Organizations for decades have strategized for continual operational improvement. Such pursuits have led to the adoption of new technologies like Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA is a software for automating specific repetitive, high frequency, step-based tasks. It can also RPA creates bots that perform a specific task. It accelerates the transformation of business processes by automating a monotonous task that has little value add. RPA is a layer on top of the existing systems and processes without having to develop anything new.
Traditional automation emphases are on increasing efficiencies in the back-end systems. Automation was done using APIs, scripts, or macros. However, these have their own limitations, like integration with another system or legacy systems. However, RPA is on the user interface level where bots interact with customers or users at the other end. One of the most common and now universal RPA applications that we all have come across is ‘Chatbot’. RPA does not replace your existing technology; rather, it works together with the organization’s existing infrastructure.
SAP is an enterprise resource planning software. SAP was started with the goal of setting up business processes in a centralized system. A centralized system gives visibility of the required data and allows a seamless flow of the information. With experience, SAP has evolved functionally and technically. Over time, in consultation with their customers and consultants, it has developed several simple and complex business processes.
SAP regularly incorporates and develops new technologies. RPA is one of the latest technologies embraced by SAP. SAP’s Intelligent RPA integrates with SAP’s ecosystem. It has pre-built functions for the most common business use cases. With its advanced abilities, SAP expands your organization’s productivity. SAP’s intelligent RPA aims to automate SAP and non-SAP application providing end-to-end automation. With a short turnaround time, Intelligent RPA is quick and easy to implement. SAP Intelligent RPA is present as both clouds based and on-premise solution.
SAP Intelligent RPA is an automation solution with robots are designed to carry on everyday manual work. It can also involve completing manual checks, interpreting the text, or suggesting process change to users for repeatable business processes. Intelligent RPA automates repetitive tasks, tedious processes by developing, scheduling, and monitoring smart bots. By automating tedious tasks, your teams can take up complex, meaningful, and value-added work. It makes better use of your resources, whether it’s time or money. It will take your organization’s operations to a new level of efficiency. It will help in proactively responding to your end customer and enhance your service levels.
SAP Intelligent RPA consists mainly of three components. Let’s have a look at them below.
The desktop agent, as the name suggests, is installed on an end user’s computer. It is a JavaScript-based framework. WebSocket establishes a connection between Cloud Factory and agent. Additional credentials or authorizations are not required to run the agent. It uses the current user profile and credentials for operations. It has several drivers to interact with diverse applications. The agent can connect with different systems and databases to complete the given task.
The desktop agent performs operations like clicking, navigating, and working on the user screen’s data. The desktop agent can create a user interface on top of the current business application screen like buttons without modifying the underlying code. The design is useful for developing the last step approval process.
All the processes automation, monitoring of jobs, and agents are controlled from Cloud Factory. It is a dedicated Bot Management Central center. It displays all the details on the dashboard. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is compliant with built-in data privacy and protection. Club Factory consists of three components, namely, Hierarchies, Environments and Packages and Configurations
- Hierarchies
Agents responsible to operate the bots, are defined in “Hierarchies”. There are different modes like “attended” or “unattended” present. You can run the bots as per your schedule.
There can be several environments created in SAP. Usually, there are three environments, mostly defined as “Dev,” “Qual,” or “Prod.” The environment holds a lot of information regarding credentials, runtime data, and variables. Similarly, bots can be developed in the Dev environment and tested in the Qual environment, then finally deploy it in the “prod” environment. The environment is attached to a “Hierarchy.” This allows the hierarchy to collect real time information from its environment.
Bots are developed in Desktop Studio. All the bot related information is present in the package, which is then imported into the Cloud Factory. After the import configuration is done to set parameters like running the package on attended or unattended mode, the package’s running schedule or activation of the package.
As the regular development cycle, each package is associated with an environment. It either can be dev, qual, or prod. All the details and status of the bots can be seen on the monitoring dashboard of Cloud Factory. You can all view the history of bot’s executions. The status can be either be successful or failed, with the dashboard showing all the details regarding the situation.
The desktop studio has an Application Capture tool that helps capture the user interface screens. Once captured, these screens are passed to the workflow designer to convert them into a process. The workflow designer has drag and drop options. After the workflow is created, the code behind it can be edited or changed. It is done with the help of the Code Editor. It can also debug the code with its built-in debugger.
Pricing
SAP Intelligent RPA is useful to every business irrespective of its size. Catering to every segment, SAP RPA pricing plans are available for every budget. It has subscription pricing that has a tiered pricing model. It is based on the number of bot transactions. This plan makes sure you pay for what you consume. Another pricing plan is pay-per-use.
Summary
A study conducted at Hadoop estimates, by 2025, the potential savings for RPA would be between $5 trillion to $7 trillion. The same study also estimates that RPA will be performing tasks comparable to over 100 mn full-time employees. There are no questions about the role of RPA in the future.
SAP has correctly recognized the future of RPA and its role in every organization. SAP Intelligent RPA is an interesting automation solution. SAP has a great roadmap lined up for Intelligent RPA. It cuts across organizational blocks to create an optimal process, which in turn offers maximum efficiency. Organizations can develop bots to help them make intelligent business decisions. If your organization is looking to streamline its SAP processes and automate to increase its efficiency, it’s time to act and include SAP Intelligent RPA in your IT landscape.