Back @ IT: Harnessing RPA Throughout Your Organization with Ronak Mathur

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has changed how people approach the automation of mundane tasks by offering unique capabilities. But, RPA’s impact in key areas of the organization is still misunderstood. RPA is typically utilized for automating mundane tasks, which is great, but without a secure, governed process, RPA will quickly become unmanageable.

Coming to grips with the true capabilities of RPA instead of just thinking it’s a fancy buzzword is still a challenge for many organizations. The role that people in leveraging RPA is vital to dispelling the many myths that exist around automation.

In this “Back @ IT” episode, I’m joined by Ronak Mathur of Mater Hospital to help provide insights into RPA. Ronak is an Automation Architect with many years of experience across multiple industries. We will address the struggle many still have trying to understand RPA, practical ways to use RPA, the importance of security, and much more.

Highlights:

00:58: RPA has moved beyond a buzzword now and is a critical part of organizations. However, misconceptions still exist along with fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
04:25: Repositioning RPA as a productivity enabler will help counter the fear of the “bots taking my job” mentality. 
05:54: Governance is critical for RPA along with collaboration across the organization. Having a Center of Excellence group will help define the boundaries, people, security, and ensure RPA is aligning with the overall company goals and objectives. By doing this, trust is built up in what RPA can do, should do, or shouldn’t do.

“It's all about the trust what we have built up in the past few years (with RPA), and what’s delivered”

09:04: Ronak highlights the biggest surprise of the inclusion of artificial intelligence within RPA. The entire process is now infused with AI to enhance automation and reduce manual workloads.
10:56: People are still a vital element to the adoption, success, and scalability of RPA. However, people need to realize that RPA can shift their focus to more critical tasks instead of mundane tasks.

“it's always people plus technology, it's never the technology will take away everything”

13:21: AI and machine learning are opening up new possibilities with automation. However, RPA coupled with AI and ML isn’t being adopted greatly outside of enterprise organizations and a few mid-market players.
16:02: RPA is making an impact in the industry clouds area that’s being offered by many companies. This really allows companies to have the speed to go-live that’s needed in our accelerated economy.
19:10: Data migration is a huge struggle for many companies as they are transitioning from legacy systems to cloud-powered applications. RPA can speed up this process through automation and lift a huge burden from staff.