Robotic Process Automation Tutorial for Beginners

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Robotic Process Automation Tutorial (RPA)

Step by Step RPA Tutorial for Beginners


I have been researching and reading about Robotic Process Automation since 2014. In this rpa tutorial, I’m going to explain all my understanding and researches about RPA in a layman’s language.

So that even the beginners who read this tutorial will get to learn rpa basics and have a clear understanding of Robotic Process Automation as a whole!

Below are the exhaustive rpa topics covered in this RPA tutorial. I want to make this the best rap tutorial available online!


What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation or RPA (nowadays for everything there is an acronym) is an emerging form of business process automation, which focuses on automating the repetitive tasks which are currently performed by a human. RPA is different from the traditional way of programming which requires a lot of back end coding.

In simple words rpa means:

“robots are going to do the computer-based repetitive tasks which are now performed by humans”.

Don’t worry, not literally as in the below pic 🙂

Robotic Process AutomationPin
Robotic Process Automation in Wild Imagination 🙂

Let me now go in detail:

  • When I say robots are going to do the human tasks that don’t mean physical robots are going to sit in front of the computer and do the tasks, it means a software application that will replicate the actions or tasks exactly the way how a human does.
  • RPA will automate low-value clerical activities performed by humans. Most importantly RPA is only for clerical process automation and not for all human activities.

Now, this would have suddenly rung a bell – humans are going to lose jobs!??

The answer is Not Exactly!

Of course, there will be some changes in the way how we have been working so far. RPA is going to open up new opportunities for human workers. Robotic Process Automation is a way of Artificial Intelligent workers performing the tasks.

We should be smart enough to find those new opportunities and prepare ourselves to grab it as and when it arises (In fact now is that right time).

Robotic Process Automation TutorialPin
What is Robotic Process Automation?

Why Automate Repetitive Tasks? (Benefits of RPA)

When a job gets monotonous people lose interest, but not robots! then why do humans have to do those monotonous, low value adding, repetitive jobs?

Humans can do much better interesting jobs!

When something is delivered without interest, chances are more for errors.  In the case of robots, there are no such complications as robots don’t have interests, unlike humans.

Industrial experts substantiate the Benefits of RPA with the reasons:

  1. To avoid human errors and to reduce human efforts.
  2. To save time and improve productivity, accuracy, and consistency.
  3. Enhance the business analytics and easy standardization of workflow.
  4. To have a frictionless delivery of tasks.
  5. Complete Audit trail for any kind of compliance purposes.
  6. Cost reduction.

The 6th one is interesting, it involves COST, Lets discuss about it in detail

How RPA Reduces Cost?

One of the most commonly declared benefit of RPA is the cost reduction.

I’ll explain 5 ways in which RPA can reduce the cost. Cost reduction is one of the parameters to assess the Robotic Process Automation ROI (Return On Investment).

We can divide this RPA cost-benefit analysis into 2 major factors contributing to it. Employees & Customers, all the Automation/Transformation should be done keeping in mind these 2 major factors.

Higher Employee Satisfaction and Better Customer Experience.

Employees:

  • FTE Redeployment – Rather than calling it as FTE reduction the better way to look at it is Employee redeployment to other higher value-added tasks. Since the repetitive tasks are automated using RPA which brings cost saving in terms of reduced FTEs in those processes.
  • Reduction in Attrition – Employee engagement and satisfaction improves when repetitive tasks are removed from them. Which in turn will reduce the employee burnout and attrition!
  • Reduction in Rework – Cost involved in Rework is completely eliminated by automating the tasks, only need to handle the Exceptions

Customer:

  • Reduction in Cycle time – Automating the repetitive tasks will reduce cycle time for completing the task, which will in turn help in higher productivity. Higher quality services in reduced cycle time will satisfy any customer.

Why Learn RPA?

Let me explain this with 2 examples from the past

Example 1:                                  Ok! now think it in this way, when computers were introduced there were objections from many groups of people around the world. People were saying “computers are going to take away the human jobs” but were it so??

One of the biggest revolutions that have ever happened in history was ‘Books to Computers’. Now I don’t have to explain anything more about the billions of opportunities computers created. How computers have changed the word!

People who were smart and fast enough to adapt to computers, grabbed the opportunities while others were busy protesting.

Example 2:                                  Opportunities didn’t stop there, it was keep flowing from then. I would want to take one more simple example from the past:

Microsoft Excel has been a fantabulous application and it’s a bread and butter for millions of people around the world. But in excel also people do monotonous, low value adding, repetitive jobs, so what’s next??

Some people were smart enough even there too, found opportunities for automation and simplification.  They learned more about Excel formulas, Macros, VBA, etc. and grabbed those opportunities.

They got paid well and grew in their career (I too have the similar experience) while others were still struggling with untidy monotonous jobs in Excel.

So what I’m trying to make you understand is Robotic Process Automation is one such golden opportunity!

Now lets come out of that era of Excel Formulas, Macros and VBA, the world has gone further from there!

For example who likes to sit and process 100s of invoices every day throughout their life?? No-one right!! So what’s next??

RPA is going to be that change. Robots will do that kind of jobs exactly the way how a human does.

Before we get into a discussion about the opportunities that RPA going to create, it’s required to clearly understand How RPA Works!

How Robotic Process Automation Works?

First, let me say the good news – RPA is Code Free! Hurrah! Yes RPA doesn’t need a single piece of code or need any programming skills to automate a process. (There are no rpa programming languages that you need to learn, however programming skills on .net or VBA or any programming language will provide an added advantage, we will discuss it in the RPA Jobs’ section below)

Then how does RPA work? – RPA works using Demonstrative Steps.
As I mentioned above it’s a way of Artificial Intelligent or rather, virtual workers performing the activities as exactly as a human does.

Let’s take a business process example when a new joiner comes in the team how he/she gets trained to do a task, the same way these virtual workers also need to be trained step by step.

Who are the best people to train the new joiner? of course not the IT engineers!

Its the SMEs and Process Experts.

Similarly, the best people to train the RPA robots are also the Business operations people. The subject matter experts and process experts.

The best part with virtual workers are Once trained then lifetime permanent worker, no attrition, unlike human workers 🙂

Below is an example of how Robotic Process Automation works in an Order Management Process.

Rpa For Order Management ProcessPin
Source: UiPath

Process experts with no programming skill can become RPA experts in a few weeks. As per studies, a few weeks of training on RPA tools can make operations people to independently automate the process.

RPA for Invoice Processing

Now that we learned What is RPA, Why RPA and How RPA Works! Let’s see a robotic process automation example, Where RPA can automate a real process scenario.

Financial Services is one area where RPA is getting implemented rapidly. You can watch the below video to understand how RPA automates the traditional Invoice Processing Process.

RPA for Invoice Processing

Robotic Process Automation for Invoice Processing can be summarized in 5 major steps.

  1. Extracting Invoice: RPA will extract the PDF copies of Invoices from Email, or Workflow or from a dedicated folder etc.
  2. Reading Invoices: Once the invoices are extracted, the Robot will read the specific fields in the Invoices that need to be updated in the ERP.
  3. Verification of Invoices: RPA will verify the Invoice details like the Company code, Supplier number, VAT etc with the database and if verification passes it moves to the next step.
  4. Inputting Invoice details in ERP: Once the required information is gathered and verified from the Invoices, RPA robot will open the ERP and key in all the fields that need to be filled. It can be in SAP, Oracle or whatever ERP your company uses.
  5. Confirmation: Once the data has been successfully inputted in the ERP system, the robot will provide confirmation. Either it can be over email for each Invoice or a consolidated email for all posting. If require a report with all the posting details in excel etc. it can be provided, it’s highly customizable however the organization wants.

In the above case after step 3 if the verification fails either bot can be configured to skip that invoice and move to the next or inform the responsible person immediately to check what action needs to be taken next or even send back the invoice to the vendor etc.

So as I mentioned earlier all these factors are highly customizable however the organization wants depends upon the right RPA tool that the organization selects for the automation.

Process Suitability Check for RPA

Not all processes are suitable for RPA, so how to identify the right processes for Robotic Process Automation. I’ll explain 5 checkpoints to identify the right processes for RPA.

  • Rule Bases Process – Select only the Rule-based process for RPA. Rule-based process are those where a series of simple “If…then” logic can be applied without involving any human decision.
  • Stable Process – Identify a process which is been performed in the same way for a period not less than 6 months. Also, ensure there are no frequent changes expected in the process in the near future.
  • Standard Inputs – Ensure the identified Stable Rule-Based Process always should have Standard Input, else it’s not a suitable process for RPA.

These are very basic 3 Golden Rules to qualify a process for RPA. In addition to this, to get a better ROI also make sure the identified process qualifies the below checks too.

  • Repetitive Manual Process – Its ideal to select repetitive manual process for automation to gain FTE reduction cost benefit.
  • High Volume – Also the process should quantify in terms of high volume to gain a better return on investment for automation.

This helps you in identifying the right process for robotic process automation.

Quick Wins for RPA

You now know, how to select the right process for rpa automation.

I’ll show you 2 transactional Processes that are being Automated using RPA across the industry.

  • Invoice Processing: Financial services is one area where RPA is getting implemented rapidly. 34% of the financial organizations rely on manual process and 47% of the AP professionals consider manual data entry & inefficient processes as their biggest challenge. End to End Invoice processing can be automated using RPA. Invoice Processing automation is usually a quick win for organizations in terms of ROI. We have a video with steps involved in Invoice Processing automation using RPA, feel free to check it out.
  • KYC Process Automation: KYC process is one of the areas where Financial Institutions incur a huge cost. On average Banking institutions spend around 48 to 52 Million US Dollars per year on the KYC compliance. The turnaround time to complete the KYC process on an average takes 8 days. Banking institutions deploy around 150 to 1000+ Full-Time Employees in the various levels of the KYC process. Considering most of the steps in the KYC process are standard, using OCR technologies with RPA can automate the K Y C process.

RPA Use Cases in Various Industries

Any industry that uses a computer for monotonous jobs can leverage the benefits of RPA. RPA is making its way into every industry possible, below are some of the RPA adoption by industry and the use of RPA.

  • Banking

Use – Customer support, service desk, KYC, Loan processing etc.

  • Business Process Outsourcing

Use – ERP Automation, Logistics data automation, Invoice processing, web-integrated rpa etc.

  • Insurance

Use – Remove or reduce the lot of paperwork by introducing the Virtual Infrastructure. Claims processing, appeals processing, responding to partner queries etc.

  • Utility

Use – Billing, meter-reading exceptions, debt recovery, and customer service

  • Legal

Use – Switch from a bunch of papers to making all required documents digitally available in seconds.

As of 2017, almost 80% of the industries are already using RPA solutions in one or the other way.

RPA Implementation Plan

RPA implementation methodology can be broadly classified into 6 steps. Below is the approach to be followed for a successful RPA implementation.

  1. Identify the Automation Opportunities
  2. Optimize the Identified Processes
  3. Build a Business Case
  4. RPA Vendor Selection
  5. Pilot RPA Development
  6. Ramp up and Continue Building Expertise RPA bots.

I have written a more detailed article on the RPA implementation approach, you may please check the same. Also, you can download the FREE Infographics on the RPA Journey

RPA Tool Selection Checklist

It’s a hard decision! since all most, all the rpa vendors are providing about similar rpa tools in terms of as an automation solution.

Below are some of the points to be considered while making an RPA Tool Selection:

  • Technology

First and foremost is the technology in which RPA tool has been built, like Microsift .NET, IBM Mainframe, Java, web etc.  The tool has to be platform independent, considering many of the organizations perform their day to day tasks outside the local desktop using Citrix or Virtual machines etc. So the automation solution should be able to support any application and platform.

  • Interface

Next most important feature is the RPA tool’s user interface. A complex user interface will delay the process of implementation and increase the learning curve and adaptability. A more user-friendly interface like drag and drop, auto capture, image recognition etc. would be better.

  • Management

It is important to know how effectively and easily the robots can be managed considering these robots are going to be replacing your human workforce. There should be a high level of visibility and control in terms of process monitoring, process change, development, re-use etc.

  • Security

I would say security is one of the most important factors to be considered. How safe are the robots when compared to humans?  After all robots/RPA tools are also a piece of software, so how much more security controls can be implemented, test the code rigidly and lock it up, the better. Automation solutions that support the compliance process (like HIPPA – For Healthcare industry, SOX – Financial Sector, PCI DSS – Credit card related organization etc.) are some of the factors to be considered in terms of security.

Top 10 RPA Tools List

Below are some of the leading Robotic Process Automation vendors providing the RPA tools to automate the processes.

The term Robotic Process Automation was invented by Blue Prism, that itself proves they are the pioneers in Robotic Process Automation software development. Blue Prism has been recognized by the American IT research and advisory company Gartner, Inc.

They already have more than 100 customers around the world and partnered with biggest giants like NHS, Accenture, Hexaware, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Capgemini, IBM etc.

Blue Prism

RpaPin

Highly recommended to download the Free Brochure on Blue Prism product overview.

They are one of the most leading RPA vendors in the industry, already providing robotic process automation solutions to companies like SAP, EY, J.P.Morgan, Deloitte, Accenture, Capgemini, BBC etc.

Below are 3 Robotic Process Automation products provided by UiPath:

UiPath Studio

Front Office and Back Office – UiPath Robots

UiPath Orchestrator

Automation Anywhere is another top RPA vendors providing powerful and user-friendly robotic process automation tools to automate tasks of any complexity. They are partnered with companies like EMC2, KPMG, Deloitte, Accenture, Genpact, Infosys etc.

Below is the robotic process automation product by Automation Anywhere:

Automation Anywhere Enterprise

Softomotive is one of the leading Robotic Process Automation providers offers sharp business solutions, premium support and professional services that organizations need to get the most out of their enterprise automation. They have been trusted by more than 6,000 companies worldwide, (Intel, IBM, SIEMENS, Accenture, Vodafone, pwc, Adobe, Xerox, Cognizant etc).

Softmotive has been operating for more than 10 years in the software automation market, and they offer the most reliable and scalable automation solutions, bridging the gap between best-of-breed technology and continuous innovation to deliver true business transformation.

They are the same Company created the most powerful and easy to use Desktop Automation Solution – WinAutomation, for individuals and small teams. Revolutionizing the automation market since 2005.

Softomotive has developed a Robotic Process Automation Product exclusively for enterprises, which will dramatically reduce the operational costs, increase efficiency, improve productivity and accelerate performance. These software robots are named as:

ProcessRobot

Schedule your live ProcessRobot product demo

Pegasystems is a software company to develop strategic applications for sales, marketing, services, and operations. They have a wide variety of products designed for different industries like Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Communications, and Government etc.

The advantage of Pega’s robotic process automation tool is that they already have industry leading BPM (Business Process Modeling) platforms and recently acquired OpenSpan RPA software company. Which makes Pega a complete solution, enterprises no longer have to choose between automation vs. digital transformation.

Robotic Automation & Intelligence

Kofax is a leading software company owns the trademark for “First Mile” of customer engagement.

They have a Robotic Process Automation and Web Data Integration product called Kofax Kapow. Which is highly scalable and flexible to provide any kind of robotic automation and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Kofax Kapow

NICE is a leading RPA solutions providers in the industry having solid 6 customer success stories. Their Free ebook on Robotic Process Automation Case Studies and RPA Infographics provide more insights about the company and RPA.

NICE

UPDATE: G1ANT has been liquidated as of 2018: G1ANT Liquidation Details UK Companies House & G1ANT Endol UK Report

Another pretty straight forward and a new Robotic Process Automation vendor who operates on 3 simple steps automation.

Performance audit, Work automation and Technology Transformation.

G1ANT

Novayre Solutions is a Spanish software company specialized in software development, integration and automation. They have been providing business intelligence and automation solutions since 2008. Novayre Solutions developed a Robotic Process Automation with a unique name called Jidōka, which means “automation with a human touch” in Japanese. The whole idea behind this RPA tool is to replicate human behavior using computer applications.

Jidōka

Request a Jidōka demo

WorkFusion is a software company committed to developing AI-powered software products to transform the work. The company headquartered on Wall Street in New York City with branches in India, US, and Europe. Key concepts or focus are of WorkFusion are Robotic Process Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Cognitive Automation.

WorkFusion is already partnered with companies like Deloitte, Cognizant, HCL Technologies, EY, L&T Infotech, TATA, Virtusa, FIS™, and Wipro.

RPA Express & Smart Process Automation 

Update 2019Strongly suggest you check the best rap tools list 2019, list of more than 70 rpa tools with features, training, free/paid, etc.

List of Companies Using RPA

Now that we know the industry-wide usage of RPA, list of RPA Vendors, Implementation Plan, etc. It is good to know a list of companies which are already using RPA. This was a request from many of my readers as well, so I have written a detailed article with the list of companies using RPA. Feel free to check it out!

Why RPA Fail?

We have discussed the Advantages of robotic process automation, it is also important to understand some of the key Disadvantages of RPA too.

  1. Process Flow and Application – As we mentioned RPA works using Demonstrative Steps and follows exact steps at keystroke level how it has been trained, so if there is a change in the process flow it will affect the RPA output. Also if there is a system/application change then the RPA needs to be reconfigured according to the new application change.
  2. Speed of RPA – The performance of RPA solution, to a  great extent depends upon the system speed and the application speed.

While Implementing RPA if the below the prerequisites for rpa is not considered properly, then chances are high for leading the Robotic Process Automation to a failure.

  • Early adoption of RPA

Early implementation of RPA is one of the major reasons why RPA fail. Many organizations and professionals are now in a hurry to implement RPA in their respective areas and get the RPA seal. This hurry can lead to a wrong process selection for automation.

A wrong process selection in terms of Complexity, Maturity, Cost-effectiveness etc. will lead the RPA journey to failure. So to avoid this mistake, it is highly important to strictly follow the RPA Implementation methodology (mentioned earlier), especially step 1 & 2.

  • Lack of knowledge

Operations, IT infrastructure, and the RPA vendor/tool are the 3 key factors of RPA journey.

Operations – There should be a clear understanding of the process that needs to be automated, including the exceptions if possible. This understanding has to be clearly communicated and documented between the operations and the RPA development teams.

IT Infrastructure – You can develop an outstanding RPA solution but what if it does not work in your environment. So it is important to have a clear understanding of the infrastructure where the bot has to run. For eg: whether it should be a desktop solution or an inside Citrix solution or it’s a published environment etc.

Considering all these factors its also important to choose the right RPA tool for the development by strictly following the tool selection checklist.

Robotic Process Automation Training

A few years ago it was very difficult to find rpa study materials, robotic process automation books or even institutes to learn RPA, but now the situation has changed. There are lots of institutes and websites providing offline and online RPA tutorials and courses, many of them are free as well.

You should approach RPA learning in 3 stages:

  • Understanding the Basics of RPA

Understanding what is RPA is the first and foremost stage in the learning curve and fortunately, by reading this tutorial, you are done with phase one. All you need to know about RPA is extensively covered here.

As an additional reference, you can check the courses in Udemy on Robotic Process Automation.

  • Understanding RPA Tools and Vendors

In phase two you need to get more familiar with RPA tools and vendors. A question which is asked by most of the beginners are, which is the best rpa tool to learn?

Most of the RPA vendors are providing training on their respective tools for free. To start with I would suggest you to go with UiPath as they have a very detailed UiPath RPA Academy which is damn helpful to learn RPA for beginners.

  • Hands-on with RPA Tool

The second and third step should go parallel, if you decide to start with Uipath then the advantage is they have a Community version of the UiPath software available for free. So while learning with UiPath RPA Academy you also get a hand on with the software.

There are other vendors also provide free RPA software like RPA Express from WorkFusion etc.

Not all vendors provide their RPA tools for free, in such cases joining for a specific rpa certification course will provide you an opportunity to be hands-on with those particular rpa tools.

Robotic Process Automation Jobs

Companies and industries follow different job structure and hierarchies however below are some of the common Robotic Process Automation jobs available.

  • RPA Business Analyst

RPA BA s are generally the SMEs of the process, it is always better to train the Subject Matter Experts of the process as RPA Business Analysts as they have in-depth knowledge on the process that needs to be automated. Process knowledge is very much required for the preparation for process map which will be used during the designing and automation.

So if you are a non-techie but a subject matter expert looking for a career shift to RPA then RPA Business Analyst would be the right choice for you.

  • RPA Solution Architect

RPA SAs play a key role in characterizing the entire RPA solution by closely working with RPA BAs in the initial stage. They have an important role from defining the RPA solution architecture to a successful implementation of the RPA solution. They select the appropriate set of technological tools and features and ensures the alignment of the solution with enterprise guidelines.

  • RPA Developer

These are the people who actually develop RPA robots using various RPA Tools. RPA developers are in charge of designing, developing, testing the automation workflows and supporting the implementation of the RPA solution. They work closely with RPA Business Analysts, RPA Solution Architects and the Implementation Engineers.

Though it is said RPA is code free, developers with knowledge on programming languages like .net, vba etc. can outshine in this role.

  • RPA Infrastructure Engineer

These are basically the implementation or infrastructure engineers who get involved during the implementation of the RPA bot. They might not require the RPA developer knowledge however they should have the infrastructure knowledge like the windows server, Citrix etc. and also they should know the implementation process for specific RPA tools in various infrastructure.

  • RPA Supervisor

This is basically the managerial role, who manages or leads the overall automation journey. Resource allocation, performance monitoring, coordinating with various teams, project planning etc. are some of the roles of an RPA supervisor.

  • RPA Service Support

This can be one of the overlooked RPA jobs but very critical as they are being the primary line of help for the RPA deployment in any organization.

You can find more relevant Robotic Process Automation jobs and job descriptions here

Robotic Process Automation Salary

one of the most commonly discussed topic on RPA is Robotic Process Automation Salary. How much does the RPA professionals make annually? Though it is not appropriate to share the salary information, some of the surveys show that geographic locations have a big impact on the annual salary of RPA professionals.

  • North Americans – 68% of the RPA professionals make more than $100K annually.
  • Europeans – 48% of the RPA professionals make $50K to $100K annually.
  • APAC region – 50% of the RPA professionals make less than $50K annually.

You can have a quick glance on the Glassdoor website to see some of the RPA jobs and approximate salary offered for each rpa job levels.

Not Just Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation is getting high traction as its being implemented in the business of every industry. Companies that master automation will dominate their industry.

But Automation is not just RPA, I’ll explain 5 other Process Automation options that can be implemented in your industry.

  • Business Process Management (BPM)

BPM is not an automation technology as such but focuses on improving corporate performance by managing business processes. BPM use various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes. Something like the use of workflow capability to integrate business processes across multiple systems.

  • Desktop Automation

Automating rule-based business and IT process using simple bots or Macro recorders. Excel VBA Macros are the best example for desktop automation, also there are many Desktop automation tools are available now with advanced features. Mostly Business processes can easily implement Desktop automation by themselves, without the involvement of the IT team.

  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation is Enterprise-grade automation, next level to the Desktop Automation. RPA can replicate the tasks exactly how a human does including the front end system to system integration.

  • Intelligent Automation (IA)

Intelligent Automation is the next level to RPA. In Intelligent Automation RPA has the ability to learn the judgemental activities by observing human users processing the requests. Whereas in RPA it just mimics the activities exactly how a human does without any judgemental capability.

  • Cognitive Automation

Again, Cognitive Automation is associated with RPA where it uses cognitive computing capabilities and Artificial Intelligence. Unlike other types of AI, such as machine learning, or deep learning; cognitive automation solutions imitate the way humans think. Cognitive automation brings intelligence to information-intensive processes.

  • Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is a much-advanced area of Computer Science, where a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or software is made to think and act intelligently just like humans. AI capabilities are being tested and used in many industries and process including Process Automation. A self-driven car is one of the examples of AI capability.

So whatever industry you are in, you have to master automation to be a leader in your industry.

Difference between Test Automation and RPA

One of the other common topics people usually discuss; “Is Selenium an RPA tool?” “What are the difference between Test Automation and RPA?” “Selenium vs rpa”, etc.

Yes, there are some similarities between test automation tools and rpa tools since both of them are automation at keystroke level activities. But both are not the same, below are some of the key difference between Test Automation and RPA

  • Activity

Test automation is predominately for repetitive test case automation, whereas rpa is for business process automation. Though both can be used for vices versa activities, test automation tools would require programming skills to automate the business process.

  • Programming

Test automation requires programming skills to create the test scripts whereas rpa tools mostly drag and drop based process flow development. Also, rpa tools can be used by the end uses as well with limited training but test automation tools are for technical users only.

  • Platform

RPA is platform independent, means it can interact with multiple platforms, web-based applications like Citrix as well as Microsoft Office and other desktop applications. Whereas test automation has a certain limitation on platform support.

  • Savings

Test automation saves the test execution time as a virtual assistant, whereas the robotic process automation focuses on reducing the FTE cost through automation hence can be considered as a virtual worker like a human.

Difference between RPA and Industrial Automation

Last but not least, just do not get confused with Robotic Process Automation and Industrial Automation, both are entirely different, though RPA and Industrial Automation focus on replacing human workforce.

Industrial automation is a different ball game altogether, It is the second step beyond mechanization in the scope of industrialization, uses actual robots and machines to replace human.

Whereas as RPA is for Business Process Automation using Software programs to mimic the way how a human actually does the process. RPA is also stepping to the next levels using AI capabilities.

RPA Tutorial Conclusion

Let me conclude this rpa tutorial for beginners in simple words : [click_to_tweet tweet=”Give robots’ job to robots and humans’ jobs to humans #rpa” quote=”Give robots’ job to robots and humans’ jobs to humans #rpa” theme=”style3″]

RPA topics keep getting published here, Join our Global RPA Community and be a Global Learner.

Ask Us if you need this robotic process automation tutorial pdf and the subsequent updates.

We have covered almost all the major topics related to RPA basics in this beginners tutorial. Please let me know all your questions and thoughts on Robotic Process Automation in the comments section below, I’ll reply to them in the RPA Q & A session.

Anson Antony
Anson Antony
Anson is a contributing author and founder at www.askeygeek.com. Learning anything new has always been his passion, askeygeek.com is an outcome of his passion for technology and business. He has got a decade of versatile experience in Business Process Outsourcing, Finance & Accounting, Information Technology, Operational Excellence & Business Intelligence. During the tenure, he had worked for organizations like Genpact, Hewlett Packard, M*Modal and Capgemini in various roles and responsibilities. Outside business and technology, he is a movie buff who spends hours together watching and learning Cinema and a Film Maker too!

34 Responses

  1. Hi,
    Ver informative article and also good information for people who thinks that RPA fail. If it is done properly then RPA works for any company who have repetitive rule based daily processes.

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  8. Hi Ansan,
    Grretings!!
    I am Siva Prasad staying in Bangalore, working as a 24/7 support Opreations lead with 10+ years of experience on retail domain(Main frames). As i am lookin for a change in the career towards the futuristic technologies, i have come across RPA through one of my friend. Is it the right choice to shift my career to RPA path at this point of time.

  9. Hi Ansan,

    It’s really nice overview for a beginner like me in RPA.

    I am 10 year Test Automation experienced in tools like QTP and Selenium. I would like to learn RPA and change from Testing to RPA.

    Could you let me know is this the right and relavent move?

    Regards
    Dileep

  10. I am an IT operations guy with 10% knowledge on technology and would like to purse RPA for better career. Am I making a right move ? If so, which one should I prefer?

  11. HI Anson
    I’m Dennys & want to know is RPA is required any coding skills?
    Currently I’m working as a Support Engineer & what role in RPA will suit?
    and finally How is the growth will be in India with RPA skills.
    Please guide me..

  12. Hi Anson,

    Thanks for sharing overview and work process of RPA.
    Myself Shaik Hussain Pasha, Working as a Software Engineer with .Net Technologies with 3 yrs experience.

    I have got new opportunities to work with RPA Tools,I don’t know anything about it.I am a completely new for this.

    I want to know is this new tools help my carrier or shall i continue with same my programming carrier?

    please let me know dec1 is my joining date.

    I am technically good in .net,Please let me know…is this good for my carrier?

    waiting for your immediate response

  13. I can get a job related to RPA, but in software development in .NET. I do not know how to start. I am a .NET developer but I do not know any libraries or software component to work with. Can you help me?

  14. hi i am a Manual test engineer with an experience of 3yrs i m interested in learning RPA tool.Can you tell me which tool is best for my career

    1. Hi Amarnath, There are many RPA tools available in the market, I have made a list of some of the popular rpa tools in this video (https://youtu.be/cpx5dA_5cq4), also people have commented few more tools in the video, you may check out those. Currently I’m doing an analysis on industry vise popularity for different tools which I’ll publish soon, mean while you can also check out the Industry vise growth for RPA (Result: https://youtu.be/UKY46DfeHUM). Based these analysis and your area of interest you can choose a tool which suits for your career growth.

  15. Hi I am Renuka and I am a employee of one of BPO. As I am from non-technical background which is BSc in Chemistry and Biology. The fact is i do not know anything about technical field. I heard about the RPA automation which is going to implement or happen in the industry in upcoming days.I am worried about my future, Could you please suggest me or help me out of this so that i can prepare myself for upcoming RPA automation.

  16. I am a Manual Tester and need to learn automation RPA, Please suggest which RPA tool is best to learn and shine myself in carrier

    1. Many people in the industry feel that Robotic Process Automation is similar to Testing Automation. But it is not so. Let’s look at the differences.

      1. Although Robotic Process Automation is a concept where we can use it to automate the tedious task of testing which is done manually and is very time consuming due to its repetitive nature, we can use it across many industries like data entry done in bank. But testing automation can be applied only to a particular product and its features.

      2. Test automation works across many environments like QA, UAT, Prod, etc. whereas Robotic Process Automation runs only in the production environment.

      3. Test automation is limited to QA whereas Robotic Process Automation systems can be used by anybody in an organization from creation to product usage.

      4. Robotic Process Automation can be called a Testing tool but it is more flexible and stable due to its non-coding concepts and it also does not depend on the target system.

      5. The testing tools like QTP, Selenium, etc cannot be used as Robotic Process Automation tools because they need a software product to work upon. But Robotic Process Automation cannot be applied to a product.

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