A Center of Excellence (CoE) in RPA is an internal entity within an organization that functions as the control center for RPA knowledge and best practices. It plays a crucial role in orchestrating RPA strategy, governance, and implementation across various departments.
The CoE ensures that RPA deployments align with the organization’s overall objectives, provides expertise and support, and fosters a culture of continuous improvement in automation processes.
Its responsibilities include developing RPA capabilities, managing resources, and optimizing processes to maximize the returns of RPA budget.
Amidst so many hyperautomation frameworks, RPA leaders and specialists face the challenge to align RPA initiatives with broader business goals, ensuring scalability, and managing resource allocation.
RPA leaders must also bridge the gap between raw RPA data and actionable business insights, ensuring that data is presented in a way that is understandable and relevant to business stakeholders. Besides, managing technical and citizen developer teams, and managing the current state of RPA operations is crucial for CoE teams.
In this article, we will delve into how to structure a competent CoE team, manage and scale RPA initiatives, and how to select the most efficient tools that resonate with the advanced needs of CoE in RPA.
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Why should companies have a CoE for RPA?
Firstly, a CoE provides centralized governance and standardization, ensuring RPA deployments are consistent and aligned with organizational objectives and, in some cases, regulatory standards. It also consolidates expertise and resources, offering guidance, and sharing best practices across departments.
A structured CoE is particularly beneficial for organizations with complex, large-scale RPA initiatives that require coordinated effort and oversight. It helps in managing the scalability and complexity of such projects.
Conversely, for smaller organizations or those at the early stages of RPA adoption, a full-fledged CoE may not be immediately necessary. Instead, they can start with a smaller, more focused team and scale up as their RPA journey matures and the demand for more structured governance and expertise grows. Another alternative is to go for CoE RPA consultancies.
The CoE plays a pivotal role in bridging technical teams and business users of automation, fostering effective communication and collaboration. This ensures that technical implementations meet user needs and expectations, enhancing overall operational efficiency.
By facilitating these connections, a CoE helps to streamline processes, and reduce silos.
Learn more: RPA as a Service: pros and cons to automate business processes
CoE RPA roles and responsibilities
In an enterprise RPA setup, key roles usually include the RPA sponsor, who establishes RPA as an enterprise-wide priority. There is also the RPA champion, who drives implementation and adoption; the RPA change manager, ensuring smooth integration; the RPA business analyst, acting as the process expert; and the RPA solution architect, defining and overseeing solution architecture.
Each plays a vital role in the operational and strategic execution of RPA initiatives, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and efficient automation.
Such roles are usually spread across different functions within the team, including:
RPA CoE lead
Heads the Center of Excellence, offering strategic direction, governance, and ensuring best practices in RPA deployment and maintenance. Responsible for overseeing the RPA project, managing timelines, resources, and ensuring that the project aligns with the overall business strategy.
RPA developers
RPA developers are tasked with designing, coding, and testing the automation workflows using both low code platforms for RPA and high-code RPA tools. Their role is crucial in transforming manual processes into automated sequences.
Learn more: open-source RPA: benefits for automation teams
Process owners
They ensure the smooth functioning of RPA processes within the business context, overseeing the automated process from a business perspective. They might not be part of the CoE directly, but are important stakeholders in mapping key processes to be automated.
RPA support staff and Quality Assurance (QA)
Focuses on the post-implementation phase, handling maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting to ensure continuous and efficient operation of RPA bots. Each role is integral to the RPA ecosystem, ensuring that automation is effective, efficient, and aligned with business objectives.
Learn more: RPA vs BPM: what are the differences and how to choose the ideal for your company?
Best practices for a RPA CoE setup
It’s important to consider a few best practices in order to build a robust CoE framework. Consider the following best practices:
1. Strategic goal setting: Establish clear, measurable objectives for the CoE that directly support the organization’s wider strategic goals.
2. Engagement of stakeholders: Actively involve stakeholders from various departments to ensure comprehensive understanding and support for the CoE’s initiatives.
3. Governance framework: develop a governance structure that encompasses policies, procedures, tools and standards, tailored to manage and guide RPA projects effectively.
4. Assembling a diverse team: Form a team with a mix of skills, including technical expertise in RPA development and code-skills such as Python RPA, citizen developers equipped with low code tools, and business process analysts, for example.
5. Team education: promote an environment of ongoing learning and skill development, keeping pace with the latest RPA technologies and methodologies.
6. Performance measurement: Implement regular performance evaluations of RPA projects, ideally using automated dashboards and tools to follow up on project performance and ROI.
7. Choosing the right RPA tools: Select a combination of high and low-code RPA tools. The right mix can optimize the automation process, catering to different complexity levels and user proficiency within the organization. High-code tools offer greater customization, while low-code platforms are great for teams.
Learn more: RPA Software: types, features, and the best options
Ready to boost your RPA CoE
Establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) for RPA is a strategic endeavor that requires careful consideration of governance models, operating frameworks, capability development, and performance measurement.
For companies with complex RPA projects, exploring platforms like BotCity can be transformative. BotCity offers a robust, code-based RPA orchestrator that integrates seamlessly with different frameworks, from Selenium to GenAI frameworks.
It helps CoE teams deploy and orchestrate robot queues, datapools and alerts, all while also offering custom dashboards to measure RPA performance and savings on a high-level.
It’s designed to cater to both high and low-code needs, making it a versatile choice for businesses at various stages of RPA maturity.
To discover how BotCity can revolutionize your RPA strategy and help you leverage the full potential of your CoE, visit BotCity’s website and signup for free.
