Key takeways
- Data shows that the global RPA market size which was estimated at $ 1.89 billion in 2021 is expected to reach a whopping $ 2.32 billion in 2024.
- Automation solutions providers like UiPath enhanced the capabilities of RPA by integrating technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into RPA. These intelligent bots could gather and analyze both structured and unstructured data and make decisions based on data.
- Generative AI is now being used with RPA to provide intelligent business solutions that adapt quickly to change fostering the growth of agile and resilient businesses.
- These are several RPA platforms with specific features. It is necessary to vet these platforms and choose the best one according to your automation goals.
- RPA service providers are automation experts who provide services such as assessment, strategy, implementation, deployment, and support.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that has been around for a while and has spearheaded the digital transformation journeys of businesses. Data shows that the global RPA market size which was estimated at $ 1.89 billion in 2021 is expected to reach a whopping $ 2.32 billion in 2024 (Source: Webinar Care).
In its earlier formats, RPA was limited to the automation of repetitive business processes. This technology takes over rule-based tasks from humans and enhances their efficacy. The tasks that took several hours or sometimes days are executed by RPA bots in minutes. The increased speed of processes greatly reduces the time to market and offers businesses a competitive edge.
RPA bots increase the accuracy of processes by eliminating human errors. Also, these bots relieve humans from your routine, high-volume tasks. This gives them the time to perform tasks that require human attributes. The consequence of this is better employee experience as the employees get an opportunity to play a role in high-skilled tasks that impact business outcomes.
These automation solutions directly impact customer experience which leads to better customer retention. For example, automation of medical billing in a healthcare facility helps patients complete claims settlement on time and leads to patient satisfaction. Or, if a business automates email marketing and uses RPA solutions to schedule emails, it can send timely emails to customers, and customers feel valued.
However, in its initial stages, RPA lacked the ability to leverage unstructured data and make intelligent decisions. Automation solutions providers like UiPath enhanced the capabilities of RPA by integrating technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into RPA. These intelligent bots could gather and analyze both structured and unstructured data and make decisions based on data. Machine Learning algorithms can study patterns and trends in existing datasets and make predictions. Data reveals that 91.5% of companies have ongoing investments in AI and ML. (Source: Whats The Big Data)
The outcome of these intelligent automation solutions is that businesses can optimize processes for better resource allocation, reduction of costs, and other benefits. For instance, ML can be deployed to make forecasts regarding demand which helps businesses improve inventory management and reduce wastage.
With continued advancement in technology, we now have Generative AI tools that can create content from nothing.
Generative AI augments RPA to boost its capabilities.
Use cases of Gen AI and RPA:
- Data generation and preprocessing of data
Gen AI creates synthetic data that closely resembles real data. This data is used for training ML models including those used in RPA.
- Intelligent chatbots
Gen AI enhances the abilities of RPA-based chatbots. Gen AI-powered chatbots can provide responses beyond the rule-based responses provided by RPA, thereby providing personalized customer experience.
- Image processing
Generative AI enhances or restores images and documents to improve RPA-based document processing.
- Intelligent decision making
While RPA works well with structured data, Gen AI enhances its scope by analyzing unstructured data as well. Gen AI can analyze complex data patterns and help RPA bots make intelligent decisions.
- Interpreting Natural Language
Gen AI can comprehend the content of natural language and therefore it can accurately analyze and process data from sources like emails, social media, etc. RPA bots can interpret this data and take the required action.
- Intelligent Process Automation
Gen AI augments the process automation capabilities of RPA to provide intelligent automation solutions.
Generative AI is now being used with RPA to provide intelligent business solutions that adapt quickly to change fostering the growth of agile and resilient businesses. According to Markets and Markets, the Generative AI market size will reach $ 51.8 billion by 2028. (Source: Blogging Wizard)
Businesses have realized the importance of RPA in their digital transformation journey and are looking for RPA solutions for their businesses. There are several automation providers and vetting the right RPA provider for your business can be a challenge!
Top RPA Platforms:
- UiPath
UiPath offers an intuitive platform that can identify repetitive business processes by capturing user actions. The platform automates these processes and they can be monitored and managed on the unified UiPath platform. Workflows can be automated seamlessly through a user-friendly, visual interface. Therefore, the platform can be deployed for end-to-end automation across the enterprise.
You can optimize automation performance based on real-time insights offered by the platform. Its robust security features ensure access control, data security, and compliance. The platform can be easily integrated with various third-party systems. Hence, integration with your existing systems is a hassle-free process.
Integration of AI technologies like OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and NLP (Natural Language Processing) into the platform makes it intelligent and enhances its capabilities. You can easily extract information from unstructured data sources including text in images or video and audio content. This helps businesses resolve customer queries and make informed decisions.
It is a customizable platform that includes tools like an extensive library of pre-built automation components that facilitate the configuration of bots according to specific tasks to be performed. UiPath also makes your digital transformation journey seamless by offering support for integrating the platform with various systems, applications, and databases.
The UiPath platform has a scalable architecture that makes it easy for a business to scale its operations according to its needs.
All of the above attributes of the UiPath platform make it an extremely flexible tool that enables businesses to enhance their efficacy and reduce costs.
- Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere is an RPA solutions provider that offers customized RPA solutions that can be deployed with ease.
The Automation Anywhere solution is SaaS-based and can be accessed via the cloud. The Web-based automation software robots (bots) are easy to build. The platform includes intelligent bots that can interpret unstructured data in different formats like images, documents, emails, etc. Intelligent bots enhance the capabilities of the platform and pave the way for data-driven insights for better decision-making. The platform includes a centralized orchestrator that controls and manages automation workflows. Users can monitor and optimize automation performance, and schedule and monitor activities of the bot through a centralized platform. The platform has a user-friendly interface and can be easily integrated across various platforms and applications.
The platform supports both attended and unattended automation processes. It includes intuitive bot development tools alongside a vast library of pre-built automation components that make it easy to build bots according to the specific needs of the user. The Automation Anywhere platform includes advanced security features to ensure the protection of confidential data and compliance.
- BluePrism
BluePrism offers an intelligent automation platform that facilitates end-to-end automation of business processes. This platform has a visual design interface that makes it easy for users to build customized automation processes and modify them. Its drag-and-drop feature makes it easy for users without technical expertise to develop automated workflows. It works seamlessly for complex automation scenarios.
The platform includes a centralized control room for monitoring automation performance. The central control room offers complete visibility and control over the automation systems. It facilitates scheduling, management of workload, auditing, and exception handling. It includes error management and recovery mechanisms that can be tailored according to the needs of the business. These mechanisms facilitate seamless management of unforeseen errors and exceptions during automation.
Intelligent technologies like OCR, NLP, and Machine Learning (ML) are integrated into the software imparting its cognitive abilities. These technologies enhance the scope of automation facilitating the management of both structured and unstructured data. The BluePrism leverages its cognitive abilities to offer data-based insights to users for better business outcomes.
The platform is easy to integrate across various systems, applications, and databases. Also, the platform is secure and compliant.
- Electroneek
Electroneek is a low-code platform that enables users to develop, launch, and manage software robots. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to automate workflows. Users can build automation bots with the help of drag-and-drop features without any technical expertise.
This platform can be used to trigger workflows according to the specific needs of the business. It facilitates centralized management of workflows, launches, and bot runners. Users can track automation performance based on real-time insights available on a professional dashboard.
RPA is enhanced by integrating AI technologies like OCR, NLP, Machine Learning, etc. These technologies manage structured and unstructured data to provide insights that help streamline processes, optimize costs, and provide better outcomes.
Multiple SaaS orchestrator helps segregate workflows and manage them individually. The orchestrator helps manage automation and integrate them into RPA and non-RPA projects.
The platform integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack. It includes a vast library of tools that can be leveraged to create bots according to the unique needs of the business.
The platform ensures compliance and includes security features to provide a secure environment.
- Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate is an intelligent, cloud-based app that helps businesses optimize processes with the help of bots that automate repetitive business processes with zero coding experience and minimal effort.
It offers unique business solutions by bringing together RPA, Digital Process Automation (DPA), and AI.
You can create automated workflows between applications and services through a user-friendly interface. You can build customized automation solutions with the help of several prebuilt connectors. The cloud-based system prevents data loss.
The latest version of Microsoft Power Automate includes Copilot in Power Automate which helps developers work smarter. It leverages NLP to accelerate the creation of software. Users can describe what they want and get customized workflows.
The platform includes RPA-based drag-and-drop actions that facilitate automation of legacy apps, databases, and systems. The platform enables users to access custom applications of their organizations and include them in their desktop flows.
The platform runs RPA bots at scale frees IT off the task of managing and running virtual machines. It supports both attended and unattended automation.
Microsoft Power Automate is a secure platform that ensures compliance.
These are some of the top RPA solutions providers. Each platform has certain features and has its pros and cons. As a business head, it may be difficult for you to identify the best platform for your business. It is a good idea to work with RPA service providers who will not only help you in identifying the best RPA platform but also enable you to implement automation seamlessly.
RPA service providers are automation experts who provide services such as assessment, strategy, implementation, deployment, and support. Many RPA solutions providers may offer RPA services as well or you may need to outsource RPA deployment to RPA service providers.
Top RPA Service Providers
UiPath Professional Services
UiPath provides automation solutions as well as professional services. Armed with their in-depth knowledge and experience of the UiPath platform, UiPath helps businesses accelerate their digital transformation journey.
Their advisory services include:
- Assessment of existing systems identifies opportunities for improvement.
- Developing a roadmap and strategy for the deployment of automation.
- Establishing operational guidelines for the present and future automation programs.
- Execution of the development roadmap and automation plans.
Their delivery services include:
- Helping clients migrate their existing implementation and ensuring that the UiPath platform is kept up-to-date.
- Equip your team with the required training and support to use the UiPath platform effectively.
- Provide customized RPA solutions for your business.
- Identify the key areas where automation will have maximum impact.
- Identify the bottlenecks and areas of improvement through process mining technologies.
They offer managed services that include monitoring and maintenance of your deployed bots. These services also include managing incidents and outages so that the automation runs seamlessly.
UiPath also offers enablement services where their industry-specific experts provide trainings to your team so that you can leverage the benefits of the platform.
Ingram Micro HPS
Ingram Micro offers hyper-automation solutions. It is a distributor of automation solutions and services.
Services include:
- Security Solutions
- Cloud infrastructure solutions
- Business applications
- Communications & Collaborations
- Backup & Disaster Recovery
- Management & Training Solutions
- Digital solutions
- Managed Services
Auxiliobits (Automation Center of Excellence)
Auxiliobits helps businesses embrace AI-driven RPA solutions to drive value for the business. They help businesses analyze, structure, and deploy a digital workforce and achieve cost efficiency.
Their services include:
- Business Process Automation solutions are provided after identifying automation opportunities in your business.
- Robotic Process Automation solutions with AI integration provide intelligent automation for your workflows.
- Marketing Automation using RPA and Chatbots helps provide a personalized experience to your customers.
- QA Test Automation helps reduce cycle times and provides accurate results.
- RPA Deployment and Monitoring services make your automation journey seamless. They monitor the automation performance in real time and optimize it.
- Process Mining and Automation to identify the bottlenecks in processes and provide robust solutions.
In addition to being an automation service provider, Auxiliobits also offers customized automation solutions.
Auxiliobits offers AuxiBot which is an Automation as a Service platform. This service helps you automate and deploy business processes on the cloud. Auxibot is a secure, cost-effective, robust, and data-driven solution that provides quick ROI.
Auxiliobits works in partnership with UiPath. Auxiliobits helps businesses vet different automation platforms and identify the best solutions. They provide training and support services to empower your teams so that your automation journey is seamless.
Persistent
Persistent is an RPA services provider that helps businesses reinvent their applications, infrastructure, and processes with AI-based solutions.
Services:
- Digital strategy and design
- Software product engineering
- CX transformation
- Intelligent automation
- Application development and management
- Open source Hub
- Cloud infrastructure
- Enterprise IT Security
- Data Analytics
- Enterprise Integration
- Generative AI
Accenture
Accenture is a leading automation services provider that helps clients enhance their performance and achieve their goals. They are experts in technology, digital, and operations.
They provide consultancy services like:
- Strategy consulting
- Digital consulting
- Operations consulting
- Technology consulting
- Human capital consulting
- Industry-specific consulting
They help businesses across sectors accelerate their digital transformation journeys.
It is a good idea to compare different platforms and assess the service providers before you choose one. You can compare them based on criteria such as their performance, domain expertise, experience, and features of the platform. Make sure that the RPA solutions you choose cater to the specific needs of your business and justify their price.