The Evolving Nature of Shared Services with Robotic Process Automation

One Robot can perform the work of 2 or 3 staff, faster and with greater accuracy, at a fraction of the cost of staff locally or in any outsource based geography. Robots also enable work to be repatriated at a lower cost, with savings often applied to new innovative offerings that also employ staff locally.

The efficiency of work done

Shared services groups were formed to more efficiently perform the work of an organization. Robotic process automation takes these groups to the next level by further consolidating on-screen rules based work into a Robot workforce. Robot technologies range from staff assistants, to stand alone desktop Robots to full enterprise level Robot workforces, deployed on virtual workstations.

Workflows previously optimized for people at the cost of quality or service can be rearranged. Robots, for example are just as happy performing repeatable task sequences as they are doing batch work.

Getting it right

As a relatively new, rapidly evolving field, there are many aspects of robotic process automation to consider in order to ensure success. How to fit your culture, which technology or technologies best fit your business and strategy and what architecture best fits your organization? These are some of the considerations.

Further strategic considerations look further out to see how evolving cognitive and artificial intelligence capabilities and technologies will assist your Robots in performing more unstructured work, higher up the knowledge worker value chain. Early adopting individuals and organizations place themselves and their organizations at a strong competitive advantage, now and for the future.

Cross training

Shared service organizations require a broad range of skills, often with stringent training requirements. One Robot can be trained in the full range of work to be performed. These Robots can be flexibly deployed to ensure service levels are maintained across the group. They can be performing one work type for a couple of hours, for example, and then be redeployed to a completely different work stream.

Once one Robot is trained to perform certain work all Robots can immediately absorb the same training and perform the same work. This is particularly important when processes are modified for business purposes.

Robots can operate within work allocation BPM applications just like people, checking their inbox for work or taking work from a central Que.

Capacity planning is much easier when Robots are performing the work. They operate quickly and at a standard pace. Additional Robots can also be deployed at the click of a mouse to handle peak workloads, like month end or end of quarter financials and reporting.