Introduction

In the rapidly expanding world of Intelligent Automation, finding the right mix of resources to plan and complete Robotic Process Automation (RPA) projects can be a challenge.   Making decisions to have RPA project resources in-house or outsourced to a 3^rd party involves a range of issues, including availability, options for staff augmentation during rapid growth, and what expert skill sets you to want to invest to develop in-house and what skill sets it’s more efficient purchase from a 3^rd party.  Managing overall project costs and responsiveness are also important considerations.

iPolling^TM Results Review

Recently, Peeriosity’s iPolling^TM was used by a Business Systems Analyst at a member company to better understand how peers are staffing RPA projects.  Using this technology, the poll author was able to quickly gain insights into his issue, which he described as follows:

With the rise in RPA implementations across all industries, many groups are looking to outsource parts of their processes to specialized teams for handling. Which piece, if any, of your RPA process are you currently outsourcing?  If you are using partial or total outsourcing, how is that working out for you?

The first question in the poll asked which part of the RPA process member companies are currently outsourcing.  While 20% were outsourcing the entire RPA process or multiple aspects of the process, the greatest use of 3^rd party resources was for code development, with 31% outsourcing this process.  Interestingly, no company selected options for data science, business analytics, or project selection, with 10% selecting production support, and 4% using outsourcing for selective staff augmentation.  At 35% of member companies, no parts of the RPA process are outsourced.  Here are the details:

Regarding overall satisfaction levels for the vendor(s) selected for companies who have outsourced, 5% report being very satisfied and 53% report being satisfied.  The split for the remaining companies was either too early to tell at 26% or indifferent at 4%, with 11% indicating they were unsatisfied.

Here are a number of the additional comments from members:

• We outsource code development and monitoring via the Automation Anywhere control room.

• We outsource Production Support – monitoring the active automation – with ISG. We are only ~6 weeks in, but so far, so good!

• We have outsourced functions and they did an RPA effort focused on their processes. It was developed by their internal development team. We approved and finalized the functional design. It was cost-effective and a good model for us as our internal RPA development experience is in a very immature state.

• Code development is outsourced, especially on more complicated bots, which is the primary way we leverage our Deloitte partners currently while we try to develop internal resources for this piece internally.

• We mainly outsource production support due to timing differences – bots run 24 hours a day and it helps to have a global team monitoring the work.

• We outsource code development.  Our vendor provides competitive pricing.

• We do all of our RPA initiatives in-house. It’s a multi-disciplinary team who does this work.  It’s mainly IT and the actual business unit that owns the work process that makes up the teams that work on RPA-targeted processes.

• Code development is outsourced; however, we are in the middle of some projects so too early to tell if we are satisfied.

• RPA project work is primarily done by an internal team, although we have used a vendor to augment our staff for a couple of months.

• We are utilizing our outsourcing partner for RPAs. We have over 40 bots up and running, and they have built and overseen the process end-to-end. When the bots go down, it takes a very long time to get them back up again.

Closing Summary

While the cost of technology and ease of implementation make RPA a likely candidate, the nuances of how to source project resources can add a level of complexity to the design and implementation process.  Fortunately, with many companies having deep experience in this area, Peeriosity member companies can easily learn about, and more importantly, understand the reasons peer companies are making various selections.  Understanding the paths taken by trusted peers can be invaluable as companies determine their own optimal paths to follow.

What approach does your company take to outsourcing RPA work to 3^rd parties?  If you have outsourced, what is your level of satisfaction with the vendor(s) that you selected?

Who are your peers and how are you collaborating with them?

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“iPolling^TM” is available exclusively to Peeriosity member company employees, with consultants or vendors prohibited from participating or accessing content. Members have full visibility of all respondents and their comments. Using Peeriosity’s integrated email system, Peer Mail^TM, members can easily communicate at any time with others who participated in iPolling.

Peeriosity members are invited to log into www.peeriosity.com to join the discussion and connect with Peers.   Membership is for practitioners only, with no consultants or vendors permitted.  To learn more about Peeriosity, click here.