{Zoom In: Robotic Process Automation} Indian Industry Automates for a Contactless Remote Abler Workforce

A chat with a business processes expert reveals that the present scenario has paved the way for Indian organizations to adopt Robotic Process Automation (RPA) holistically.

RPA has been around long enough for businesses to know that it´s an effective way to cut costs and save time and labour. The pandemic has only spiked this use further, as businesses are looking to RPA to cut costs, even as contactless remote working becomes the new normal. According to Gartner, worldwide RPA revenue is expected to show a hike up to US$ 1.89 billion in 2021, with a yearly growth of 19.5% from 2020.

India is no stranger to RPA. As digitization takes up in business processes, automation is being welcomed. The Tech Panda had a chat with Varun Goswami, the Global Head of New Products COE at Newgen Software, to find out where India stands in terms of RPA adaptation and demand.

As the economy is slowly showing resilience against the pandemic and getting back into shape, RPA is also picking up pace and becoming increasingly important for Indian organizations

Newgen Software is a leading global provider of Business Process Management (BPM), Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Customer Communication Management (CCM) and Case Management solutions with a global footprint of 1300+ customer installations in over 61+ countries with solutions deployed at world’s leading banks, insurance firms, healthcare organizations, governments, shared service centers, BPO´s and telecom companies. The company has been positioned as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, November 2020.

Goswami says that though India´s adoption has been slightly slower as compared to the global market, RPA has surely made inroads into the Indian market.

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“As the economy is slowly showing resilience against the pandemic and getting back into shape, RPA is also picking up pace and becoming increasingly important for Indian organizations. The global market has also been following the best practices on how and where to use RPA for maximizing benefits. Therefore, it is high time the Indian market starts embracing it across industries,” he says.

What is Driving the Push Towards RPA in India?

RPA has a huge potential and finds significance in the business processes across industries. Many business processes that are repetitive and non-intelligent can be effectively and efficiently handled by bots. At the same time, says Goswami, organizations must keep in mind the possible limitations while devising an RPA implementation strategy.

The present market behaviour and battle against COVID-19 have made organizations aggressively invest in RPA for building their processes effectively and minimizing human dependency

“As far as the growth in the Indian market is concerned, RPA will witness a swift and vast adoption. The present market behaviour and battle against COVID-19 have made organizations aggressively invest in RPA for building their processes effectively and minimizing human dependency,” he explains.

India has always been a keen adopter of digitization. We tend to capitalize on technology by utilizing it in various industries as well as following the best practices to achieve the maximum output. The present scenario has paved the way for Indian organizations to adopt RPA holistically.

“Firms have realized that by leveraging RPA, processes can be faster and agile while reducing manual dependence, human-prone errors, and vast storage requirements,” he adds.

The Pandemic´s Impact on RPA

The pandemic has made organizations realize the need for RPA. RPA makes processes more effective and efficient by enabling 24*7 working environment and helping businesses to free up resources and utilize them for more meaningful tasks.

Business processes would not have halted if robots had been deployed

“Business processes would not have halted if robots had been deployed. Big enterprises, banks, and insurance companies have been keen on adopting RPA as a technology for optimizing the processes and making it less dependent on humans. There is a significant surge in the demand for RPA servicing and consulting as the market begins to adapt to the new normal,” says Goswami.

RPA in Government Agencies

Government agencies too are taking up RPA processes for tasks like collecting COVID-19 related data. Several state governments and Maharatnas, Navratnas, and other PSUs are the early adopters of digital. These organizations have automated multiple processes by digitizing data collection and validation, automating query resolution, and realizing a paperless environment.

Organizations will need to make their existing workforce understand the benefits of RPA

“Government processes are mostly manual and document-centric, dealing with huge loads of work. Most of the activities involve the collection and verification of data from a single source and communicating it back to the initiator. Almost all these activities are rule-driven which can be easily taught to a bot,” says Goswami.

RPA and the Job Landscape in India

RPA often gets flak from those who say automation will cut jobs. When electronic banking revolutionized India, similar concerns were heard. But contrary to the expectations, it ended up creating more employment opportunities. Similarly, says Goswami, RPA will change the job landscape by giving us more opportunities than it takes away.

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“RPA will reduce the human effort and will generate a lot of specialized employment opportunities in products, services, and maintenance across different industries. The real challenge would be change management. Organizations will need to make their existing workforce understand the benefits of RPA,” he concludes.

Automation in our offices will free employees from tedious manual tasks, prevent errors from occurring, and also save time and cost. As India and the world move towards contactless services and work lives as a result of the pandemic, RPA will ensure that work continues efficiently.