Digital transformation has to be holistic, meaning it needs to encompass the entire value chain, every business department, and internal and external factors. SAP S/4 Hana can help with that.
It is crucial that companies align their digital transformation efforts with their individual strategic business goals. To be successful in their endeavors, they’ll need a real-time ERP suite like the S/4 platform. SAP S/4 Hana combines the advantages of an intelligent next-generation ERP system with those of SAP systems. To benefit from S/4 and Hana, companies need to consider more than just technological factors, however.
Strategy and organization are just as important as technology. S/4 Hana implementations grant companies the opportunity to evaluate and optimize every single process, their entire business structure and all their base principles to ensure they are all aligned with business goals. It is essential to first define a mid-term and long-term corporate strategy, however, as it is important for S/4 Hana business goals.
Like every complex IT project, S/4 Hana implementations need meticulous preparation. Companies need to plan individual project phases by including and informing all involved parties like managers, CEOs, IT decisionmakers and stakeholders.
S/4 Hana migration needs to align with business strategy
In our digital age, there is only one constant for numerous companies: permanent change. Managers should use such a fundamental change like migrating to a new ERP suite to make sure their mid-term and long-term business goals are what they would like them to be. It is not enough to only reevaluate overall corporate strategy, however; every goal in every individual department needs to be aligned with business strategy. Managers need to consider legal and economic aspects as well as running and planned IT projects.
If an overall strategy has been defined, the goals of the transformation can be derived from it. These goals act as guidelines for an effective, significant, and sustainable S/4 project. The defined goals also determine which transformation method is most suitable. Greenfield or brownfield? To decide between new implementation and migration, companies need to be aware of their current process landscapes, their critical processes, and their future IT needs.
A structured approach to a strategic transformation requires meticulous planning and execution of each individual project phase and the definition of milestones. Moreover, companies have to define roles and assign tasks. It is also recommendable to not only identify business-critical processes, but also validate them against industry standards.
In previous projects, it has furthermore proven useful to define concrete goals for every project phase, calculate expenses and efforts for subsequent steps, and provide suggestions on how different components can be implemented.
Meeting requirements of end users is only possible by asking them what they want. It is indispensable that companies identify all affected staff members when it comes to S/4 Hana transformation and implementation. Companies need to find out what future end users want, which processes individual departments require, and if these requirements align with mid-term and long-term business strategy.
While the opinions of decisionmakers are essential to S/4 Hana projects, companies cannot neglect the IT department and their needs and wishes, as it is the IT department that makes digital transformation in other business departments happen. Collaboration is a must, as every stakeholder has a different perspective, different requirements, and different expectations. Only then do companies have a stable foundation for their S/4 Hana transformation projects.
SAP stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing. SAP, by definition, is also the name of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software as well as the name of the company. … SAP system consists of a number of fully integrated modules, which covers virtually every aspect of business management.
SAP represents Frameworks Applications and Items in Information Handling. SAP, by definition, is likewise the name of the ERP (Endeavor Asset Arranging) programming as well as the name of the organization. SAP Programming is an European global, established in 1972 by Wellenreuther, Hopp, Hector, Plattner, and Tschira. They foster programming answers for overseeing business activities and client connections.
SAP framework comprises of various completely incorporated modules, which covers basically every part of business the executives.
SAP is #1 in the ERP market. Starting around 2010, SAP has in excess of 140,000 establishments around the world, north of 25 industry-explicit business arrangements and in excess of 75,000 clients in 120 nations
Other Serious results of SAP Programming in the market are Prophet, Microsoft Elements, and so forth.
For what reason is it Required? Assume a client moves toward an outreach group requesting a specific item. The outreach group contacts the stock division to really take a look at the accessibility of the item. Amazingly, the outreach group figured out that the item is unavailable. So next time this doesn’t occur, they need to present a SAP ERP apparatus.
Before we really find exhaustively, what ERP is and the way that ERP can assist in your business with handling, we will comprehend how various divisions are associated with the entire business process, right from the requesting of the natural substance – to assembling merchandise – to conveying end results to the client.
Six key benefits of ERP
Higher productivity: Streamline and automate your core business processes to help everyone in your organisation do more with fewer resources.
Deeper insights: Eliminate information silos, gain a single source of truth, and get fast answers to mission-critical business questions.
Accelerated reporting: Fast-track business and financial reporting and easily share results. Act on insights and improve performance in real time.
Lower risk: Maximise business visibility and control, ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, and predict and prevent risk.
Simpler IT: By using integrated ERP applications that share a database, you can simplify IT and give everyone an easier way to work.
Improved agility: With efficient operations and ready access to real-time data, you can quickly identify and react to new opportunities.
An ERP system – also called an ERP suite – is made up of different enterprise resource planning applications that talk to each other and share a database.
Each application (or ERP module) typically focuses on one business area. You can combine different modules to meet your needs. Finance, human resources, sales, and logistics are popular starting points. There are also modules specific to industries, from manufacturing to retail.
Modern ERP systems can be deployed in any number of ways: in a public or private cloud, on premise, or in various hybrid scenarios that combine environments. Here are some of the high-level benefits of each to help you identify the implementation option that makes the most sense for your business.
In cloud ERP, the software runs on a provider’s cloud computing platform. The maintenance of the system is handled by the provider. There is also a choice of utilising a public or private cloud, which is gaining acceptance because of the low upfront costs.
On-Premise ERP
This is the traditional model for deploying software where you control everything. The ERP software is installed in your data centre at the locations of your choice. The installation and maintenance of the hardware and software is your staff’s responsibility.
For companies that want a mixture of both to meet their business requirements, there is the hybrid model. This is where some of your ERP applications and data will be in the cloud and some on premise. Sometimes this is referred to as two-tier ERP.
Most businesses start out using a variety of simple, standalone tools to manage different processes – such as QuickBooks or Excel spreadsheets. Here are five signs you’ve outgrown them and need a modern ERP system.
You’re spending more time on daily activities. If it’s taking longer to manage key activities, like closing the books, too many disparate applications may be to blame. ERP software integrates solutions and data into one system with a common interface, making it easier for business units to communicate and do their jobs effectively.
You have many unanswered business questions. Can you easily answer important questions about your business, such as revenue per product line or a number of returns? If not, segregated systems and a lack of access to metrics and KPIs may be holding you back. Enterprise resource planning software is designed to address these challenges.
You have runaway business processes. Are there areas where your processes are getting away from you? Maybe it’s harder for you to manage inventory, satisfy customers, or keep costs in check. If so, your business processes may need to be restructured to accommodate growth or changing priorities – a natural fit for ERP software.
You have manual processes with multiple data sets. Are most of your departments using their own applications and processes to get things done? If so, chances are you’re spending too much time on duplicate data entry. When information can’t flow between systems, reporting takes longer, errors happen often, and decision-making is hampered.
You’re missing out on fast-moving opportunities. Are you spending so much time running your business that you can’t pursue exciting new opportunities? Newer ERP systems include advanced, intelligent capabilities, like machine learning and predictive analytics, that make it easier to identify and capitalise on profitable new ventures.
SAP Hybris is also complete customer engagement and multichannel e-commerce solution with fully integrated tools and capabilities. It serves B2B and B2C companies in industries such as financial services, telecommunications, insurance, media, manufacturing, retailing, and wholesale.
It can be purchased through a hybrid suite that offers cloud, on-premises, and in-device deployment according to customer requirements and level of company operations.
In recent years, SAP Hybris has evolved significantly with the real-world footprint, claiming to be an “omnichannel” commerce solution that enables exclusive customer engagement
Customer experience is kept at the heart of the solution and includes customizations to allow for enhancements in the solution as per the customer requirement.
The Hybris product portfolio includes the following capabilities –
1. Products for Commerce 2. Products for marketing 3. Products for sale 4. Products for service 5. Products for billing 6. Cross-functional solution
The Hybris products can be integrated with other backend solutions from SAP such as SAP ERP and SAP CRM to achieve an end-to-end customer engagement experience. Here, we mention six products. However, there are actually only four products produced for sale and one product for service, part of the SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer solution.
Hybris Omni-Channel Commercial Solutions help you to better target your customers and provide seamlessly enjoyable experiences on every channel. Hybris Marketing Suite which is another capability in the SAP Hybris eCommerce platform offers great insights into customer behavioral analysis. You can easily leverage on bringing customer loyalty by making decisions based on real-time data. The platform empowers your marketing, sales, and service teams to provide the best experience for your customers.
SAP intelligent RPA works with the SAP ecosystem to help automate time-consuming processes. Learn what intelligent RPA is, how some companies are using it and a few of its limitations.
Robotic process automation — or RPA — has been one of the fastest-growing segments in enterprise software because it facilitates the rapid automation of many tasks by simulating the way a human interacts with apps.
SAP began working on Intelligent RPA technology in early 2018. It acquired Contextor in November 2018 to augment these early efforts with connectors to non-SAP tools, web apps and Microsoft Office. The first version commercial version of this new product was launched in May 2019.
SAP intelligent RPA, sometimes referred to as iRPA, is meant to provide better integration into the SAP application stack than other platforms and easier implementation when companies have adopted SAP-prescribed best practices for enterprise processes such as procure-to-pay or quote-to-cash. Organizations can also use intelligent RPA technology as a complement to other RPA platforms that may provide better automation across non-SAP software applications.
“Many organizations adopting RPA adopt more than one platform,” said Maureen Fleming, vice president of intelligent process automation for IDC. “Because many companies adopting RPA start by automating financial processes, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see SAP intelligent RPA competing with other RPA platform vendors as well as see enterprises running both, depending on the use case.”
Automating quickly
The Asia-Pacific office of Rehau, a polymer manufacturer, distributor and designer, recently adopted intelligent RPA.
Intelligent RPA provides deep integration into the organization’s existing SAP backbone, said Chengbo Yu, CIO for the Asia-Pacific region of Rehau. The platform is transparent to business users who are already familiar with SAP. As a result, developing and testing new automations takes less work and requires less of IT’s involvement. RPA projects can move into production in under two weeks, which enables Yu’s team to adopt an agile, iterative approach in improving both the automations and the processes they automate.
Automating best practices
SAP’s current strategy lies in positioning intelligent RPA as a complement to other RPA products and the company is actively partnering with RPA leaders such as UiPath, said Oliver Betz, senior vice president and global head of product management for S/4HANA at SAP. The real strength is pre-building an RPA component into S/4HANA applications, he said. This can help automate the process of creating RPA automations — that is, bots — with less work. SAP launched a program in 2018 to support 10 pre-built automations and now offers about 100.
For example, if a customer is using a standard invoice-to-pay process with standard SAP content, that customer can use an RPA bot out of the box. One of the benefits of this is that these standard processes enforce the best practices observed by SAP from work with the industry in various domains including invoice-to-pay, procurement, sales, professional services and manufacturing.
Embedding intelligence
The design of the SAP Cloud Platform organizes discrete capabilities so that the individual technologies can work together seamlessly to solve a larger automation problem.
“That creates strength for iRPA because customers are able to do more with the tooling,” Fleming said. For example, intelligent document processing is a layer that most of the RPA vendors are beginning to offer as they extend capabilities to support AI use cases. SAP has a document processing service that works with iRPA and is callable by a workflow, a form or by an integration component.
Reusing applications
The development tools in intelligent RPA are intended to be well-integrated with SAP applications.
Individual components of the UI are addressable from the studio library and can be dragged into an automation, said Fleming. This makes it easier to use for inexperienced end users trying to automate. It also improves resilience, creating a separation of UI from individual automation projects.
If the target application UI changes, the RPA team can make changes in intelligent RPA in one place without having to manually change each automation that needs to interact with that application.
Limitations
SAP intelligent RPA does pose some challenges, however.
Enterprises should keep an eye on the cost to run automations, Bartheidel said. SAP’s licensing model is transaction-based.
Transaction-based licensing requires internal governance and controls to avoid unexpected and unplanned costs,” he said. “On the other hand, it allows a small-budget entry into the world of digital workforce.
Another limitation is that it only works via the cloud. Only being able to access the tools via a browser could limit the potential usage, Bartheidel said. This could be a bigger problem for areas with slow or even no internet connection.
The very first thought that one would get by taking a look at the phrase ‘Robotic Process Automation’ is that of a mechanical robotic arm with its laser blade precision, planting chips in CPUs within split seconds and pushing each unit for dispatch down the assembly line. This is very much similar to what RPA does, Robotic Process Automation is all about the software that is designed and implemented to function like a robot.
Robotic Process Automation can be phrased as the technology that relieves individuals from performing all those tedious, manual, monotonous, repetitive rule-based tasks, processes, workflows and transactions with its digital counterparts rather than humans. RPA is all about automating repetitive activities to make them faster and less labour-intensive while producing higher quality data. Automating processes with a robot is common across all transactional business processes including finance transaction processing and personnel and customer-related activities.
With no further delay, let us try and understand how this fabulous technology when put to use to work in conjunction with techno giants like SAP. Let us understand all those nitty-gritty details in more depth to appreciate how RPA can accentuate the growth rates of any Organization as such. Let us get started then, shall we?
What is SAP automation using RPA?
Robotic Process Automation as discussed in the section earlier is one of the newest and latest trends that is creating the buzz in the industry.A quick win to Robotic Process Automation would be RDA (Robotic Desktop Automation) which is even phrased as attended RPA. This not only allows the industries to unleash the powers of RPA to the fullest but also can create wonders increasing their own potentials. RDA simplifies and optimizes the works that are taken up by the employees to such an extent that these tasks are automated and integrated with processes on the desktops for them. Employee Productivity is what we achieve by the usage of Robotic Desktop Automation, as Organizations can now deliver deliverables quicker in a much more seamless manner.
There is this other important aspect to Robotic Process Automation which is called the Workforce Intelligence, that uses the techniques of Robotic Automation to quickly understand how each of the sales and services agents works and also at the same time how each of the applications, processes work in conjunction for them. Putting these details in combination with the insights from CRM Performance data, it makes it very easy for the Organizations to identify the present inefficiencies and also makes it easy to realize how these affect the factors like agent performance, customer experience and etc. directly.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the trendiest and the most appealing technology that has been evolving over recent years and along with it, there are some misconceptions about it and also why do the SAP customers should examine the use of RPA carefully. Nonetheless, the ultimate goal of Robotic automation is to have improved customer experience and at the same time have wonderful operational excellence via increased efficiency, effectiveness, performance, agility and more across the Organization.
When companies like SAP look for opportunities in cost-cutting and also in reducing costs to do businesses, they would typically start with the best offshoring of their existing processes – directly or through consulting firms. This step ensures that the processes and the required staff are placed right in the right direction, and also in the most economically favorable geography. The next step would be that SAP may apply these business process optimization techniques to improve on their efficiency a bit further. Considering this, there are limits to offshoring that an Organization can do and what if the thresholds are crossed?
Here comes the use of Robotic Process Automation where you do not really need to depend on human resources to get your works but robots when provided the necessary details can take over those particular tasks and can perform with the utmost ease. These are some of the most common use cases where SAP is putting to use the RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technologies, as follows:
* Starting or closing a case * Filling a form on the screen * Copying and pasting data between SAP and other applications * Comparing data fields on the screen * Identifying an exception to a process and flagging it for review * Updating status field in a system * Content migration * Data mining * Keying or screen scraping data on the screen
The area where Robotic Process Automation has been applied in SAP environments (historically) is in and around the areas of Document Imaging. This involves in converting a paper based document into a digital document, working on the text and also on the content of the document via the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology. Using the OCR technology in conjunction with the RPA technology SAP has been able to render the information in a system that can be appropriately be routed through the Organization for review and approval. This not just simplifies the process, but gives you more than what you think on this SAP environment just because of RPA.
This is just one application of Robotic Process Automation within the SAP environments for a specific use case, but there are more than just this where Robotic Process Automation can help SAP or for that case, any other Organization with its wonderful usage. But for the time being, considering this article – we will have to limit ourselves to talk about just this use case on how Robotic Process Automation can help SAP do their things in a better way.
How to choose the best RPA tool for SAP?
Considering the introduction provided in the sections earlier is good enough for someone to get started from this section of the article, here are the best suited Robotic Process Automation tools for SAP that we have come up with:
1. UIPath:
UIPath is a Windows desktop Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software, generally phrased as a Robotic Desktop Automation tool (RDA). UIPath finds its usage already in some of the SAP-related processes as mentioned below:
2. Blue Prism: Blue Prism Robotic Process Automation software platform explains how the technology can be used by the accredited operational businesses and the team responsible for rapidly develop cost-effective business process automation routines.
3. Automation Anywhere: Automation Anywhere software is very well used to automate processes end to end and it also has advanced cognitive bots that help learn as they work. This tool also has analytics features that can change how you operate based on needs and requirements.
With the advent of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology, it is less clear on how prospective customers choose and make their final decision in evaluating or selecting a RPA vendor that suits their needs and requirements. This section is all about that, to provide practical guidance for the Organization who are willing to make that specific choice. The most essential evaluation criteria that an Organization should think over are the Product and the Company. Making the best choice amongst the available options is for sure the most important decision to make (as the best vendor might not compensate well on an ill-suited product from their side to the Customer).
The most important principle in evaluating a product is not just to look at the software for its performance on executing repetitive jobs, rule-based processes at a fraction of the manual execution but also be able to be implemented in a rapid and also a smooth integration with the other systems and applications. All of this should be done keeping in mind the Organizational and Technological disruption to a bare minimum (close to zero).
Let us now discuss those essential features based on which an Organization can choose the RPA product that suites their needs and requirements, which are listed as below:
a. Easy & Effective User Experience: Users of the Organization should be able to create the necessary business processes that ought to be automated in a graphical manner, so as to ensure that it gets integrated seamlessly and thereby allowing the business users to capture the process steps instead of coding them programmatically. The graphical user interface may require to have the following, not mandatory but are good to have the following:
* Designer screen * Tool ribbon * Action recorder * Drag & Drop features * Wizards
The manufacturing sector is enormous and the industries present in this sector can be either of the two- labour extensive or knowledge-extensive. Value Benefits for Manufacturing Industry When Investing in SAP S/4 HANA.The dependency factors vary from industry to industry. Some industries are heavily dependent on transportation, whereas, for some industries, proximity to the customers might be an important consideration. This variation can be of great help when we consider the impact of the digital transformation of this industry vertical.
As per secondary research, the Indian Government wishes to increase the manufacturing sector’s share to 25% towards GDP by 2022, from the existing contribution of 16%. The business conditions are quite favourable and optimistic for the Indian manufacturing ecosystem. It is estimated that there would be employment taking place in the industry owing to various Government of India-driven projects like- Make in India. Enhanced employment opportunities directly enhance the spending ability of the customers, which ultimately leads to the accelerated growth of the industry.
There has been an increased need for a smart ERP system in the manufacturing industry. It helps them work on growth opportunities in between digital disruption from data. Value Benefits for Manufacturing Industry When Investing in SAP S/4 HANA.The top-priority for any manufacturing industry needs to be building their R&D as well as expertise in data analytics that helps them stay ahead in their marketing ecosystem.
SAP S/4 HANA helps the manufacturers by providing a set of solutions that caters to the changing new-age needs. SAP S/4 HANA provides a complete one-stop solution that includes- enterprise planning, manufacturing execution, and service. SAP S/4 HANA helps the manufacturers to overcome various challenges faced by the industry, thereby enhancing the levels of digital transformation in manufacturing.
In today’s time, batch runs along with the inability to address real-time needs often lead to inefficient, inaccurate and legacy planning. With the deployment of S/4 HANA, it enables the live monitoring of Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP). The real-time monitoring of the MRP process helps in reducing the manufacturing cycle time, enhancing the efficiency of manufacturing-related functions and ultimately reducing the inventory levels.
In the manufacturing industry, it is seen that high volumes of backorder processing give rise to many complexities. The deployment of SAP S/4 HANA cloud helps in automating the backorder processing, thereby, making it easy-to-use with better improvements for releasing large volumes of production orders. It also enhances productivity for catering to the process of order fulfillment with a minimal number of back order items getting canceled.
An IoT supported connectivity amongst different machines involved in the manufacturing process helps the manufacturers in automating their processes. The enhanced levels of flexibility help in reducing the time taken for completing an order to take up any ad-hoc make-to-order like situations.
SAP S/4 HANA also helps in enhancing the planning capabilities inside a manufacturing business by aligning the process of creating manufacturing packages, planning as well as shop floor operations. It also lowers the risk of revenue losses in case of shortages of stock-level through enhanced adaptability and prompt-responsive production planning.
Real-time inventory management promotes transparency across all levels of material flow. The inventory management module in SAP helps the manufacturers with the simultaneous movement of multiple materials. Also, it helps in optimizing the inventory levels by reducing inventory legacy and wastage, which leads to the reduced total cost of ownership. S/4 HANA also holds the potential to lower the cost of support quality management, reducing the revenue loss caused due to quality and compliance issues.
SAP S/4 HANA can be of great significance when it comes to the manufacturing industry. It can help the manufacturers to match up to the changing market demands quickly. It also enhances the manufacturing performance by aligning the key processes and reducing the chances of out-of-stock or low stock levels by regular monitoring of the inventory. Lastly, it strengthens the manufacturers by offering optimal transparency at various levels of manufacturing.
INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES FROM SAP – THE FUTURE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Intelligent Technologies from SAP is a digital innovation system, an umbrella term that helps customers access SAP’s components and products across emerging technologies, such as Machine Learning, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain. It is often associated with SAP Cloud Platform services but it’s not limited to this, as it covers anything that fits into modern technologies and includes e.g. predictive capabilities in S/4HANA – whether on premise or in the cloud.
INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES FROM SAP– IT’S NOT JUST TECHNOLOGY – IT’S DESIGN THINKING
But Intelligent Technologies from SAP is not just about technology; it is focused on design thinking and about packaging technologies and defining methodologies to address business challenges. Design thinking is a methodology that focuses around creative ideas and solutions to resolve use cases. The premise is that customers don’t just need good technology; they need an approach to find out the value of how and what the technology can do for them.
INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES FROM SAP – A LEADING BRAND IN THE MARKET
SAP is not alone in their design thinking methodologies. It is a crowded market place with the likes of IBM, Microsoft and leading research universities such as Stanford offering their own innovations. The catch though is that their products often operate in silo – and this is where SAP comes in.
The challenge for SAP is that companies do not often think of SAP as a vendor for Blockchain, IoT and so on – when you think of SAP you mainly think of ERPs. But the strength of SAP’s brand lies in integration across the SAP portfolio. So if you already have SAP ERP, S/4HANA or other SAP solutions, then Intelligent Technologies from SAP has the capability and is designed to be integrated.
INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES FROM SAP – AN INTEGRATED APPROACH WITH EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
One of the key benefits of Intelligent Technologies from SAP is that it allows you to integrate multiple SAP products with emerging technologies. For example in the SAP Cloud Platform you can create Fiori apps that use IoT services. When integrated into your business processes as an end user you won’t necessarily know there is Machine Learning behind the scenes and you won’t see anything different but you will experience automatic decision-making or recommendations.
INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES FROM SAP – THE GROWTH IS MACHINE LEARNING
SAP provides Machine Learning technology models at different levels which you yourself can train on without too much expertise. These standard models would currently cover around 80% of your needs. It’s possible to train your own models but you’ll need deeper expertise and you’ll probably need the services of a data scientist – in other words you need to know what you’re doing.
INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES FROM SAP – EMBRACING INTERNET OF THINGS
Intelligent Technologies from SAP is bringing new technologies and services together to help businesses power their digital transformation. In supply chain and logistics, for example, IoT processes across SAP S/4HANA, ECC and Hybris permit you to monitor goods as well as assets in-transit and survey the lifecycle of mass-market products, maximizing the value of your fleet and IoT-enabled business assets. IoT enabled processes in SAP solutions enable you to maximize the value of products, including raw materials, semi-finished or finished products, combine real-time sensor data with business data from SAP and non-SAP systems and provide insight into areas such as product inventory and replenishment, product consumption and utilization and consumer interactions.
Would RPA be the new ERP by 2021? The world is slowly moving towards high-end data usage. Most of the industries are using the data for gathering the insights of the future and working accordingly. Moreover, all businesses have turned digital to enjoy the maximum benefits. Would RPA be the new ERP by 2021?
A report from IDC states that global enterprises are expected to invest a large amount which will be around $2.3 trillion on Digital Transformation within 2023 it seems! The world is already digital here by unfolding all possibilities.
To make the business operations simple, one of the popular futuristic technologies is Robotic Process Automation. If you are constantly worried about the efficiency of the business operations, this can be a perfect choice.
So what is RPA all about? How can this technology disrupt your business? We have discussed the answers to all your questions in this blog. Let’s get started!
Robotic Process Automation: Why is this needed?
Automation is the term that can turn the revenue of the businesses to a higher level. RPA is here to support such automation. Though the name deals with robots, the truth is the technology doesn’t employ physical robots but business-critical software robots which automates even a complex task.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) requires no coding efforts and performs repetitive tasks for 24*7. These processes are handled by software bots which are work by blending automation, machine learning, computer vision, etc.
For instance, consider you are hooked up with a bunch of copy and paste & data entry jobs. Will you sit for long hours and keep on working with this complex task or go with a software robot that can perform them in seconds?
Definitely, you would move with the second choice. This is why RPA is needed for most of the business sectors. Moreover, industries that haven’t turned digital are adopting this futuristic technique which can enhance the business operations and minimize the costs involved.
Any Company which uses labours on a large scale can implement RPA to enhance productivity by minimizing the manual efforts. Would RPA be the new ERP by 2021? This can in turn save a lot of money and time as well. Similar to industrial robots, these software robots can also improve the quality and production rates. This has made most of the Small & Medium Scale industries as well as giant Enterprises to implement RPA and align the business processes. Moreover, these robots are trained to follow a series of steps such as filling out the data, updating user permissions, creating & sending invoices, updating spreadsheets, etc.
There are a couple of robots available in Robotic Process Automation that are adopted by various industries. They are:
Programmable Bots
Programmable Bots are the ones that work on the defined set of rules and instructions. It means that bots will figure out the processes, program themselves for specific functions, and maintain throughout the process.
Intelligent Bots
These bots are implemented with AI and ML capabilities which can identify and analyze how employees interact via various applications. Once they perform these tasks, they would check for the priority of these tasks and perform them.
In particular, both RPA and traditional automation processes are implemented to enhance and automate business operations either through human processes or software robots. However, here are the ways in which they can are differentiated: Would RPA be the new ERP by 2021?
The traditional automation process would involve an entire change in the working system. On the other hand, in the case of RPA, bots work on the front-level UI and interact with the systems similar to humans.
Moreover, these RPA robots are agnostic which can automate processes for multiple processes.
Traditional Automation cannot be updated once set. But with RPA, it can be upgraded and is also scalable when compared to the former.
Similar to industrial robots that transform the floors, these software robots transform the back office. It replicates employee work such as operating files, inputting data, copy-pasting data, etc in an automated manner. Added, they also integrate with various systems through integrations and screen scraping which enables RPA tools to perform tasks.
1minute of RPA’s work equals to 15minutes of manual work. This has made most of the Digital Transformation Companies to also adopt RPA and work for their clients.
Added, Robots can run from employee’s desktops or from the cloud systems. Here are a couple of features with RPA:
Integrations
In order to work on the tasks, it is essential to integrate RPA with enterprise applications. Though the bots can scrape and perform the tasks, it is important that it should be reliable to have app integration compared to screen scraping which has a high possibility of errors. Most of the bots work with legacy applications, desktop applications, web applications, and other major software applications which include SAP, Citrix, Java, etc.
Programming Interfaces
As RPA’s are programmed, there should be a programmable interface. Moreover, it is simple compared to other types of programming and there are code-free ways to program these bots.
Launching & using different applications which includes opening emails & attachments, logging into applications, moving files, and folders.
Integrating with multiple enterprise tools by connecting to system APIs, reading & writing databases.
Augmenting your data by scraping data from the web which also includes social media.
Processing different types of data such as extracting & inputting data, merging data from multiple sources, following logical rules (if/else).
There are a lot of RPA tools available with various features and challenges. They specialize with the following set of characteristics:
Single Platform Architecture.
AI Capabilities.
Built-in Analytics.
Ease of Usage.
Customer Support.
Hassle-free integration with top technologies.
All these RPA tools can be categorized into three major dimensions:
Programming options.
RPA needs to be programmed and there are a few ways to program the bots which can also be less complex and reduce the programming time.
Cognitive Capabilities.
These programmed bots should be capable of making decisions or inputs based on the systems. RPA tools are designed in such a way that it can provide cognitive capabilities. This can be noted as one of the best RPA Trends in 2021.
Usage.
These software bots are built in a way that it can be used for specific operations or industries if required. For instance, there are RPA tools which can be used for customer support services for instant support.
Looking at the current market of RPA and its latest trends in the industry, we can expect several ways which can be the future. Here are a few Future Predictions of RPA:
Premier RPA solutions implemented by AI
Artificial intelligence is yet another popular technology solution ruling the world. When both these giants are combined, we can predict a superfine and well-automated solution for all the industry. The trend will continue since AI offers wider opportunities by automating judgemental processes that involve both unstructured and non-digital data.
Greater adoption of automation
Though most of them wear automation since it may eliminate manual works, the implementation of RPA can accelerate the growth of organizations which can also enhance the revenues and reduce the time & cost involved.
Combination of digital and manual efforts
Software robots will automate the work of most of the people by taking the complex, repetitive and tedious tasks. This can lead to a combination of both automation and manual efforts.
The future of RPA will see the usage of futuristic technologies such as AI, Advanced Data Analytics, Blockchain, Business Process Automation, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), combined with RPA to offer effective automation. We can also expect an increased growth with robotic process automation companies. To Close:
RPA is already here to bring dozens of business benefits in the name of the automation. Moreover, getting started with RPA is also going to be simple. There are a couple of ways which can be done:
Initially, one can get started with small approaches. This can be by identifying high-value RPA processes, measuring vendors against the business requirements, implementing RPA tools & software, setting a system to perform the RPA process, and achieving the business objectives.
One can also get started with outsourcing RPA development with RPA experts to automate business operations.
RPA has a very good future scope of RPA 2021. So, if you are a business person looking to make your operations automated, Robotic Process Automation can be a good choice.
RPA stands for Robotics Process Automation which as name suggests automate your process that requires repetitive activities done by human everyday.
Imagine Mr.X has a bundle of high priority task which has to be completed by today and on top of it he has some daily repetitive activities also to be performed, now with add on pressure to complete everything by today neither he is able to concentrate on priority task and is more likely to make error performing the activity which he does daily.
What if someone takes over the ownership to complete his daily repetitive activities, so he could only concentrate on priority tasks, the answer to someone are “ROBOTS” and the tool to develop it is “UIPATH Studio”, don’t worry robots designed in RPA are virtual and does no look like as below.
Integrating SAP with UIPATH(RPA)
Now how UIPATH(RPA) has been integrated with SAP and what all things we can do with it,Let me explain you with a simple example of Mr.X where apart from performing critical activities he also has to create Purchase Orders in SAP on daily basis for some products which are being provided to him by his/her supervisors in Excel sheet.
Purchase Order
Purchase order if I explain in simple terms is a document that acts as an interface between customer and vendor for example Amazon Order placed by you is nothing but a Purchase Order.
Lets see now how RPA reduces the Workload of Mr.X by comparing both creation of Purchase Order manually and automatically in SAP via Robot.
Creating Purchase Order Manually in SAP
Here I have used the below mentioned steps to create Purchase Order, Please note this is not the only way as you can choose to enter more or less details while creating your Purchase Order according to business specifications.
Login to SAP
Enter transaction “ME21N”
Enter Vendor Number
Enter Purchase Organisation
Enter Purchasing Group
Enter Company Code
Enter Header Note details in Texts
Enter PO Items details including Plant,Quantity, Net Price.
Save the Purchase Order
Once all steps are done successfully your PO will be created.
Creating Purchase Order Automatically in SAP via RPA.
Below is the link for Video in which i am trying to show how robot creates Purchase Order by logging in into SAP Server, opening transaction ME21N ,entering the required details as mentioned above and finally creating a Purchase Order and highlights the created Purchase Order as popup message.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) sounds futuristic, but it is the same sort of business process automation functionality that has been around since the 1990s. Back then, RPA was known as “screen scraping” and “macro” technology. In simple terms, RPA allows you to automate laborious tasks and is especially good in scenarios where you copy and paste information between different business systems.
SAP has offered RPA since late 2018 when it acquired Contextor, a pioneer in the field of RPA. To distinguish its offering, SAP coined the term Intelligent RPA (IRPA) as it combines RPA with machine learning functionality that can recognize document content (invoice number, etc.) based on scanned images and offers out of the box content for SAP’s Intelligent Enterprise suite.
What Can SAP Intelligent RPA Do?
To evaluate the capabilities of SAP IRPA, Rizing’s Innovation team solicited input from our HCM Line of Business. Rizing HCM previously assembled a requirements document for the automation of SuccessFactors tasks that ended up being the scope of implementation. The implementation itself was performed by our digital development team, which did not have any prior knowledge of the SAP IRPA technology. Even without prior knowledge, the team learned and successfully implemented the scope within four weeks. The implementation provided valuable intelligence in the SAP IRPA tool and the required implementation patterns that are outlined below
Compared to other RPA tools, SAP’s IRPA requires a little more technical knowledge, but at the same time seems to be more functional than its competitors. Our recommendation therefore would be to form joint functional, technical teams for an IRPA implementation.
At present we believe IRPA should be considered if other proven integration/automation methods (such as Cloud Integration or integration applications using API’s) are not feasible.
RPA can simplify end-user processes. The business scenarios that are immediately ripe for IRPA applications are:
Getting Started with SAP IRPA
If you are considering using SAP IRPA, you’ll need to build a business case by identifying processes within your organization that could benefit from intelligent automation. That’s the first step, after that there will be designing of your new automated processes, implementing the SAP IRPA technology, and integrating it with the rest of your systems and processes. SAP IRPA doesn’t have to be limited to SAP SuccessFactors, it can be utilized across the SAP suite.
