With software bots developing into an essential assistance, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in project management is now taking on greater importance. RPA software solutions automate ever more complicated operations and projects, in contrast to conventional software tools that manage spartan, elementary procedures. RPA bots may even do many tasks at once and communicate with the programme directly.

Today, the Robotic Process Automation has gained widespread adoption as a result of its major effects on quality, compliance, and productivity; some estimate that over 72% of firms will invest in RPA over the next several years.

RPA deployment, however, has been a significant hurdle for the sector. A recent survey found that the complexity of RPA programmes causes 69% of them to fail. The fact that 63 percent of business executives are dissatisfied with the speed of their RPA deployment only serves to muddle matters further, according to Blueprint, an enterprise automation provider.The PwC analysis backs up this assertion. The consultant discovered that it frequently takes 4-6 months rather than the anticipated 4-6 weeks to complete an RPA proof of concept or pilot project.

In this article, let's look into the key challenges of implementing RPA in  project management.

Dearth of Integration Knowledge

Most RPA solutions available at the market work in silos and focus only on particular regions of business operations, rather than overall vision of the automated journey. This in turn, limits the potential of the RPA implementations and diminishes the ROI. 

Proper integration can lead to smarter and more efficient automation possibilities. To attain this, the organization must look forward to expanding the operations in accordance to the defined business requirements. Hence in such situations, adding new capabilities to the present RPA tool must be considered as needs grow. Every RPA tool has unique capabilities and limitations, so it's important to clearly understand each tool's potential.

Chetu, an US based entity is aiding its clients to integrate its RPA solution to the clients business workflows and core software systems to export data to cloud-based and onsite databases, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, or Content Management Systems (CMS) via RESTful APIs.

Tracking the RPA Implementation

Not all processes in project management are suitable for automation. Sometimes, automating a small process can result in significant savings, while automating a large but wasteful process will not bring improvements. As Gina Schaefer, Intelligent Automation Practice lead at Deloitte, puts it, “Just because you can automate something doesn't mean you should." For best results, you need to choose RPA candidates carefully. 

Defining automation strategy is an essential factor in avoiding RPA pitfalls, according to Zeeshan Rajan, Senior Manager at PwC. Here is what he said, “RPA is a technology that is easy to use, but things take time, and so does an RPA implementation. A sound foundation must be created for the purpose of further scaling, and this requires a solid basis with a defined strategy, communication plans and change management, trained RPA experts and a stable IT infrastructure – just to mention some examples.”

Scalability Issue

Attaining scalability has been one of the major challenges of RPA implementation in project management. As per a report by Deloitte, only 3% of the organizations surveyed by the consultancy were able to scale their RPA solutions.

GlobalTranz, a logistics service company, experienced an RPA scaling challenge firsthand. According to the CTO of GlobalTranz, “Bots are a great technology but, like any technology, have a point of diminishing returns from a scaling perspective." 

To reduce the hustle around scaling, is it necessary to implement the process to work in parallel and independently of each other. The approach should be to integrate a number of bots together, other than to increase the capacity of one particular bot. 

One of the more prominent examples of implementing RPA at a large scale comes from Japan. The country’s leading financial institutions, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, teamed up with UiPath, EY, PwC, Deloitte, IBM, and Accenture to roll out a comprehensive RPA solution. They successfully automated more than 400,000 hours per year across 200 different operations. 

Robots Are Here

Companies are now massively investing in RPA softwares in comparison to other solutions like cloud, IoT or Analytics, reports KPMG. With time, RPA has evolved to be the most preferred choice, as firms search for additional methods to reduce operational expenses, invest in new or emerging technology, and optimize processes and activities. RPA is now being used by more businesses for tasks including customer support, processing invoices, sales orders, payroll, pricing comparison, storing customer information, processing HR information, and hiring.