According to MarketWatch, more than 50 percent of companies have implemented Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in five years; the market will become saturated. RPA is the term used to describe the application by programs or “robots” that mimic tasks normally performed by human beings. They are particularly useful for automating rule-based procedures that require interaction with diverse IT systems.

It has become the most innovative technology that helps enterprises to reduce time, cost and resources. However, Robotic Process Automation is widely used across many sectors; there are some misconceptions regarding RPA and how this technology can transform a company’s working platform and increase efficiency.

The blog below will tell the most popular myths and facts about RPA. So, let’s start:

1. RPA will Take Human Jobs

Robots are taking our job; we have feared this a lot of times. But this is not the complete truth. There is no doubt that the goal of RPA is to develop an efficient way of working, which means limiting the level of human work when it comes to repetitive administrative or back-office tasks. The human workforce and their intelligence are very valuable. RPA bots take the burden of certain jobs from the workforce that is highly repetitive and inefficient; however, this also allows businesses to improve the skills and abilities of their employees with proper training. Hence, RPA’s goal isn’t replacing human work, but rather redefining the approach toward certain business processes or functions to prioritize the tasks that drive growth for any business.

2. RPA is Costly

Many business leaders think that RPA software or bots are expensive, but it’s a myth. Once we have implemented the RPA software and bot into our system, it will save a lot of money by reducing repetitive and unnecessary tasks. Furthermore, RPA implementation can improve the whole procedure of a business. It improves efficiency through fast processing, decreases the chance of human error, and relieves employees of repetitive tasks to allow them to concentrate on other productive tasks.

3. RPA bots are Physical Robots

A lack of understanding of robotic process automation (RPA), people consider it a physical robot that mimics human work. But in reality, RPA bots are software bots that use technology to scrape screens and detect users’ interactions UI elements and replicate the actions. There are no physical robots used.

In the end, you are getting a software robot that performs routine and repetitive tasks. Although RPA is a term used to describe robot process automation, it’s specifically referring to software-based robots. Each robot is composed of algorithms that allow it to function as a virtual employee that executes routine tasks.

4. RPA Won’t work in my Industry

There’s a belief that RPA can only be effective in certain industries like finance. Although back-office work is common across all industries, RPA is much more efficient in various industries. RPA can be used to automate the majority of the routine, rule-based, and high-volume business processes within every Industry. For example, RPA can be utilized to handle the processing of orders in retail, fraud detection in banking, processing claims in insurance, communication with customers in manufacturing, or even scheduling patient appointments in the healthcare industry.

5. RPA software has 100% Accurate

RPA software or bots are not 100% accurate. RPA software robots are capable of making errors. Robots have no ‘common sense,’ so if a flaw in your organization’s robot management process or the robots were not properly configured, it allows an error by robots. Because RPA software can uniformly perform the work, they can repeatedly make the same errors common in the workflow. If the errors aren’t discovered at the beginning stage of automation by humans, the errors could indicate that the task will need to be done manually or through automating the whole procedure again. To avoid this problem, it must to verify the procedures if they are error-free or well designed.

6. Anything Can Be Automated

Most definitely not. RPA is a good fit for many different jobs, but only certain requirements make it a suitable match for the product. A few of these criteria are:

• Rule-based
• Large volumes of transactions
• Very few exceptions
• Well-defined and stable processes that are stable and well-defined
• Low system changes
• Electronically readable and structured data inputs

In reality, there are extremely specific guidelines regarding the suitable process to be automated with RPA.

7. RPA is Just for Repetitive Tasks

It was in the initial journey of RPA. Now time and technology has changed, by combining AI and ML, you will achieve intelligent automation that allows you to complete business process automation and automate more complicated tasks.

Intelligent automation can automate almost any front- or back-office process and even manage work across teams of robots and humans. This means that intelligent automation can gather unstructured and structured information and analyze it, making choices based on it and learning from it.

Conclusion

As we can see, the myths about RPA are often complicated and can create confusion for businesses about whether they can use the RPA software or not. Since these myths can arise because of inexperience with the technology or a lack of knowledge about its use, it isn’t easy to understand them. However, companies who already understand the reality of these myths will deploy them correctly to reap the benefits of RPA.

In addressing some of the commonly held misconceptions surrounding RPA We hope this will help you gain a better knowledge of what RPA is in reality.

Do you know other myths regarding RPA? Please share your opinion in the comment section.