RPA Final Exam

7. vendor management (component)

at least 2 vendors: RPA software company and development partner, must support best practices, communication, and support measures

3 primary components of RPA

bots, bot manager, workflow design module

step 4: testing the RPA solution

business & RPA support - perform UAT RPA developer - bug fix business manager - test result recording, preparing sign-off for production

step 6: constant improvement

business manager & business - performance assessment, benefits tracking, change management, process architecture IT department - prepare UAT environment

step 1: RPA preparation

business manager - department and process identification, opportunity assessment, planning and communication business leader - go-ahead decision

step 2: solution design

business manager - process documentation and sign off, test scenario solution architect - process and robot architecture IT department - infrastructure review, test environment ready RPA developer - create "Solution Design Doc"

2. determine the RPA operating model (prerequisite)

centralized/decentralized/federated, where the implementation will reside, whether citizen development will be allowed

2. organizational construct (component)

clearly define roles for the people accountable for operational delivery, should be a hybrid of IT and business personnel

3. operational life cycle (component)

define the stages through which ideas must progress

4. perform process discovery (prerequisite)

determine viable automation opportunities, ensures the program won;t stall after the first few processes are deployed (should include technical and financial feasibility)

6. performance management (component)

develop annual budget, value targets, milestone-based plan, key performance indicators (KPIs), and documentation of how these measures will be tracked

1. identify key stakeholders and proactively seek their input (prerequisite)

getting feedback from and involving a number of individuals and business areas (sponsors, IT leaders, RPA leaders, senior mgmt, architects, internal control, internal audit, external audit)

regulatory implementation risks

humans directing bot activities in a fraudulent manner, immaturity of laws regulating RPA

1. governing bodies (component)

identify the governing bodies that will provide oversight of the RPA program (review risks, ensure adequate risk mitigation, confirm automation processes)

organizational implementation risks

inadequate change management, documentation, or continuity planning, failure to retain human expertise upon RPA use

technology implementation risks

instability of integrating applications and the effect that may have on bot performance, cyber risks, lack of encryption as part of bot design

operational implementation risks

insufficient exception handling or inefficient operational delivery from poor bot resource management (ex: too man processes to a single bot)

process performance assessment

monitor the performance of the process and measure the results against the established goals (consider number of transactions, average time, robot utilization, reports)

financial implementation risks

poorly defined requirements leading to financial misstatements, inadequate segregation of duties, automating processes that lead to financial loss

bad RPA candidates

processes that require significant judgment, interact with applications with user interfaces that change, or are immature or unstable

3. conduct an RPA Proof of Concept (POC) and select the RPA tool (prerequisite)

prove that RPA technology is feasible and valuable solution, ensure you use the best RPA tool for the operating model, conduct a POC with software candidates

attended robots

require a human to initiate the process through some form of trigger, computer is generally unavailable while running

4. internal controls (component)

review existing internal control policies and consolidate risks that have been identified at the program level and at the individual RPA level, create a risk register to detail how each risk is mitigated (should relate to controls embedded in the operational life cycle)

unattended robots

run on schedule in the background without any human interaction

5. prepare a business case (prerequisite)

should be informed by an aggregate of NPV for the highest-priority processes, must deliver value

RPA

technology that enables a robot to execute processes by emulating human interaction with computer applications

5. technology governance (component)

update or expand documentation to incorporate RPA, application/credential/user/licensing/continuity/cybersecurity/storage/coding management

6 stages in the automation cycle

1. RPA preparation 2. solution design 3. build an RPA solution 4. test the RPA solution 5. stabilizing RPA 6. constant improvement

steps to analyze the implementation of automated processes

1. goal mapping 2. accuracy mapping 3. efficiency mapping 4. employee satisfaction 5. compliance check

7 key components of RPA governance

1. governing bodies 2. organizational construct 3. operational life cycle 4. internal controls 5. technology governance 6. performance management 7. vendor management

steps in conducting an RPA Proof Of Concept (POC)

1. identify 2 or 3 use cases spanning multiple applications with the potential to create significant value 2. have RPA software vendors come to your organization to support development of pilot processes 3. IT and business function personnel evaluate RPA tools based on assigned scores and weights

5 prerequisites for effective bot governance

1. identify key stakeholders and proactively seek their input 2. determine the RPA operating model 3. conduct and RPA POC and select the RPA tool 4. perform process discovery 5. prepare a business case

step 5: stabilize RPA

IT & RPA developer & solution architect: move to production RPA developer & business manager & business: training and user manuals RPA support - production monitoring business manager & CoE - measuring results, document learnings

step 3: building an RPA solution

RPA developer - process automation and testing business & IT - preparing test data business manager - process architecture IT department - prepare UAT environment