RPA has revolutionized how businesses work by allowing them to automate mundane tasks and freeing up human resources. It also helps them to innovate more and be more strategic. Like most other technologies, RPA requires maintenance to keep running as it should and avoid breakdowns or errors.
If you treat RPA maintenance as an afterthought, you'll be caught off guard by the cost of improving and maintaining your RPA system.
Many fall into the trap of underestimating the hidden costs of RPA maintenance and face setbacks. You need to understand the actual costs to make informed decisions and avoid potential pitfalls.
We've talked to hundreds of companies about RPA maintenance and how to keep it under control. Here are some lessons we learned to help you avoid these hidden costs.
The Maintenance Trap: Time Wasted on Maintaining Existing Automation
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One of the most common pitfalls businesses face is the maintenance trap. It occurs when you neglect your existing automation. Reasons could vary, such as insufficient resources, poor design, or lack of standardization.
Proper maintenance is essential to keep RPA systems running as intended. Your robots are your digital workforce. Like your regular employees, robots must also be taken care of. If you neglect your employees, they might feel demotivated or less efficient.
Robots, too, can experience significant issues without regular upkeep. It results in a substantial waste of time and resources. The time saved through automation turns into the time required to fix these issues.
The bigger the size of your automation, the higher the chances of more workflows failing. It doesn't end there! Identifying and fixing issues becomes more challenging. Scaling without planning can lead to decreased efficiency and increased costs.
The Hidden Cost of Scaling Automation Due to the Maintenance Trap
As we know, RPA is brittle, and it needs constant attention. Since you're fighting fires all the time, it doesn't let you focus on innovation and growth. This is the opportunity cost you pay due to the maintenance trap.
Furthermore, as the complexity of automation increases, you need to assign more employees to resolve issues. In some cases, hiring new employees might be required, leading to increased costs for human resources.
Businesses need to invest in RPA maintenance to avoid these hidden costs. That will ensure maximum efficiency and productivity.
How to avoid these hidden costs?
While it's true that these costs can be significant, there are several ways you can avoid them.
Take maintenance into account when planning scalability
Forrester surveyed a group of RPA customers as part of its research for UiPath. 70% said that their organization is struggling with the performance and scalability of RPA.
Being proactive is crucial in avoiding the maintenance trap in RPA. Effective RPA maintenance through proactive analytics can help businesses plan better for scalability. Organizations can identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement to maximize the benefits of RPA. It leads to more significant efficiency gains and cost savings.
Train Staff on RPA Maintenance
Involve your developers in the maintenance process. A skilled team with the necessary expertise is the first step in ensuring effective RPA maintenance. So they learn how their design impacts long-term performance, stability, and needed care.
Review Your Automation Regularly
Continuous improvement should not end with automation. It means reviewing bots and processes at regular intervals. Identify areas to improve and make changes to optimize performance. As they say, there is always room for improvement. Keep looking for it.
The Importance of Proactive Analytics
While reactive maintenance has positives, it has fallbacks too. It's not enough to ensure the continued success of automation. To identify potential issues before they turn critical, you need proactive analytics. No more spending all your time-fighting fires!
Proactive analytics can optimize performance, resulting in increased efficiency and cost savings. It can also help you identify opportunities to scale the size of your automation. Ultimately, it leads to a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
If you want to invest in proactive analytics for your automation, you're in the right place. Pointee is a proactive analytics platform that handles your intelligent automation operations needs in one place. Our solution lets you ensure your automation is running just as it should.
With Pointee, you can:
- Proactively monitor the entire portfolio of processes
- Understand how your robots work with our deep analysis
- Receive alerts in real-time and automatically generated reports to share with business owners
If you are already a fully established CoE or starting your automation journey, choosing Pointee as a proactive analytics platform for your RPA can help you avoid these hidden costs.
With our platform, organizations can track and improve the health of their RPA maintenance system in minutes. Not only does this make maintaining your RPA system more effortless than ever, but it also ensures that you'll avoid any surprise maintenance needs–and costs.
Get in touch if you want to move from reactive to proactive analytics for your RPA maintenance.
Source:
https://www.uipath.com/hubfs/Reports/UIPath%20RPA%20TLP.pdf
