Dive Brief:
- The market for robotic process automation (RPA), wherein software-based "robots" automate a broad range of tasks, is expanding, according to a ZDNet report.
- Enterprises are increasingly looking to RPA to help them trim costs and boost efficiencies.
- RPA can handle repetitive tasks, manipulate data, communicate with other systems and even process transactions.
Dive Insight:
The Institute for Robotic Process Automation says RPA will change organizations' approach to business processes and IT support, helping to streamline workflows and strategies surrounding remote infrastructure and back-office work.
RPA "enables IT to get things done with less people," said Frank Casale, founder and chairman emeritus of the Institute for Robotic Process Automation. "That savings can be floated to the bottom line of the company or IT can re-purpose that to fund strategic projects they wouldn't get additional budget for. We are seeing this happen today."
Current RPA vendors include Arago, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, UIPath, and WorkFusion Accenture and Automation Anywhere disclosed last month that they are working together to deliver "enterprise-grade" RPA products.
Last month, a report found that companies are growing less interested in moving IT offshore and are instead looking to automate more tasks via RPA.
RPA could help companies deal with the IT labor shortage. If redundant tasks can be handled by robots, companies can focus on hiring people for more interesting and creative IT jobs. A June survey of CIOs and other tech leaders found 65% feel that the tech talent shortage is precluding them from keeping up with the rate of digital change and innovation. The report, from Harvey Nash and KPMG, also found that the number of CIOs that say they are facing a tech skills shortage is the highest it has been since the 2008 recession.
