of excellence (CoE) as part of your long-term strategy. An RPA CoE enables you to integrate RPA throughout your organization and provides the necessary capabilities to manage the program once you launch it. You can think of an RPA CoE as a repository of information that facilitates knowledge sharing, collaboration and effective automation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Below are tested best practices to help guide you on the path to establishing an RPA CoE that will be sustainable, maintainable and continually bring process and technology improvements to your automation initiatives.<\/p>\n Create a clearly defined team with documented roles and responsibilities, which will help bring structure to every RPA initiative.<\/p>\n Roles should include the following:<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note these are the minimum roles you should include in your RPA CoE, but you may also want to consider roles such as RPA Champions, RPA Change Manager and RPA Service and Support. Dedicated Project Managers can also be a part of the team. However, you will likely bring in project managers on a project-by-project basis.<\/p>\n Creating a charter and mission is critical to the team\u2019s success, as it allows your team to manage their environment accordingly and create a common set of goals and values.<\/strong> The team should be self-governing, to some degree, given that individuals who work in this type of framework are considered highly desirable.<\/p>\n Create a proof-of-concept (PoC) bot to perform a basic task. The bot may or may not be complete, but it should help demonstrate how your organization\u2019s chosen tool will work in your environment.<\/p>\n Additionally, the PoC bot will provide firsthand knowledge of the ease of use and complexity of the tool, the benefits the organization can derive from automation, and how the tool can be part of the larger technology stack. Work to ensure everyone understands the tool, its capabilities and limitations and the best way to make use of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Having informed technologists and users will aid in driving the adoption across the enterprise and lead to well-educated, informed decisions.<\/p>\n The RPA CoE Steering Committee should understand the culture and technology of the organization and how RPA can thrive, as it will provide oversight and governance to the RPA initiative.<\/p>\n Comprised of cross-functional team members from across the organization, including HR, Operations, IT, Finance and Audit, the RPA CoE steering committee will ensure any automation initiatives support the overall strategy of the business and IT organization.<\/strong> It will also ensure the RPA solution drives economies of scale.<\/p>\n This group can help identify \u201cquick wins\u201d so that others across the organization can see the potential of the technology.<\/p>\n As with the RPA team, the CoE committee should have a clearly defined charter that outlines roles and responsibilities for its members, frequency of meetings, goals, assets, challenges and other business-related deliverables for which the team is responsible.<\/p>\n Too often, organizations continue to work on automations and deploy them without an overall strategy or long-term plan in place. This is where an RPA center of excellence roadmap is essential.<\/p>\n The roadmap will outline the near-term and long-term objectives of the program and will not only consider the technology needs of the organization as part of RPA but also will take into consideration the organizational and cultural aspects of the project.<\/p>\n Organizational change management<\/a> (OCM) is a key aspect of any RPA journey and will help to minimize the fears of staff, especially those directly impacted by automation.<\/strong> The more everyone understands \u201cwhere we are going\u201d and the positive impact RPA can have on their daily workloads, the more buy-in organizations will see from employees and the stronger the initiative will become.<\/p>\n1. Establish an RPA CoE Team<\/h2>\n
\n
2. Build a Proof-of-Concept Bot<\/h2>\n
3. Establish an RPA CoE Steering Committee<\/h2>\n
4. Create a Strategy and Roadmap for Your RPA Center of Excellence<\/h2>\n
5. Create an Effective RPA CoE Governance Process and Model<\/h2>\n