RPA – Robotic Process Automation helps organizations to accelerate the Digital Transformation journey. RPA Tools helps organizations to streamline processes and minimize distribution by automating the tasks within the process.
What is RPA?
Let us see the definition of RPA by Gartner :
Robotic process automation (RPA) is a productivity tool that allows a user to configure one or more scripts (which some vendors refer to as “bots”) to activate specific keystrokes in an automated fashion. The result is that the bots can be used to mimic or emulate selected tasks (transaction steps) within an overall business or IT process. These may include manipulating data, passing data to and from different applications, triggering responses, or executing transactions. RPA uses a combination of user interface interaction and descriptor technologies. The scripts can overlay on one or more software applications.
If I break down the definition to better understand, we can derive the following;
- RPA is a Productivity Tool to Create Bots
- Automation : Bots automate the tasks within the process.
- Tasks : Data Entry/Update/Delete in various applications, Execution of Transactions, repetitive tasks in computer.
How RPA Works?
RPA Works in a pre-defined method, which means that you need to define all the steps that BOT has to perform similarly to the way human performs. The tasks within a process that is generally being performed by humans can be performed by a bot (a software script).
The script can be the sequence of activities that can include reading email, downloading attachments, enter data from the attached excel sheet to ERP. This task can be done even without human involvement and generally, a human takes time to perform this task, but it is not in the case of RPA.
RPA simply reduces the burden on employees, where an employee can easily program RPA to perform these tasks. In fact, we can say that RPA is a Digital Assistant, who doesn’t need a coffee break.
What are the Best RPA Tools avaialble in Market?
I always use Gartner magic quadrat to check the top 4 software and then I do my own research to see which open source is the best.
Not every organization can afford to have commercial RPA tools, therefore number 5 is always the best Open Source RPA tool, which is free and can be used by anyone.
Here is the list of the top 5 RPA tools available on the market today.