Us SDT Process Automation

Automate this
The business leader’s guide to

robotic and intelligent automation
Service Delivery Transformation
Proposal title goes here |
Section title goes here
As the nature of work has

changed, so too have the
methods of automation.
Robotic process and
intelligent automation tools
can help businesses improve
the effectiveness of services
faster and at a lower cost than
current methods, but with
important limitations.
Global Business Services

Outsourcing
Shared Services
03
Service Delivery Transformation Automate this | The business leader’s guide to robotic and intelligent automation
Contents
Foreword 5
Process automation: What and why? 7
Nuts and bolts: Basics of enterprise automation 11
using robotic process automation
Breaking through the hype: Six myths of robotic 15
process automation and intelligent automation
Dip your toe … or dive in? Look before you leap 18
A glimpse of the future 22
Authors 24
Endnotes 25
04
Foreword
We have seen it in the movies...we have So why do we need robots to run business enabled by cognitive technologies,1 nascent,
read fantastical futuristic fiction about it as processes in the first place? Well, to begin but with hugely transformative potential in
youngsters in school...and now it is upon us: with many of our business processes are not the near future. We liken the current state of
Robots performing human tasks. as intelligent as they could be. Some of them the RPA and IA landscape to the transitional
cut across many IT systems that do not years of ERP tools. Remember various ERPs,
The future posed by visionary film creators always talk to each other. Others are just too before the graphical user interface and the
and novelists is still a bit further away, but time consuming for humans to perform. To wonders of the data warehouse? Robotic
the technological advancements which run them smarter is however an expensive tools are in a similar state today. Just as
could make it possible are coming, and proposition. It often involves a massive capabilities of the ERP tools exploded as
potentially with great speed. There is a IT transformation such as an Enterprise successive releases leapfrogged each other
buzz around how robots can transform Resource Planning (ERP) implementation and customer support offerings become
business processes. We have been talking or a toolset such as a business process increasingly user friendly, we see similar
for years about robots—the droids that management system (BPMS). Other capability trends in the robotic space.
mimic humans in a factory—but now we are business processes rely on insights based
on the verge of seeing robots that replicate on human reasoning that computers have Alright, but what exactly are these robot-
the human brain, rather than only arms not been able to replicate. led automation tools and how similar or
and legs. Just like their physical cousins different are RPA and IA from each other?
transformed manufacturing, these “virtual” Therefore, today’s business conditions are When should we use either of them, and
robots are likely to change the way we run ripe for major change and the emerging how is the supply side geared to start
our business processes. technologies within the robot-led solving our problems?
automation realm could just be the solution.
Robot-led automation has the potential to But the hype about these solutions taking Given such interest on the demand side,
change today’s workplace as dramatically over the workplace obscures the reality, the ongoing maturation of available tools,
as the machines of the Industrial Revolution and can confuse the casual observer. and the promise of new ways of working in
changed the factory floor. Core skills that are There are actually two separate genres of support of a world class, advanced service
related to business—process knowledge, automation tools emerging, both of which economy, this is a good time to provide a
technology integration, and insightful have the potential to make our processes comprehensive report on this emerging
analytics—could be delivered through smarter and more efficient, in very different space. We combined efforts to research this
a leveraged model at a lower cost. The ways. The first is a set of tools classified as area in depth. To better understand the RPA
capability and demand already exist for this “Robotic Process Automation (RPA),” which space and market capabilities, we reached
technology, and it is enabled by abundant has been maturing quietly over the last out to a number of suppliers with an
computing power and software solutions decade, to the point where they are now extensive data request coupled with further
that can be packaged and downloaded used for enterprise-scale deployments, very discussions and technology demonstrations
as “apps.” quickly and at very low cost. The second with some of those suppliers.*
genre is “Intelligent Automation (IA)”—tools
* In some sections of this paper, we have used some products and vendors as examples to better illustrate a concept. The intent of these references is limited to the
illustration of concepts, and is not meant to compare product capabilities or to recommend any particular solutions.
05
We also drew upon our experience,

knowledge base, and tools in the
areas of technology-enabled business
transformation, shared services, and
outsourcing. And finally, we spoke to end
users and had a number of contextual
conversations with experts in our
network. It’s important to note that
while we had thorough discussions with
suppliers regarding their claims of product
capabilities, we did not independently
validate their representations nor did we
conduct formal reference checks or make
any attempt to confirm the fitness for
any purpose.
We have enjoyed this process as we jointly

discovered the breadth, depth, and nuances
of this space—and are delighted to bring
this knowledge and perspective to the larger
business reader base.
Peter Lowes
Principal
Business Model Transformation
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Frank Cannata
Senior Vice President
Operations and Planning Solutions
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
06
Process automation:
What and why?
Different means to the same end in expedient solutions to problems, •• By developing shared services and/
Process automation is nothing new— inadequate attention to scalability of or outsourcing processes to a third-
organizations have always looked for ways processes and technologies, and ‘siloed’ party Business Process Outsourcing
to achieve greater operating efficiencies applications. Inorganic growth typically provider (BPO), who will typically derive
and support growth. Process automation presents an even larger problem—bringing efficiencies through labor arbitrage and
at scale arguably began more than two two disjointed organizations together and by virtue of scale. This is often a one-
centuries ago in the textiles industry, combining multiple sets of operations is time labor arbitrage benefit, and many
when factory machines began to be used difficult to achieve. organizations have already realized these
for labor-intensive tasks such as weaving, efficiencies, effectively hitting a ‘ceiling’
stitching, and spinning cotton. Physical tasks To date, organizations have responded to beyond which cost and performance can
of this nature are now widely automated these challenges in various ways, including: be further improved only through doing
across manufacturing and other industries, things differently.
•• By investing in newer or better-
and developments in the field of robotic
integrated enterprise applications. On
continue to lower the cost of automation Each of these options has its limitations. In
paper, this typically represents the “right”
while expanding the capabilities. the ongoing quest for operational efficiency,
approach, but such projects are expensive
business leaders may keep asking how
and many implementations fail. Even the
As the nature of work has changed, so too they can:
projects that prove to be successful may
has the method of automation. For the
take years to implement—and any effort to •• Avoid or defer the high investment of large
internal operations of a modern business,
shorten the project time can compromise technology transformation programs while
the chief enabler of automation has been
the chances of success and increase the achieving their operating objectives.
traditional information technology (IT). Many
risk of failure. Running costs may still
organizations have applied technology to •• Support business growth without the
be high after completion, and the long
business processes through the use of ERP proportional increase in operating costs.
deployment times can limit agility.
and other business applications. However,
•• Derive greater value from already
some of those same organizations still have •• By optimizing processes with the aid
outsourced operations.
a patchwork of less-than-optimal business of a BPMS—a software application that
processes and applications that do not talk supports the process improvement life •• Support product, process, and business
to each other and rarely ease the workload cycle, and often facilitates integration model innovation, and test ideas without
of generating meaningful insights— between enterprise applications to costly new technology.
which translates into increased costs, increase the amount of “straight-through
unnecessarily high-cycle times, inconsistent processing” possible within a process. Process automation presents a means to
quality, and impaired agility. Effectively, this is a similar approach to that achieving these aims, and there are two
of an IT transformation, but with a smaller genres of tools in particular that businesses
One possible explanation for this scope than ERP. They are generally less should be aware of: RPA and IA.
predicament is growth—few companies costly and lower risk to deliver, but may
manage business growth systematically. also offer reduced benefits.
Even organic growth often results
07
RPA: Bringing automation benefits to and also by following simple rules to function or industry: any methodical,
small-scale processes make decisions. An example of a routine standardized, repetitive process that follows
RPA tools can help businesses improve the business process would be the retrieval of consistent rules and is wholly executed
efficiency of processes and the effectiveness information from one system and entering through a human-machine interaction is
of services. Classic process candidates the same information into another system likely to be a good candidate.
that can benefit from RPA typically have or activating another system function.
repeatable and predictable interactions With a license for a software robot likely to
with IT applications including those that RPA tools evolved quietly over the last cost less than an onshore staff member or
may require toggling between multiple decade, but have now reached a level an offshore staff member, the commercial
applications (swivel chair). Rather than of maturity where process automation attractiveness of this approach is self-
requiring fundamental process redesign is possible at a significant scale. Entire evident. There are nonfinancial benefits
associated with IT-driven transformation, end-to-end processes can be performed too, as robot-based process performance
RPA software “robots” are able to perform by software robots with very little human is designed to be more predictable,
such routine business processes by interaction, typically to manage exceptions. consistent, and less prone to errors as
mimicking the way that people interact RPA software robots are not necessarily compared to a human process. Moreover, a
with applications through a user interface relevant to only a particular business robot workforce can typically be deployed
in a matter of weeks. Once in place, new
Figure 1: RPA compared to traditional process transformation approaches processes can often be assigned to them
in days if not hours. Thus, RPA solutions
generally have lower implementation
cost, require shorter implementation
4. RPA time, and carry lower risk than large IT
transformations. However, it is important
to find the right processes and apply
Low
Process disruption
RPA judiciously.
3.
In most organizations, there are many
Outsourcing
Medium
routine processes performed manually

that lack the scale or value to warrant
automation via IT transformation, but for
which macros and other such desktop
1. IT
2. BPMS automation tools are too limited to
Transfor-
effectively address. RPA can help address
mation
High
this gap, reducing the ‘minimum viable scale’

of process automation compared to other
Low Medium High
traditional options. See Figure 1.
Speed and predictability of execution
Source: Deloitte Analysis
As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal
structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.
08
Organizations using RPA solutions typically IA raises the bar

experience benefits beyond cost reduction: Applied alone, RPA has great potential for
For a broader discussion on the
automating routine tasks—those that are
•• Decreased cycle times and improved potential impact of cognitive
methodical, repetitive, and rules-based.
throughput: Software robots are technologies, we recommend
designed to perform tasks faster than a Redesigning work in an era of
By contrast, nonroutine tasks—those
person can and do not require sleep— cognitive technologies (Deloitte
involving intuition, judgment, creativity,
making 24x7 operations possible. Review Issue 17)—our interest
persuasion, or problem solving —would
herein is the use of cognitive
•• Flexibility and scalability: Once a appear to be very difficult to automate.
technologies to enable Intelligent
process has been defined as a series But the decreasing costs of data storage
Automation solutions.
of instructions that a software robot and processing power are enabling rapid
URL: http://dupress.com/articles/
can execute, it can be scheduled for developments in the field of Artificial
what-is-cognitive-technology/
a particular time, and as many robots Intelligence, and creating a new breed
as required can be quickly deployed to of cognitive technologies with human-
perform it. Equally, robots can be quickly like capabilities, such as recognizing
reassigned when other, more important handwriting, identifying images, and natural
processes arise—as each robot is typically language processing. When combined with
capable of performing many types robotic automation and powerful analytics,
of processes. these cognitive technologies can form “IA”
solutions that can either directly assist
•• Improved accuracy: Robots are
people in the performance of nonroutine
programmed to follow rules and robots do Robotic automation examples
tasks or even automate those tasks entirely.
not make typos.
•• A BPO provider automated 14 core
•• Improved employee morale: The The market for IA is still nascent. It was processes with RPA, achieving
tasks and processes most suitable for less than five years ago that IBM’s Watson a typical 30% cost saving per
automation are typically the most onerous first broke on the scene, winning a highly process and improving service
and least enjoyed and employees relieved publicized game of Jeopardy.2 Since then, quality and accuracy.1
of them can be refocused on more the marketplace has begun to develop, and
rewarding and higher value activities. pioneering enterprises are leveraging IA for •• A medical insurer used software
assorted purposes: robots to process claim
•• Detailed data capture: The tasks adjustments, with a 44% cost
performed by a software robot can •• Wealth Management firms are using IA saving compared to manual
be monitored and recorded at every to review and analyze portfolio data, administration.2
step, producing valuable data and an determine meaningful metrics, and to
audit trail that can support further generate natural-language reports for 1 Source: Blue Prism
process improvement and also help with their customers on the performance of 2 Source: Cognizant Trizetto
regulatory compliance. each of their funds.
09
•• Global banks are leveraging IA to improve Below is a high-level summary comparison answer individual customer queries as
the regulatory compliance processes by of RPA and IA tools: quickly. In all these cases, IA tools have
monitoring all electronic communications helped these businesses to extend their
•• While RPA tools can be used only for
of employees for indicators of services, potentially improving the value
rules-based, routine tasks, IA tools can
noncompliant activities. they deliver to their customers. RPA tools
drive value by improving non-routine tasks
on the other hand allow businesses to
•• Insurers are using IA to answer the queries requiring judgment.
execute the same services at a lower
of potential customers in real time, and to
•• IA tools are typically used to provide cost and at a higher level of quality. While
increase sales conversion rates.
leverage to existing functions, focusing this distinction may not always hold true,
on increasing value rather than reducing it does help in broadly categorizing the
The uses of IA are potentially limitless, but
cost. In the examples above, the Wealth applicability and the value delivered by
also more expensive. Unlike RPA tools,
Management organization may not have these two distinct technologies.
which are very broad in their applicability,
been able to produce natural language
IA solutions require more extensive •• RPA tools can be implemented much
reporting across all of its customers
configuration and machine learning that faster than IA tools and typically require
and funds without a vast expansion
is specific to a much narrower business lower investment.
of its workforce. Now, fund managers
purpose and the complex scenarios it may
can focus on communicating with their •• The RPA supply market is maturing
encounter. Also, IA solutions often take
clients rather than reporting to them. The rapidly and there are several products
longer to implement.
compliance analysts at the global bank in the market that have demonstrated
could not possibly monitor all electronic their effectiveness. IA tools are rapidly
communications without the aid of improving in capability, but overall are still
IA, and the insurer may not be able to in a nascent stage of development.
Know your robots!
Robotic process automation Intelligent automation
Automates tasks that are…

Routine: Methodical, repetitive, rules-based Non-routine: Requiring a thoughtful consideration
Routine: Methodical
Able to… Follow instructions Come to conclusions
Narrower: Application should be targeted to
Application is… Broader: Can automate any suitable process
deliver meaningful, insightful outputs
Market offerings are… Maturing Emerging
Implementation and ongoing
Lower Higher
costs are typically…
Implementation timeframe are
Weeks Months
typically of the order of…
10
Nuts and bolts: Basics of

enterprise automation using RPA
With some large organizations now

operating virtual workforces of 500+ robots,
RPA has reached a point where it can be said
Micro-enterprise automation at
to be capable of “enterprise automation.” Stacked restaurants
We spoke with several RPA vendors to
Brian Pearson is a strong advocate of enterprise automation. He initially came
understand their solutions in detail, and
across RPA tools over a decade ago, while responsible for IT at a chain of
while there are nuances and
restaurants. By their nature, restaurants have distributed operations and
varied nomenclature among the various
gathering and collating operational data—such as takings, timesheets, and tips—
products, they all broadly comprise three
is onerous but critical, and he was looking for a way to support the expansion of
fundamental elements: A set of developer
the business without the associated growth in the back office. By aggressively
tools, a robot controller, and the software
pursuing standardized processes and maintaining an “automate and repeat”
robots themselves.
mantra, the back-office grew very little under his watch while the chain increased
from 20 to over 100 locations.
The developer tools are used to define
“jobs”—the sequences of step-by-step
In 2010, Brian moved to the newly founded Stacked Restaurants. Stacked is
instructions that a robot can follow to
primarily known for its tablet-based ordering and highly customizable menu.
perform the business process, including any
Equally interesting is the automation-driven back-office that Brian has established.
business rules or conditional logic (such as
With the lessons learned from his previous experience, Brian architected
“if/then” decisions). They focus on ease of
automation-driven business processes from scratch, such that the entire
use, so that business users without prior
back-office is run with very little manual intervention on a day-to-day basis.
‘coding’ experience can use them. “Drag-
Reports and exception alerts are automatically produced, leaving management to
and-drop” functionality is common, along
focus on the business decisions. Further, Brian has used automation to improve
with simple configuration wizards. Some
other aspects of the business, such as gathering and comparing data from the
tools, like those of Automation Anywhere
hosting and ordering systems and sending an alert to the serving staff when a
and UiPath, include a “process recorder,”
particular table has not ordered within five minutes of being seated – a good
which can be used to capture a sequence of
indicator that they may need guidance with deciding their menu choice or using
user actions and speed up the definition
the tablet-based ordering device. Without automation through RPA tools, Brian
of a process. Developer tools are typically
would have had to hire a team to perform these tasks.
hosted on a server.
Brian’s story demonstrates the use of RPA to support business growth without
necessitating the equivalent expansion of back-office operations, and the
potential of using RPA to underpin new services—as applicable to a large
enterprise trying to foster innovation as to a small one.
11
The instructions provided to robots need to Some solutions, such as that of AutoMate, solutions, and additional actions can often
be very detailed, and can become complex support integration with mail servers, be custom created using code.
to visualize, so interactive diagrams that applications, and other systems to aid the
allow layering or nesting of substeps in the management of users. When interacting with the user interface
job are a common feature—and breaking of a business application, the preferred
•• Assigns jobs to single or grouped robots
jobs down into smaller building blocks approach is for the robot to identify the
to execute—and monitors and reports
comprising common tasks is important important elements (such as entry fields and
on their activities. The functionality
for effective and consistent re-use across buttons) by their labels in the underlying
associated with scheduling and assigning
multiple processes. application code—this can make the robot
work to robots, as well as understanding
resilient in response to purely cosmetic
their status and capacity, becomes
The robot controller is key to enabling changes such as relabeling fields and moving
increasingly important as the number
process automation. It typically plays three buttons. However, when working with
of processes and transactions grow.
key roles: virtualized desktops, the application code
For example, Blue Prism’s solution uses
is not exposed to the robot, so it must rely
•• Provides a master repository for the prioritized work queues so that robots
on more brittle methods such as using the
defined jobs. For enterprise use, version always process the most important
pixel-based object location (relative to the
control is a critical feature, as is the ability transactions first.
edge of the screen or a position identified
to safely store credentials for various
using simple image matching).
business applications so that they are only Like the developer tools, robot controllers
provided to robots when required (and are also hosted on a server.
Finally, whether for compliance, audit, or
ideally in an encrypted form).
identifying further process improvement
Once issued their instructions, the software
•• Supports operational governance with opportunities, it is important for software
robots (also referred to as “clients” or
the ability to assign appropriate roles robots to be able to log—in detail—the
“agents” that reside on a desktop) carry
and permissions to users and provide actions they take and decisions they make.
them out, interacting directly with business
controls and workflow to govern the
applications to process transactions. The
process of creating or updating, testing,
list of actions that a robot is capable of
reviewing, and approving, and then finally
performing can stretch to over 600 in some
deploying jobs to the robot workforce.
12
1 4
3
5
Robotic process automation in action Sample functions of software robots:

01. “Process developers” specify the
•• Opening emails and attachments
detailed instructions for robots to
perform and “publish” them to the robot •• Logging into web/enterprise applications
controller repository.
•• Moving files and folders
02. The robot controller is used to
assign jobs to robots and to monitor •• Scraping data from the web
their activities.
•• Connecting to system APIs
03. Each robot is located on a client
environment —which may be virtualized •• Following “if/then” decisions and rules
or physical—where it interacts directly
•• Extracting and reformatting data into
with business applications.
reports or dashboards
04. Business users review and resolve any
exceptions or escalations. •• Extracting structured data
05. Robots are capable of interacting with a from documents
wide range of applications.
•• Collecting social media statistics
•• Merging data from multiple places
•• Making calculations
•• Copying and pasting data
•• Filling in forms
•• Reading and writing to databases

13
Poppy the robot

“Poppy” the robot was used to automate the most onerous steps in the process of creating and submitting London Premium Advice
Notes (LPANs) to a central insurance market repository. Prior to the introduction of Poppy, processing a batch of 500 LPANs took several
days. After Poppy was trained to automate part of the process, the processing time was reduced to around 30 minutes, with a negligible
error rate.
Poppy was welcomed rather than feared by the operations staff, who requested that Poppy be trained to take on further processes.
Before After
Submit premiums Submit premiums
Standardize unstructured Standardize unstructured

data to structured form data to structured form
Perform validation of data Perform validation of data
Access account database Access account database
Create transaction Create transaction

document document
Upload document Upload document

to repository to repository
14
Breaking through the hype:

Six myths of RPA and IA
Through our research and discussions with

vendors of both RPA and IA solutions, as well
Automating digital media requests Check as organizations that have deployed them,
One person was dedicated to processing every
we have noted six common misconceptions.
10 min
internal orders for digital media, received
as spreadsheets attached to emails to a Myth: You need an army of robots
team inbox. The process required careful to make
Access the
examination of the complex request sales inbox
No
RPA worthwhile In fact, one of the main
forms to validate the data before copying attractions of RPA is the ability to automate
the request into the order system. The the “long-tail” of low-volume or low-value
volume of orders was highly variable, and Flag for processes that would not be economical to
New
in busy periods there would be a longer human
address via other means.
email? resources
delay between receipt of the request
form and entry into the system. However, there is still a minimum scale
Yes
required to realize both the return on the
The process was automated using a Excel No upfront investment of establishing an
single robot, which required no more attached Log error
automation capability, and the ongoing
?
than three hours a day to process overhead of running one. It is also common
all requests. The person who had for vendors to specify a minimum number
Yes
previously performed the process now of licenses to purchase. Such minimums are
resolves any exceptions due to bad data, Validate the
order data usually not prohibitive, though tools that
has been redeployed, and his remaining are more squarely aimed at the “enterprise
time is reassigned to other tasks. automation” portion of the market may not
be cost effective in smaller implementations
With only three hours spent processing Data No
(though less expensive tools may not scale
requests, the robot still had more than correct?
up as effectively in an enterprise-wide
85% capacity remaining that could be deployment). It is quite possible in today’s
spent on other processes. Yes
market to see positive results with the
Open order deployment of a few robots.
system
Enter order
data
It is quite possible in today’s

Mark email
market to see positive
complete
results with the deployment
of a few robots.
15
Myth: Robots will take our jobs Increased automation of tasks does not
In 1930, John Maynard Keynes3 predicted necessarily lead to loss of jobs—workforce
that the future held mass unemployment, augmentation, rather than replacement,
Intelligent
as developments in technology would may be a more likely outcome. By freeing up automation
replace jobs faster than new jobs would be a person’s time, employees can now focus
created. While this may not have played out on more advanced and engaging tasks, and
as quickly as he expected, recent years have over time organizations could see lower •• Narrative Science Quill™, the
seen yet more dire forecasts relating to the turnover, higher morale, and increased company’s advanced natural
potential of computers to replace human internal innovation. language generation platform,
workers—including last year’s prediction by is designed to analyze data and
analyst firm Gartner that one in three jobs Myth: Robots can now think produce natural language output—
will be automated by 2025.4 like humans automating preparation of reports
Neither RPA nor IA solutions replicate for diverse uses like investment
We certainly acknowledge that software human reasoning. RPA software robots portfolios and personalized
robots are capable of automating many mimic the behavior of humans in the way customer communications.1
tasks currently performed by people in the they can interact with application user
•• IPsoft’s Amelia is a virtual agent
workplace—and as cognitive technologies interfaces, but they must follow highly
who is designed to converse with
fuel increasingly ‘intelligent’ automation, methodical instructions and simple
customers to gather information
the realm of what is possible to automate conditional logic.
and resolve their queries faster
will expand.
and more consistently than a
IA solutions are underpinned by cognitive
person could.2
But our review of case studies of technologies, which are increasingly capable
organizations that have deployed of human abilities such as understanding
1 Source: Narrative Science
automation suggests that the majority of natural language and recognizing images, 2 Source: IPsoft
organizations we studied are focused on and can learn from observing humans. Even
increasing the efficiency and effectiveness so, IA still requires training from humans
of their workforce rather than eliminating and cannot yet fully replicate human
it, and the people relieved of routine tasks reasoning. For a deeper understanding
are re-focused toward more valuable or of cognitive technologies, we direct the
rewarding activities. Furthermore, with more reader to Demystifying artificial intelligence:
advanced and complex automation comes What business leaders need to know about
not only increased efficiency, but also an cognitive technologies (Deloitte University
increased dependency on the accuracy and Press, November 4, 2015).
skill of the human operators involved.
16
Myth: BPOs are doomed the elements of application user interfaces resilience/recovery, and governance,
RPA tools add to the traditional process are quite robust, they are not completely and these functions are as important as
transformation options, rather than impervious to system changes—particularly ever—so IT should be involved from the
replacing them. In fact, BPO providers when interacting with remote environments. outset. In addition, if an automated process
could benefit greatly, and many are actively experiences any problems, the users’ first
exploring (if not already using) RPA tools, In addition, robots have no “common sense,” call is still likely to be to IT.
either to lower their cost of delivery, or so if a flaw in your organization’s robot
to join new specialist service-providers in management process allows an obvious Deploying RPA without keeping IT informed
offering “robots-as-a-service.” BPO firms that error to creep into the instructions provided can lead to unexpected challenges, as one
successfully integrate automation often seek to your robots, they will still follow those organization found when their robots were
to substantially improve their profit margins, instructions to the letter—and replicate the so efficient at executing the processes that
even if revenue growth slows. error hundreds or thousands of times until the rapid activity triggered security alerts.
someone spots it. Eventually, the IT team came to see the value
However, growth of RPA as a transformation of RPA. Hence, it is better to include IT and
option should affect your outsourcing Myth: RPA will significantly reduce the other affected functions in the RPA program
strategy, whether you are considering importance of your IT Department to enable a stable rollout. Further, although
outsourcing or already have an outsourcing RPA can be used to automate processes software robots may be able to interact
partner. In the latter case, you should across business applications in a with business applications via the user
discuss automation with your BPO to “noninvasive” manner, which can reduce interface alone, in many cases they can be
understand where it presents a mutually reliance on IT for deployment. But while more effective when integrated ‘behind the
beneficial opportunity. some subset of roles in IT may be reduced, scenes’ using more robust system APIs—
others may increase and overall the reliance often made easier with the support of IT.
Myth: Robots are infallible on IT is far from eliminated. In the same
While software robots may follow rules way that you would expect your human In fact, in some organizations, proactive IT
without deviation, do not need sleep or workforce to comply with policies and functions are the buyers of RPA solutions,
vacations, and will not make typos, they are procedures relating to sensitive or customer looking for cost-effective means to better
prone to their own sources of failure. Like data, you must confirm that any “virtual support and enhance the experience of
any machine, reliability is not 100%. Poor workforce” accessing those data is also their business partners.
quality input data can cause exceptions, and compliant. IT typically takes responsibility
while the ways in which robots recognize for systems infrastructure, security,
17
Dip your toe … or dive in?

Look before you leap
There are many organizations that can benefit from RPA, and you should now be
considering the opportunities within your organization. There are typically five steps to
developing an automation strategy—beginning with the idea of a proof of concept or
pilot implementation first:
What? Why? How? Who? When?
Assess for automation Build your business Determine the optimal Identify your Plan the automation
opportunities case operating model automation partner(s) roadmap
•• Which processes •• Why does automation •• Which operating model •• Who are the main •• How long should your
are good candidates support your business works best for your vendors in the pilot be?
for automation? needs? organization? RPA space?
•• What are the stages
•• Which processes would •• What are the benefits? •• Do you have the right •• Who are the providers after the pilot?
be suitable to pilot? team to support the who cater to your
•• What are the pain •• What is your strategy
solution and carry business needs
•• How should the process points being alleviated? for scale?
out responsibilities the most?
owners be engaged to
•• What are the metrics (e.g., assessing •• How will you ensure
try automation? •• Which sourcing option
to determine whether new processes for impacted stakeholders
do you want?
•• What are the impacts automation is valuable? automation and testing understand the what,
of proceeding with the automated jobs)? •• How should you why, and how of
•• What is the strategy
the pilot? compare the pricing automation?
for re-deploying •• Who will manage and
models in order to
existing resources monitor the software
understand what you
after automation? robot?
are paying for?
18
1. Assess for automation 2. Build your business case (Why?) 3. Determine your automation-
opportunities (What?) Estimate the benefits of automation on a operating model (How?)
Begin with an assessment of your process process-by-process basis. If resources can Decide whether you wish to establish a
landscape to identify opportunity areas: be relieved of tasks through automation, strategic automation capability within your
Good candidate processes are those where will their freed-up time be spent? organization, or simply desire an automated
which require manual interaction with a How does improved accuracy or increased outcome with the minimum of effort: this will
computer interface, are largely rules-based, speed translate into value? affect your automation operating model and
consume a significant amount of time, determine your sourcing options.
and are performed at frequent intervals. At this stage, consider automating some
Less important is whether the process pilot processes to prove the concept, and If building an internal capability for
is performed by an individual or multiple allow precise measurement of the benefits. automation, consider who will be
people—RPA is good for addressing Pilots can also help obtain buy-in from your responsible for assessing, mapping, and
work that is distributed across people or stakeholders, improve understanding of prioritizing new processes for automation;
departments. Ideal candidate processes both the potential and the limitations of who will develop and test the automated
(particularly for an initial pilot) are low risk, automation, and identify the key success jobs; and who will manage and monitor
yet have potential for significant reduction factors in your environment. Good pilot the software robots as they perform
in effort. Address pain points as you go. candidates do not need to be large-volume them—particularly where they span intra-
Work with the process owner to determine processes, but they must be performed with organizational boundaries. As a tool that
the readiness for automation of individual some frequency; it is difficult to measure the targets relieving mundane tasks, RPA is
processes. How well understood is the benefits of automating a monthly process likely to give better results in the hands of
process? Has it, or can it be documented in during a six-week pilot. skilled users: many organizations develop an
detail? Thorough analysis up front can help Automation Center of Excellence to facilitate
avoid surprises down the line. training and the sharing of knowledge and
best practices.
In either case, at this point it is critical to put

in the place the foundations for governance,
including obtaining the support and input
of IT.
19
4. Identify your automation partner(s)

(Who?)
Consider your sourcing options, and which Typical sourcing options
type(s) of automation partner you are
looking for. You may already have worked •• Direct: Buy RPA licenses directly from the vendor
with a partner to pilot some processes—but •• Direct with support: Buy RPA licenses directly from the vendor and engage a
you are not wedded to that partner. services partner for configuration and support
You should approach the selection of your •• Outsource: Work with a traditional BPO provider, for a “business process-as-a-
automation partner(s) as you would any service” or “robots-as-a-service” arrangement
other strategic technology or sourcing
procurement, considering both your current Common direct to RPA pricing models
and future needs. Some providers have License based (most common)
more experience in particular industries •• You pay per software license for each installed robot, management server, and
and others in certain types of processes. development tools
If procuring an automation tool, prepare
evaluation criteria appropriate to your •• Perpetual license or annual subscription
requirements. Vendor demonstrations •• The definition and capacity of a “robot” can vary by vendor, making direct
are valuable, but it is a good practice to comparisons tricky
supplement vendor demos with client
references to confirm on-the-ground •• Hardware and maintenance will add to the cost
realities and appreciate complexities
and challenges. Value based
•• Pricing is linked to either the FTE-equivalent savings (e.g., a fixed percentage of the
Consider which pricing model(s) will best FTE cost that would have been occurred), or to each completed transaction
align with your business objectives, and
compare pricing carefully; RPA vendors may •• Can be restrictive to horizontal-scaling across the organization, as contracts will
appear to have similar pricing structures, need re-evaluating to include additional business processes
but one vendor’s “robot” may not be •• The vendor is encouraged to put “skin in the game” and maintain a good level
equivalent to another’s “agent” or “client.” It of service
is difficult to estimate what the throughput
of a software robot will be for your specific Service based
processes (compared to a human), so
determining the required number of robots •• You pay a regular subscription fee for the service, with a service agreement that
and making meaningful comparisons defines the responsibilities of the provider
between vendors is difficult. Be prepared •• This model is particularly attractive for IA solutions, which may run on complex big
to share clearly documented details of data technologies that can be expensive to set up and maintain in-house, or are
the processes you have prioritized for needed on a spot basis
automation with vendors to help draw the
most meaningful price comparisons.
20
5. Prepare the automation roadmap

(When?)
Questions your employees will likely ask Your road map for automation should
•• What is RPA? look beyond the initial deployment and
set out how automation will grow within
•• Why are we deciding to deploy it here at our company and for this process? your organization.
•• How will this affect my role? Is a robot replacing me?
Like other transformation programs,
communications, training, and change
A sample checklist to launch an automation program management are all critical. Before you
begin the automation journey, you must
•• Allow sufficient time for deployment and automation development confirm that impacted stakeholders clearly
•• Confirm that processes are properly understood and documented understand the what, why, and how of
automation. Your employees can also
•• Fully account for the handling of errors and exceptions help identify candidate processes for an
•• Identify ways to mitigate any organizational resistance to change automation platform, which employees
can use to describe their processes and
•• Bring IT onboard early recommend them for consideration.
•• Gather or prepare representative test data
Your road map should also account for any
•• Confirm that there are no system or data access issues supporting initiatives on which successful
•• Resolve data quality issues before automating RPA is dependent. For example, a commonly
encountered obstacle is poor data quality
•• Develop a thorough disaster recovery plan preventing successful autonomous
•• Provide up front and ongoing training to end users transaction processing. Where known data
quality issues exist, you should incorporate
•• Be sensitive to fear of job loss and “being replaced by robots” remediation activities into your plan.
•• Confirm that you are prepared for maintaining the solution post-deployment
•• Account for headcount reduction or redeployment or role definition Your road map for
automation should
look beyond the initial
deployment and set out
how automation will grow
within your organization.
21
A glimpse of the future
RPA has the potential to benefit a large Solution convergence As RPA and IA solutions are used more
number of organizations and in the near We spoke to a number of leading RPA frequently together, they may be offered as
future, the number of large-scale RPA software vendors about their product “Analysis as a Service,” providing end-to-end
deployments could increase dramatically. strategy and found two key themes: support for a particular business need.
IA, while still nascent, holds enormous Merging the abilities of cognitive tools with
•• In anticipation of increasingly large
transformative potential, and organizations the ability to rapidly and autonomously
deployments (and perhaps requests
should be actively monitoring the market execute rule-based steps through RPA,
from BPO partners), many vendors
and considering strategic opportunities. providers can focus on providing integrated,
are focused on the development of
As robotic solutions grow more robust business-specific solutions to their
features for enterprise readiness, such
and intelligent solutions become more customers, potentially freeing the customers
as increasingly dynamic assignment of
powerful, we see three potential flavors from the effort and expense of integrating
workload to robots, improved monitoring
of convergence: within the market, across the components themselves.
of robots’ activity via dashboards and
solutions, and among processes.
reports, and version control and release
management functionality to support
Market convergence
process definition and deployment across
Considering the rapid growth that both RPA
organizational boundaries.
and IA vendors are currently experiencing,
and the enormous market potential for •• A current limitation of all RPA software
both types of offering, there is potential robots is their inability to work with
for some convergence in the market place unstructured data. Recognizing this, the
in the near to mid-term. In particular, RPA largest vendors are turning their focus
presents a large potential threat as well to adding some elemental cognitive
as an opportunity to the traditional BPO capabilities to their tools, such as for
providers. The reactions of BPO providers speech recognition, natural language
will be interesting to monitor. There could processing, and extracting structured
be an increase in strategic partnerships information from images such as scanned
between RPA tool vendors and BPO and invoices and receipts.
other service providers if not outright
mergers and acquisitions.
22
Process convergence a service to customers with very low net demand forecast preparation seem as
Over time, these integrated business- worth. Automated customer interaction antiquated as home milk delivery. The
specific solutions could merge into tools could provide customers with an armies of people who support these
intelligent systems that self-regulate large intelligent point of interaction that could be processes—in finance, IT, and operations—
components of an organization. An analogy much more intuitive and dynamic than a will have to find new avenues to add value.
for these business systems is the body’s website, with the customer-facing system Innovation, sales and customer relationship
Autonomic Nervous System, which regulates able to help the customer understand development, and “teaching” the intelligent
key functions like heartbeat and breathing potential options in a situation and make systems, are all potential areas for people
without conscious thought, allowing the decisions based on everyday needs, while to focus their efforts.5 IA has already begun
brain to focus on interacting with the world the company systems curate options for to change businesses. As these changes
around it. These systems could operate the customer and manage the transactions accelerate, people will have to be more
as the ‘heart and lungs’ of an organization, in the background. A client might call nimble than ever as they think about their
taking in key data inputs and performing all the financial services company, tells an careers, and what kinds of skills they—and
of the internal processes that are core to the automated representative about the their children—will need. Just as the notion
business. For example, in a manufacturing birth of a child, and the customer-facing of “lifetime employment” has faded, so
company, the system could respond to key system could recommend the creation too may the notion of a “lifetime career.”
stimuli like sales and customer data, and of a college savings account, discuss the People, and governments, may need to plan
tune the core operations of the company, risks and benefits of selected approaches, around multiple stints in education and
such as forecasting demand, optimizing and manage the fund transfer, and allocate the training, in order to keep up with the frenetic
setting pricing, and managing the entire investment to the selected vehicle. The pace of change. While daunting, people
supply chain and production scheduling entire transaction could take a few minutes may consider this liberating, as we gain
to optimize inventory levels—all on a “self- while the customer is on the phone at opportunities to reinvent ourselves and the
regulating” basis. almost no marginal cost to the company. world around us.
Alternatively, consider how IA tools What about the humans?

could evolve for a wealth management Just as with prior waves of automation, Just as with prior waves of
company. While today wealth management
services are able to use IA to give their
we can expect that the IA will likely drive
significant changes in the jobs that people
automation, we can expect
clients customized portfolio reporting do. Automation-driven systems could that the IA will likely drive
and recommendations, a truly autonomic
capability could make it cost effective for
replace large numbers of knowledge
workers doing managerial jobs; these
significant changes in the
companies to offer wealth management as “intelligent engines” could make detailed jobs that people do.
23
Authors
Peter Lowes Frank R.S. Cannata Subodh Chitre Jason Barkham

Principal Senior Vice President Senior Manager Vice President
Business Model Transformation Operations and Planning Solutions Business Model Transformation Business Transformation Solutions
Deloitte Consulting LLP Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Deloitte Consulting LLP Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
+1 212 618 4380 +1 818 977 7700 +1 241 840 1745 +1 818 954 4139
plowes@deloitte.com frank.cannata@warnerbros.com suchitre@deloitte.com jason.barkham@warnerbros.com
Peter Lowes is a Principal at Frank has held various positions Subodh works as a Senior Jason leads an internal consulting
Deloitte Consulting LLP in including several firsts for the Manager in Deloitte’s Business team focused on organizational
New York, where he leads the company: Managing Warner Bros.’ Model Transformation transformation, business process
development of next-generation first global SAP implementation; service line. In this role, he redesign, and global sourcing
business process automation, Architect and driver for Warner focuses on driving large-scale opportunities. Previously he
global business services and Bros.’ initial foray into shared transformation programs in oversaw contract and financial
service delivery transformation services and outsourcing for BPO areas such as IT & Business management of Warner Bros.
offerings. He has served many and ITO. He has brought all of that Process Outsourcing and Entertainment’s primary
of the world’s leading financial experience to his current position Shared Services. outsourced service relationships
institutions as well as public and where he leads a group responsible and lead operational governance of
private sector enterprises in the for the definition and oversight outsourced finance and
areas of technology, innovation, of complex, transformational accounting functions.
operations, M&A, shared organizational, and business
services and market utilities. process changes.
Additional contributors
Ayana Todd, Erica Solum, Hari Krishna, Jenny Zheng, and Matt Phipps-Taylor
Special thanks to the following vendors who participated in our research study: Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, Cognizant Trizetto, Digital
Reasoning, IBM Watson, IPsoft Amelia, Help System Automate, Narrative Science, Rage Frameworks, UiPath.
24
Endnotes
1. For an introduction to the concept of cognitive technologies, their improving performance, efforts to
commercialize them, and the growing impact we expect them to have, see David Schatsky, Craig Muraskin,
and Ragu Gurumurthy, Demystifying artificial intelligence: What business leaders need to know about
cognitive technologies, Deloitte University Press, November 4, 2014, http://dupress.com/articles/what-is-
cognitive-technology/
2. Ante, S. Computer Thumps ‘Jeopardy’ Minds. (2011, February 17). Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/
articles/SB10001424052748704171004576148974172060658
3. Keynes, J.M. Economic possibilities for our grandchildren (1930). Essays in persuasion, pp. 358–73, 1963,
http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf
4. Barajas, J. Smart robots will take over a third of jobs by 2025, Gartner says. (2014, October 7). Retrieved
from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/smart-robots-will-take-third-jobs-2025-gartner-says/
5. For more on ways people can cope with increasing automation, see Thomas Davenport and Julia Kirby,
“Beyond Automation,” Harvard Business Review, June 2015 and see David Schatsky and Jeff Schwartz,
“Redesigning work in an era of cognitive technologies,” Deloitte University Press, July 27, 2015, http://
dupress.com/articles/work-redesign-and-cognitive-technology/?coll=12201
25
Copyright © 2017 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.

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Automate this

The business leader’s guide to

As the nature of work has

Global Business Services

We also drew upon our experience,

We have enjoyed this process as we jointly

routine processes performed manually

this gap, reducing the ‘minimum viable scale’

Source: Deloitte Analysis

Organizations using RPA solutions typically IA raises the bar

regulatory compliance. each of their funds.

Know your robots!

Robotic process automation Intelligent automation

Automates tasks that are…

Nuts and bolts: Basics of

With some large organizations now

Robotic process automation in action Sample functions of software robots:

•• Merging data from multiple places

•• Copying and pasting data

•• Reading and writing to databases

Poppy the robot

Submit premiums Submit premiums

Standardize unstructured Standardize unstructured

Perform validation of data Perform validation of data

Access account database Access account database

Create transaction Create transaction

Upload document Upload document

Breaking through the hype:

Through our research and discussions with

It is quite possible in today’s

Dip your toe … or dive in?

What? Why? How? Who? When?

In either case, at this point it is critical to put

4. Identify your automation partner(s)

5. Prepare the automation roadmap

A glimpse of the future

Alternatively, consider how IA tools What about the humans?

Peter Lowes Frank R.S. Cannata Subodh Chitre Jason Barkham

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