Introducing RPA as a Service

For programs big and small, organizations like yours are considering RPA as a service (RPAaaS) as the best approach to fulfilling their automation goals. This blog details what this means and how it differs from larger to small-midsize enterprises.

According to Gartner, the robotic process automation (RPA) market is nearing five times the size it was five years ago, as automation increasingly enters the conversation for companies looking to keep up with the competition.

Enterprise automation services are now digitally transforming the manual tasks that were once a painful reality in departments like Finance, Customer Care and Supply Chain.

The RPAaaS model can be an effective approach for larger organizations looking to begin their program with an “easy button” approach or for small and medium businesses with a relatively small automation footprint. Let’s explore.

What is RPA as a Service?

RPA as a Service is a business process services model in which a company subscribes to automation services from a third-party company.

While some RPA vendors also refer to RPAaaS as automation as a service, there are some important distinctions to make between the two. Automation as a service could include other components such as process orchestration, intelligent document processing, business process management (BPM), artificial intelligence or machine learning. In this model, automation as a service would be synonymous with enterprise automation, in which you could include RPA as a service as a component.

Some organizations outsource their entire enterprise automation program to a managed services provider (MSP). In this type of relationship, your organization seeks out a long-term partnership with a third-party provider. The partner typically provides a comprehensive suite of automation services, such as an enterprise automation center of excellence, which covers the intake of automation ideas plus the development, deployment and support of automations.

Another partnership type is business process outsourcing (BPO). Your firm seeks out a partner to focus on responsibilities for certain processes or responsibilities as a subset of the overall automation program. This could take the form of production support alone or the planning, development and deployment of assigned processes to supplement a company’s overall business process services program.

Automation for Midsize to Large Enterprises

For larger enterprises starting their journey with business process automation services, it takes time to move an in-house program from pilot to popular. Organizations typically begin with training their IT infrastructure team and business process owners interested in automation before installing any automation toolset. Your firms often require special security reviews and technical approval before considering any processes, whether installed on-premise or configured in the cloud.

While those enterprises work through the foundational training required for their business and technical decision-makers, those choosing RPAaaS can roll out internal training efforts at a measured pace. By collaborating with a seasoned RPA services provider, you reap the benefits of quick planning, development and deployment while traditional programs still dream of their automation vision.

This subscription-based accelerated service delivery prevents you from paying the up-front cost of automation platform licensing because your RPA services provider covers licensing costs. This allows you to try out automation and quickly reap an initial return on your investment. Rapid deployment of automation to production also increases your internal teams’ productivity and understanding as they quickly let go of mundane work and experience the program in action. Using RPAaaS can also help you quickly scale your program if desired, potentially expanding your RPA services provider’s team to accommodate a higher level of your automation needs.

Automation for Small to Mid-Size Businesses

If your company is like many small to mid-size firms, your initial automation needs will consume only a fraction of a single robot’s capacity. With 168 hours a week of potential automation run time and much quicker processing than humans, it takes companies time to automate enough processes to fully engage a robot. Using robots to their maximum capacity makes the most efficient use of license costs. Your teams may also lack the skillset necessary to select and effectively build the automations that are most valuable to your firm. You can use the RPAaaS model to “try before you buy” while teaching your team which processes can provide the greatest automation value.

Companies like yours can quickly reap the benefits of automation using RPAaaS. If you’d like to begin your enterprise automation program, partner with an experienced provider that will provide a full menu of automation services from end to end. If you have efforts underway but need additional automation support, work alongside a trusted team to quickly expand those efforts and to scale better. If your organization fits best in the small to mid-size business category, an experienced provider can limit your up-front cost and commitment while helping you and your teams to quickly reap the return on investment and productivity increases that automation provides.

Conclusion

There are considerable benefits when you engage an RPAaaS provider in your automation program rather than facing it alone. Whether your firm is large or small, whether you seek to scale your existing automation program or are only beginning to dip your toes in the water, RPA services provide a quick return on investment – and momentum to your teams’ initiatives.