Blog 2
RPA - Technologies: Das moderne Outsourcing?
Florian Poniewaß I 27/05/2020
Outsourcing has played a fundamental role in saving costs over the last 20 years. Outsourcing is generally understood to mean outsourcing company tasks and structures to external service providers. The most popular destinations include China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Massive workloads can thus be handled at a fraction of the cost that would be incurred by hiring internally. However, there have been visible changes recently, as outsourcing is no longer as profitable as it was, for example, 10 years ago. Other factors are now in the foreground. Customers are becoming more sensitive and are forcing companies to look beyond cheap labor and poor working conditions. In all industries, people want to benefit from a personal experience and feel looked after, while requests and services should be processed quickly and efficiently. In addition, issues such as the rise in labor costs, repercussions of political unrest, wars, tax issues, customs duties and the release of company know-how play a major role. There is an economic dependency that can be reduced with RPA technology.
Progress is never limited. This applies to technology, which has evolved considerably. The biggest driver in recent years has been the reduction of human effort, both physical and mental, and its replacement by the digital workforce. RPA (Robotic Process Automation) can be used to efficiently automate rule-based tasks that require little human judgment. The area of application is very wide. The technology solves the most complex problems with self-learning systems (AI, deep learning), just as efficiently as simple copy and paste processes.
RPA opens up new possibilities, transforms and redesigns processes and changes the way a service is delivered.
Impact on outsourcing
For years, outsourcing only worked to reduce costs in the middle and back office areas. Outsourcing only worked to a limited extent to increase efficiency or as a long-term strategy.
If there is one business area that will be heavily impacted by RPA, it is definitely outsourcing. Robotic process automation can be considered a form of outsourcing. Only the outsourced task is no longer carried out by external service providers, but by the company's own software. Deloitte Consulting, in collaboration with KPMG and Everest Group, predicts that by using RPA technology, costs can be saved by up to 70% in this business area.
Benefits of RPA
1. Lower costs: Automation means increased productivity and efficiency. With RPA, for example, the processing time for document capture can be reduced by 70%. At the same time, labor costs are reduced. Overall, costs can be reduced by around 50%.
2. Better customer experience: Non-monetary business areas also benefit from process automation because important resources are freed up. Customers' needs can be addressed more precisely, which clearly leads to improved customer service and higher customer satisfaction.
3. Reduced error rate: Human errors, which arise for example due to fatigue and carelessness, are eliminated. This reduces the operational risk.
4. RPA corresponds with existing IT systems: The virtual workforce uses the existing systems in the same way as a human employee. The existing systems do not need to be changed or replaced.
5. Stronger compliance: Requirements for data protection, accounting, etc. are met. Processes are traceable and can be recorded and a certain standard can be created.
2. Better customer experience: Non-monetary business areas also benefit from process automation because important resources are freed up. Customers' needs can be addressed more precisely, which clearly leads to improved customer service and higher customer satisfaction.
3. Reduced error rate: Human errors, which arise for example due to fatigue and carelessness, are eliminated. This reduces the operational risk.
4. RPA corresponds with existing IT systems: The virtual workforce uses the existing systems in the same way as a human employee. The existing systems do not need to be changed or replaced.
5. Stronger compliance: Requirements for data protection, accounting, etc. are met. Processes are traceable and can be recorded and a certain standard can be created.
Conclusion
RPA offers enormous potential and creates scalability of business models. In addition, workplaces become more modern and fluid. The workforce can devote themselves to more important tasks instead of monotonous administrative tasks. RPA is certainly not a hype topic and must be at the forefront of future digitization projects.
Nevertheless, it will become apparent that outsourcing will continue to be a part of business activities. Outsourcing remains cost-effective and practical for tasks that require human skill and thinking. Processes that cannot be handled by in-house employees due to a lack of know-how will probably continue to be outsourced to external companies in the future.
For all other tasks, RPA technology will certainly be the future.
