Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has proven revolutionary in the field of Information Technology (IT). Using software capable of simulating human actions, RPA in IT can automate repetitive and operational tasks, allowing professionals to focus on more strategic activities for the business.
RPA automations will undoubtedly make your job easier and the IT department more efficient. After all, many IT processes are highly transactional. In addition to dealing with various system problems, they need to respond to calls and various requests.
Sometimes, the number of requests is so high that it becomes difficult for the team to complete all of them in a single day. The good news is that RPA can automate various tasks, from updating IT infrastructures to regular diagnostics.
With RPA bots deployed to solve minor technical problems, such issues can be resolved quickly.
According to a Gartner report, the global RPA market was projected to reach $2.9 billion in 2022, a 19.5% increase from 2021. The document also predicts that this market will continue to grow at double-digit rates until 2024. Therefore, if your company has not yet scaled up intelligent automation and hyperautomation efforts, now is the time to think about it.
In this article, we will explore how to apply RPA in IT, practical examples, and the benefits that can be observed in the area.
What is RPA for IT?
RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation. RPA robots have the ability to interact with systems and applications automatically, following pre-defined rules. For example, they can fill out forms, copy and paste data from one system to another, send emails, among other tasks.
In this sense, the implementation of an RPA solution in IT can result in process optimization, quick problem solving, and other benefits that we will discuss next.
Learn more: IT orchestration: what it is, types and orchestration tools
What are the benefits of RPA for IT?
RPA in IT offers a range of benefits for organizations, including:
- Cost reduction: an RPA robot can be used, for example, to speed up service to customers and internal teams by handling tickets and automating simple tasks.
- Productivity improvement: this technology helps to reduce the time associated with repetitive tasks. For instance, an RPA bot can automate data entry and payment processing.
- Quality improvement: it’s also possible to improve the quality of the company’s systems with the support of RPA in IT, reducing bugs and anticipating problems.
- Increased Flexibility: the technology also increases the flexibility of your business.
RPA automation types in IT
We have gathered some examples of how RPA can benefit the IT area of organizations. Check it out:
Customer and employee support automation
RPA robots can be used to automate customer support tasks, such as responding to consumer questions, generating problem reports, and tracking support tickets.
System management automation
RPA can also be used to automate system management activities, such as software installation, system updates, and license management.
Security automation
RPA in IT also helps automate security protocols, such as log monitoring, threat detection, and incident response.
DevOps automation
Additionally, RPA robots can automate DevOps functions, such as configuration management, continuous deployment, and change management.
Practical examples of RPA use for IT
Here are some specific situations that demonstrate how RPA contributes to bringing more agility and effectiveness to companies’ IT sectors. See the examples:
Software updates
An IT team can use RPA to automate the software installation process. An RPA automation flow can access the company’s asset management system and identify systems that need a software update.
The robot itself can access the software vendor’s website, download the update, and then install it on the selected systems.
Log monitoring
The RPA robot accesses the company’s system logs and looks for suspicious behavior patterns. If it finds a suspicious pattern, it sends an alert to the system administrators.
Regular diagnostics
Regular diagnostics work done by RPA allows you to respond to potential failures before they affect other people and areas of the company. This saves support staff time on calls about problems they are already aware of.
Network support
Load balancers and firewalls require constant monitoring by IT to ensure they are functioning correctly. RPA automations can monitor your organization’s network and also perform updates when necessary.
Repetitive tasks in IT Infrastructure and applications
When your skilled IT team spends time on repetitive processes in IT infrastructure executions, they lose time that could be used on more strategic projects.
With RPA, your team can worry less about what’s already running.
Intelligent Document Processing
For IT teams dealing with the processing of various documents, such as images and PDFs, RPA solutions are also essential for assisting in the automatic conversion of documents to code and creating document workflows.
Creation of email addresses and access provisioning
HR requests to the IT team often require numerous manual tasks, such as creating an email address, verifying credentials, and providing internal access.
RPA can help the IT department during onboarding by automatically adding new users to the system according to predefined workflows.
Password resets
A portion of the IT department’s time is spent resetting passwords for colleagues or unlocking accounts after failed login attempts. You can use RPA to manage these tasks, cross-verifying user details and resetting the password or unlocking the account.
System testing
Various tests can be completed quickly when automated with RPA. RPA tools can automate a range of everyday test scenarios. They can be run after each newly installed version, ensuring that bugs are not introduced into the code.
Change management
In this case, the RPA robot accesses the company’s change management system and identifies all the changes scheduled to be implemented. Then, it sends an email to stakeholders to notify them about the changes.
How to Implement RPA in IT?
To automate a process with RPA, developers must map out the step-by-step of this process. Then, they create an RPA script, which describes how the robot should execute each action. The script can be created using an RPA tool or manually.
Once this is done, the RPA can be deployed to automatically execute the process. To do this, the robot can access and manipulate data in internal and external systems, as well as interact with other systems and applications.
In summary, the essential steps to ensure successful RPA implementation are:
1. Defining objectives
Understand which tasks should be automated and what benefits are expected for the area.
2. Process mapping
When choosing the tasks to be automated, map those that are repetitive, operational, and have a higher risk of human error.
3. Implementing automations and orchestration tools
There are different RPA solutions available on the market. Therefore, choose one that effectively meets your company’s needs. If your company has few developers and automations, it may be interesting to adopt a low-code RPA tool.
However, if you want to scale automation efforts and already have RPA developers in your team, the best option is a high-code RPA solution, which offers greater scalability and cost-benefit.
Learn more: Multi-vendor architecture: Merging Low-Code and Python RPA
4. Training users
Finally, train the professionals who will have direct action on the technology, so they know how to use the RPA robots.
Why not scale RPA in your company’s IT?
RPA is a promising technology that offers various benefits for organizations’ IT areas. By automating repetitive and operational tasks, RPA robots can free professionals to focus on more strategic activities.
If you are thinking of scaling up RPA efforts in your company, we recommend getting to know BotCity’s RPA orchestrator. Our flexible solution allows for the creation of web, desktop, and different infrastructure automations in Python RPA. It also offers an intelligent document processing solution for reading images and PDFs into code. Click here to talk to a specialist!
Or, if you are taking your first steps in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), take advantage of a free registration at BotCity and use our code generation assistant right now!
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