Considerations for

Implementing Robotic
Process Automation

Overview
Over 30% of Operations leaders are either piloting or have already implemented
robotic process automation (RPA) to reduce Operations’ cost, expedite internal
processes, and improve employee productivity. Unlike traditional solutions, robotics
can be adopted faster and applied to any function or process, and so far, the results
have been staggering. Financial services firms have seen substantial cost savings and
payback in as little as three months. Operations leaders who have begun their robotics
journey share their lessons with us about where to begin, how to get implementation
right, and how to scale up robotics capabilities post-implementation.

Introduction
Operations leaders are under considerable pressure to contain costs in a highly
competitive environment while balancing service excellence, scalability, flexibility,
security, and compliance. It is no question, then, why many Operations leaders are
turning toward robotic process automation (RPA). So far, 33% of Operations leaders
are either piloting or have already implemented RPA to reduce Operations’ cost,
expedite internal processes, and improve employee productivity. [1]

At its core, RPA is the application of a technology that allows employees to program
a computer software, or robot, to complete tasks. RPA software can navigate across
different IT systems to work the way a human does, as long as it has well-defined steps.

Operations leaders tell us this technology has delivered:

■ Cost savings up to 75%,

■ 100% accuracy,

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 ■ Reduction of full-time employees (FTEs),
■ Shorter turnaround times, and
■ Payback as fast as three months.

Furthermore, RPA offers an effective, lower-cost alternative to major technology

implementations aimed at standardizing business processes and facilitating
integration among different systems.

Given these substantial potential benefits, RPA is a fertile area for hype. Vendors
provide Operations leaders with a significant amount of information about the
benefits of RPA, but leave leaders feeling that vendors are only telling them what
they want to hear. For Operations leaders who have already embarked on the robotics
journey, little guidance exists on how to sustainably embed the technology into the
firm’s culture and integrate this new tool with existing workflow management tools
and continuous improvement initiatives.

To learn how financial services firms are adopting and addressing challenges that
arise in implementing RPA, we conducted a series of interviews with member firms
that have implemented robotics. From our findings, we offer a balanced view of the
benefits and challenges of RPA and highlight the considerations financial services
firms should take as they embed RPA in their Operations.

What Is RPA?

"Implementing RPA is not just about automating tasks, it is about

creating a virtual workforce."

<br>Vice President of Change Management at North American

Insurance Company

Process automation is not new. Screen scraping and product-specific workflow tools
have been used for years to improve efficiency, boost productivity, and cut costs.
RPA, however, is version 2.0 of automation and has revolutionized traditional types
of automation by being system agnostic and having software interact with the user
interface in the same way a human would.

Whereas traditional automation operates a layer beneath the user interface and
uses scripts and code to complete standard activities, RPA uses “smart software” to
complete high-volume and repeatable tasks. The technology can be configured by
dragging and dropping process steps to alter the workflow. Because RPA operates

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above the user interface, it is complementary to, not a replacement for, existing
automation initiatives. The vice president of change management at a North American
insurance company told us, “Implementing RPA is not just about automating tasks; it
is about creating a virtual workforce.”

The benefit of using RPA software is twofold:

1. It enables Operations departments to implement solutions themselves.

2. It frees up the limited and valuable time of IT professionals to concentrate on

enterprise-wide strategic IT implementations.

Robotic software can be used anywhere a human plays a part in navigating across IT
systems. And the software can learn patterned, rules-based steps and execute them
in a fraction of the time a human can. Although RPA can, in many cases, replace a
human, the director of technology strategy at a North American insurance company
explains that humans are still critical to the parts of the process that require decision
making. The insurance company differentiates between two types of RPA:

■ “Headless” automation requires no critical decision making or validation, allowing

the robot to complete the tasks without human involvement.
■ “Non-headless” automation requires a human to look at the data and make a
decision.

Benefits of RPA
Providers of RPA software say the technology usually costs about one-third of an
offshore employee or one-fifth of an onshore employee, and it can work nonstop with
no human errors—if programmed correctly. [2] Robotic automation components can
also easily be reused on other automation projects, further lowering development
costs. The more processes that are automated, the more objects that exist in the
robotic library, increasing the amount of reuse possible.

Robotics represents the next phase in outsourcing—a way to further save labor
costs and improve work efficiency. In fact, the Institute for RPA estimates that
this technology has the potential to deliver an immediate savings of 25% to 40%
of labor costs. [3] With numbers like that, it’s no wonder RPA caught the attention of
Operations functions, which are designed to save costs and provide consistent process
and business support. In fact, over the next two years, 55% of Operations leaders
expect to increase spending on RPA (figure 1).

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Figure 1: Operations Expected Change in Annual Spend Over the Next Two Years

In our conversations, Operations leaders tell us the top three outcomes they have seen
from RPA:

1. Process automation speed and efficiency—“The results [of RPA] have been quick
to realize…in the past four years in succession, we have dropped operational costs
each year in absolute terms, while absorbing operational volume growth. We are
on a consistent track to seeing real productivity improvement.”

Alistair Currie, former COO of ANZ Banking Group

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2. FTE savings and resource displacement—“We exceeded our FTE savings target by
25%. So far, we have been able to release staff as each process went live, and the
project has enabled us to move a significant number of FTEs away from manual
roles and into customer-facing positions.”

Business Systems Manager at Co-Operative Bank [4]

3. Improved customer service and experience—One North American bank used RPA
for GUI consolidation in the call center. The automation pulls in data in real time
from 20 different systems and presents the data to the call center agent so they
can serve the customer quickly and effectively.

What Is the Hold Up?

So far, only 14% of Operations leaders report having fully implemented this technology
(figure 2). If RPA can offer financial services firms substantial speed to benefit, why
haven’t more Operations leaders adopted it?

Figure 2: Operations Current and Planned Implementations of Robotics Process Automation

RPA only became advanced enough to replace humans in the past couple of years.
Because of its relatively recent debut, many firms are simply uncertain about where
and how to begin implementing RPA. However, even for those who have done their
research and understand RPA’s benefits and applicability, Operations leaders tell us
that many organizational reasons may make adoption of the technology difficult.

In our conversations, those who have implemented robotics indicated that they had
to overcome at least one of the following hurdles:

1. Difficulty in building a business case—Despite RPA’s lower cost compared to an

onshore or offshore employee and its quick payback through cost savings and
increased productivity, these financial benefits are often difficult to prove to senior
leadership who are unfamiliar with the technology. The director of technology
strategy at a North American insurance company mentioned that when the team
first embarked on its robotics journey several years ago, obtaining funding from
the business was painful. Ultimately, it had to put a three-year roadmap in front of
business leaders and prove the benefits of pilot projects to secure funding.

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2. Time required to review and document processes—Reviewing and documenting
a firm’s current processes takes time and effort. After documenting a process,
Operations must convert the steps into “instructions” for the robotic software to
follow. The SVP of loan services at a North American bank told us, “When we started
working with the consultants on what we thought were relatively simple processes,
we found that there is more judgment and variation involved in our processes than
we give them credit for sometimes.”

3. Perception that existing applications aren’t compatible—Many Operations

stakeholders believe their legacy systems won’t be compatible with RPA tools.
Although this may have been true of technologies introduced in the past, today’s
RPA tools have been specifically developed to fully integrate with nearly every
system in today’s industry. The AVP of transaction processing at a North American
bank told us that Operations received a considerable amount of pushback from IT
before it understood that RPA could actually help prolong the life of legacy systems.

4. Cultural resistance—The idea of creating a “virtual workforce” elicits security

concerns among Risk functions and resistance from change-averse managers. Few
financial services firms have a culture of innovation that lends itself to getting all
stakeholders on board to implement new technologies. To combat this, Operations
executives reiterated several times that it is critical to have constant and ongoing
conversations with leaders in Compliance, Finance, and HR about how the software
will be used and socialized in the organization.

Considerations When Applying RPA

Whether beginning the robotics journey, confronting the challenge of getting
stakeholders on board, or considering how to scale up your existing robotics
capabilities, take into account a variety of considerations throughout the planning,
implementation, and capability-building phases of implementation.

The Planning Phase

Evaluate Sourcing Options

One of the first decisions that must be made in any RPA journey is how to source the
software. Firms have options—they can build, buy, or partner with vendor companies
—and what a firm chooses depends on internal needs and risk appetite.

Many firms told us that if an outsourcing option is chosen, it is important to:

1. Scope who owns the intellectual property for the bots, and

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2. Ensure the bots will have ongoing maintenance if anything were to happen to the
relationship.

One member told us that in addition to bringing in a software vendor to provide

licenses, they hired business consultants to assist with the operating model, robot
testing, and change management.

Most firms use a combination of internal and third-party development (figure 3), and
in most situations, Operations leaders work with a vendor to build the capability and
to train internal staff. In this situation, after the initial implementation, the only points
of interaction with the vendor occur if something breaks and the firm needs support.

Figure 3: RPA Technology Development Options

At a North American bank we spoke with, the robotics capability is entirely vendor
supported, but the bank plans to train its IT staff to conduct all the maintenance work.
Figure 4 outlines the pros and cons of available sourcing options.

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Figure 4: Pros and Cons of Sourcing Options

Socialize RPA Throughout the Business

The firms we interviewed universally agreed that you must have both senior-level
support and the right messaging in place for RPA initiatives to succeed. One firm
suggested that to implement RPA, you need executive sponsorship and an advisory
committee in addition to the support of HR, Communications, and all of the businesses
you will affect. At a North American bank, the chief innovation officer expressed
excitement about the technology, which has been critical to the bank’s ability to gain
enterprise-wide support. Westpac New Zealand Bank explained that gaining support
from the key sponsor, Lean specialist, IT team, Risk and Compliance team, and HR
team was critical to ensure a smooth implementation of RPA (figure 5).

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Figure 5: Critical Individuals and Teams for RPA Implementation

Identify Processes for RPA

In general, RPA is well suited for processes with well-defined rules, high volume, and
repetitive tasks (figure 6). To assess if robotics is a good fit, determine whether your
firm can process map the human activity of navigating across IT systems. Leaders
told us that for already heavily automated processes, robotics may not present a big
opportunity. However, a software robot can be used in combination with automated
processes, just as a person would be involved today.

During the proof-of-concept phase, Operations leaders told us to choose processes

that use the company’s key systems (e.g., core banking, enterprise content
management systems) to help the most important stakeholders quickly see the
technology’s value. One member further advised, “Do not touch broken processes or
those that are not mature. If the system is not robust, do not automate it.”

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Figure 6: Task Identification for RPA Implementation

In our conversations with members, there was no consensus on which processes to

begin with when implementing RPA. Some firms started with simple processes to
get their feet wet, and others started with the most complex so they could iron out
any RPA implementation challenges quickly. A North American bank piloted three
processes to test different RPA capabilities:

1. Move images from a digital fax, and save them in a shared folder.

2. Aggregate data from disparate IT systems.

3. Compare information from two systems and make a rules-based decision.

The bank chose to start with processes that would remove lower-value work and
deliver faster service around these processes; this method would prove the value of
RPA quickly to internal stakeholders. However, a UK-based bank started with complex
processes to derive maximum benefit. The bank focused its first RPA initiative on rules-
based decision making for delinquencies in an effort to remove staff emotion from
decision making, which was leading to inconsistencies.

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To prioritize what processes to start with, many organizations collect ideas from the
enterprise on which areas harbor the greatest opportunity for improvement. Brian
Golden, senior manager of the Process Automation Competency Center (PACC) at
CUNA Mutual Group, told us his team started by creating an enterprise heat map to
evaluate various processes on several factors:

■ Type of data (structured/nonstructured)

■ Volume processed
■ Expected growth
■ Opportunity for real value back to the business
■ Impact on the customer experience.

This heat map has helped the firm prioritize processes for RPA based on strategic
priorities and gain consensus throughout the enterprise.

Relevant Resources
■ Explore Robotics Vendor Profiles to learn what vendors are in this space.
■ Use our Robotics Spotter Tool to determine which processes and activities are
good contenders for RPA.
■ Access tools for building a business case for robotics.
■ Learn more about Dow’s journey with robotics.

Getting Implementation Right

Build a Robotics Team

The belief that “RPA tools are so friendly that anyone in Operations could configure
RPA solutions” is hype, according to executives. The VP of change management at
a North American insurance company says this belief sets up companies for failure.
Although a large RPA team is not necessary, Operations leaders say that important
skills for RPA analysts include Agile experience, scrum, Lean/Six Sigma certifications,
and familiarity with business processes and optimal workflow. According to one firm,
a robotics team should comprise three to four technical business analysts, three
technical consultants, and four developers (figure 7).

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Figure 7: Robotics Team Roles and Responsibilities

The VP of change management at a North American insurance company told us the

most difficult task was finding development resources. She was looking for someone
with a very specific skill set—a technical background with some Agile experience and
scrum. She also mentioned that when hiring employees to do the design work, it is
important to find people with continuous improvement experience.

Many firms worry the reduction in FTEs resulting from RPA will lead to pushback from
employees who fear a robot takeover. However, none of the firms we spoke with had
this experience.

At one bank, natural attrition has made up for the reduction in manual work. Leaders
of another bank tell their employees that robotics is an opportunity for their staff to
take on higher-value work. The AVP of transaction processing at a North American
bank told us the team began implementing robotics in areas staffed by agencies so
any material impact on staffing would only be seen within its contractual workforce.

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Involve IT Early On

"RPA is a very different way of thinking. This needs to be a

coordinated effort between business and technology. Without
the other, it will fail."

<br>Transaction Processing Manager at North American Bank

The consensus among all firms we talked to is that although Operations is the function
most suited to run RPA, given all the opportunity for the function, IT must be involved.
Another consensus is that most firms, in retrospect, said IT should have been involved
much earlier than it was.

A transaction processing manager at a North American bank told us, “RPA is a very
different way of thinking. This needs to be a coordinated effort between business and
technology. Without the other, it will fail. Everyone needs to be at the table from the
beginning.”

Several of the firms we spoke to said they received some pushback from their IT
departments about Operations’ ownership of robotics. However, IT leaders better
understood the use cases, saw that RPA does not disturb underlying IT systems, and
envisioned IT’s continued role in providing security and guidance, the department
became supportive.

At one insurance company, the director of technology strategy expressed the

importance of staying in close contact with technology partners to ensure the robotics
team knows what IT changes are happening so the robots can be updated accordingly.
She reiterated the importance of staying in touch with people who are making any
changes to processes where RPA has been applied.

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Work with Business Partners to Manage Risk

"Work closely with Information Security, the risk organization, IT,

and change management as robotics is being implemented."

<br>VP of Change Management at North American Insurance

Company

For enterprises considering the use of RPA, security risks often top the list of potential
concerns. The perception is that RPA will create an environment of intelligent robots
operating without any oversight. In fact, 34% of Operations leaders who have not yet
implemented RPA say ensuring data security is their top challenge in adopting the
technology. [5] And among Operations executives we spoke with, most agreed that
the hardest part of RPA implementation was getting the security right.

The VP of change management at a North American insurance company noted, “Every

application has some sort of security risk with it, and this needs to be thought about
early on. Work closely with Information Security, Risk, and IT change management as
robotics is being implemented.”

Rachel Swindells, a process engineering manager at Westpac, told us the hardest

partners to get on board were HR and the Information Security Group. With access to
the same systems as humans, robots needed a user account, which meant HR had to
figure out how the bots fit into reporting lines and business modules.

“We were only able to get permission to give the robots a small amount of access and
then moved up to giving them more,” she explained.

Once Operations proved to their partners that they accounted for all security risks,
the Information Security Group gave permission for robots to have the same access
as humans for particular processes.

Apply Process Improvement Methodologies

At many firms, RPA initiatives are a part of lean process and business efficiency
initiatives, and lean methodologies are embedded within RPA implementation. One
Operations leader advised that once processes are identified for RPA, process maps
should be designed and optimized with automation in mind. Many organizations
miss out on this step as they race to get business processes automated, but firms
have told us that the use of Lean management techniques led to greater results.
Another firm cautioned that automating a badly organized process may appear to

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yield improvements in the short term, but additional automations over time increases
the risk of cascading process breakdowns.

Relevant Resources
■ Partner with IT to prevent bot failures.
■ Learn the five steps Westpac New Zealand took to pilot RPA.
■ Learn key lessons from those who have implemented robotics.

Scale Up Robotics Capabilities

Educate Your Business Partners

RPA requires sustained support from key stakeholders in deployment and beyond.
One firm told us, “Robotics is a journey—not in how you configure the process, but
in how you bring the rest of the organization along in the journey of thinking about
this automation.”

Because RPA is a very different way of thinking compared to business process

management automation or hard coding, it is best executed as a coordinated effort
between business and technology.

Firms struggle with socializing robotics throughout the firm, as some leaders are
skeptical that software can do what people can do. It is important to teach senior
executives what RPA is and its value for the organization. While at some firms people
are seeing the potential universally, others have a bit more hesitation.

Westpac conducted demos of the software every two weeks throughout the business
so others could visualize the benefits. At one North American bank, constant
socialization of the technology has led to so much excitement around RPA that the
team is receiving innumerable automation opportunities from all over the business.

At a North American insurance provider, the implementation of RPA was not just
about automating a couple of tasks but about creating a virtual workforce that
could work around the clock. RPA proponents knew that the idea of robots would
scare the enterprise. Getting senior leadership support was pivotal to their success in
implementing RPA. They made it clear to the business that RPA is just another tool in
the toolbox for optimizing processes.

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Develop a Center of Excellence
RPA works best when used consistently, at scale, and as part of a culture of continuous
improvement programs. Firms that lack consistent RPA standards across departments
will face duplication and the challenge of coordinating multiple tools and teams.

Many firms express interest in robotics but are unsure how to implement governance
around the new technology. We spoke with several Operations leaders who have
created centers of excellence (COEs) to provide a support model and govern robotic
initiatives in the organization. Firms organize these COEs in a variety of ways:

■ For Brian Golden of CUNA Mutual Group, the creation of the COE was an important
way for the robotics team to work with the business. At CUNA Mutual Group,
the RPA COE is integrated with the Business Process Management COE based on
the relationship between creating automation capabilities and managing the value
chain. This Process Automation Competency Center reports into the Customer
Operations Executive Team, and IT plays a critical role in supporting the COE
regarding security requirements and alignment of the solution architecture.
■ At a North American insurance company, the product managers within the COE
are aligned to specific businesses and help define and prioritize unique RPA
opportunities in the business line. They then work with the business to usher
the projects into production. The COE is housed within the Operations/Shared
Services organization.

COEs play a critical role in housing an inventory of all automation objects, keeping
track of what they are used for, and understanding in what contexts they are reusable.
One firm reminded us that when implementing robotics, it is very important to
maximize the reusability of objects throughout the business. At a North American
insurance company, it took the team four weeks to create the automation for one
process, but they were able to reuse so much of it that the next process took only two
days to complete. In addition, the COE should identify new opportunities for robotics
and delegate responsibilities to the process teams (figure 8).

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Figure 8: Robotics Governance Responsibilities and Benefits

Prove the Benefits

All Operations executives we spoke to echoed the importance of continually
measuring the ongoing return on investment. They explained that this is pivotal to
maintaining support from the business for additional RPA investment.

At one insurance company, the director of technology strategy told us that because
obtaining funding for robotics was challenging, the team had to start with small
projects and continually prove the benefits of the technology. Once they got started,
however, the benefits of RPA were not hard to prove. The insurance company saw
a reduction in paper and processing time, an increase in accuracy and consistency,
improvement of turnaround times, and rapid payback.

Rachel Swindells at Westpac told us that the company saw a 2:1 financial benefit
of pilot products when compared to the cost of implementation. Operations also
experienced a reduction in processing time for pilot projects, a decrease in turnaround
times for customers, and 100% accuracy in all output (figure 9).

At one insurance provider, the benefits of RPA have been so well socialized, that the
VP of change management told us, “Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask us
about RPA and how it could fit into their organization."

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Figure 9: Results to Date at Westpac

Relevant Resources
■ Learn the elements of effective governance of robotics efforts.
■ Learn how a leading firm gained buy-in from stakeholders for RPA.
■ Prove that robotics is creating benefits for your firm.

The Future Is Automated

As interest in RPA grows, so will RPA’s potential. Operations executives are already
starting to reap the rewards of a virtual workforce, but the benefits will multiply as the
technology improves. The integration of other emerging technologies, such as speech
recognition, natural language processing, and cognitive learning tools, will improve
RPA’s capabilities and Operations’ potential achievements with the technology.

This integration will transform virtual workforces into autonomous, automated

solutions. With this, the kinds of jobs found in Operations will change considerably.

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The future will likely see an adaptable, innovative, and responsive workforce able to
use recently automated solutions to build new organizational capabilities.

Conclusion
With RPA’s potential to reduce the costs of Operations, expedite internal processes,
and improve employee productivity, the excitement around it is palpable. Although
vendors and external literature have widely espoused the benefits of RPA, the
challenges of implementing this technology are less known. By learning the
considerations others faced in starting their robotics journeys, getting the right people
on board, and scaling up their capabilities, Operations leaders can ensure a smooth
implementation and sustainable development of RPA.

For more resources applying RPA and other emerging technologies in your Operations
function, review our Emerging Technologies resource center.

Endnotes
[1] Source: CEB 2017 FSI Technology Survey.

[2] Source: Rita Brunk, “What Is the Cost of Automation and How Do I Justify It to the
Leadership Team?” Robotics Tomorrow, 21 July 2016.

[3] Source: Frank Casale, “Here Come the Robots: The Emergence of Robotic Process
Automation and the Beginning of the End of Outsourcing As We Know It,” Institute
for Robotic Process Automation.

[4] Source: FinExtra, “Business Process Automation Project Results in Rapid ROI and
Improved Customer Service for Co-Operative Bank.”

[5] Source: CEB 2017 FSI Technology Survey.

About This Research

■ We conducted interviews with Operations leaders to learn about their approach
to their robotics journey, common challenges, and lessons along the way.
■ We surveyed Operations leaders to understand the degree of implementation and
investment in robotic process automation.

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