As RPA grows in adoption for the rest of 2019 and into 2020, it’s a good time to ask, “How will your present and future Bots be supported?” Just as having an automation strategy for vetting and deciding which processes to automate, the type of decision-making must be applied to decisions around the ongoing support and maintenance of your production Bots. This practice is not so different that how one decides to maintain and service their car on a regular basis.
Many of us at CampTek Software have worked and supported RPA Bots and their environments for years. Therefore, we understand the necessity of Bot support. I’d like to explain this argument in further detail below and break it down into three different categories.
1. Hosted Support
This includes the setup of the Bots on the server and includes any alerts that need to be setup and ongoing maintenance of automation environment(s). Our preferred vendor is (i.e. UiPath Orchestrator). Regardless of whether the Orchestrator is hosted on premises, Azure or AWS, proper administration is critical and necessary. Since the Orchestrator Bots can be started/stopped/scheduled from either a web client or a mobile device, proper upkeep is vital.
2. Bot Support
To have a Bot run one or many processes, takes some effort. Handling things such as the automated application, an API and the runtime environment are all important. All three CAN and WILL change. Understanding how to run a scheduled/unattended Bot successfully and reliably is paramount. The other point to make is that most companies would prefer a 3rd party to manage the support due to lack of internal resources and ability to provide the level of support needed . RPA is unique in that it isn’t a static piece of code. As noted, it relies on ALL three factors noted above it to run successfully. Not having deep knowledge in any of these areas can take the wind out of any RPA initiative before it starts.
3. Business Process Development/Support
The development of the process is arguably the most crucial part of the support paradigm. This is where our customers and the market have reacted, strongly, to the success and failure of RPA. I actually wrote about the obvious knowledge gap within the RPA space. Since then I have heard from many RPA Partners about the lack of expertise out there. At CampTek Software, it is our practice to only hire certified UiPath developers.
Being certified is important but the actual know-how to make an unattended process run reliably in a constantly changing environment is even more important. The other consideration to make is that every application is different, regardless of whether it’s a windows application or web application. While there are standard approaches to develop any platform, it doesn’t mean that the approach to build any application will be the same.
Take for example a simple web page. While it might be built using HTML5, JavaScript, Python etc. using a common Agile approach, most likely all these items used in conjunction will not provide the same result from one website to another. Websites can be very challenging to automate in many circumstances because of this difference. If you add in legacy type controls that are embedded you have quite a challenge. The reality of the matter is that there are apps that are 40+ years old that are still being used. As a result, they will need to be automated to work effectively with current applications.
These three areas of support are prime to consider when moving forward. I created my company to help with these challenges, and we know how to overcome them and to take any RPA indicative to new heights.
Peter S. Camp is the CTO and Founder of CampTek Software. He has been developing RPA Applications for over 15 years. For further questions, discussion or inquiry about CampTek Software Services, contact info@campteksoftware.com.
