Three Ways to get More MPG from IPA

Tips to Make the Most of Process Automation

When you look at the back of the napkin math on automating routine business processes by applying intelligent process automation (IP), the numbers can be very compelling.

Cross-industry surveys and studies have backed up the notion that you can automate 50-70% of tasks related to document- and data-driven transactional processes to achieve 25-35% annual run-rate cost efficiencies to reduce cycle times 50-60%, achieving results within 180 days to deliver triple-digit ROI.

If that raises an eyebrow, it should, because it’s pretty exciting stuff—especially if you hate dull, repetitive tasks that eat into your company’s profit margins.

Of course, the first skeptics within your company are likely to be the IT department, who have heard it all before and bore the brunt of past tech promises that were dumped in their laps to deliver. The GOOD news is that what distinguishes IPA from past technology solutions is that it focuses on relieving the burden from IT by putting more control into the hands of process owners and delivering more flexible and adaptable system integrations. That means faster implementations with far less maintenance/support overhead.

Assuming these solutions pass muster with IT, chances are your process owners will approach things with their own healthy dose of skepticism. After all, if IT likes it…

But, by taking an approach where companies can deploy automation for AP vendor invoice handling or customer sales orders in a way that handles 80% of use cases, then identifies and flags exceptions, companies can get up to speed quickly, then refine things in the real world with minimal hassle. That’s because IPA tools LEARN from how process owners address outliers, then adapt and re-configure their own rules to solve business problems.

Avoid Process Pitfalls

That probably all sounds great—but surely there are pitfalls, because there are indeed sobering statistics about how often grand projects like ‘digital transformation’ fail to deliver on their promised returns.

Like all things in life, the keys to success are simple and easy to conceive, but harder to execute in practice. Here are three simple tips—ones that your IPA/business process automation partner can help you to take into account as you go from plans and visions to implementation and results.

1. Start with the big picture and end result in mind: this means going beyond simply automating the process as it exists today, so you can avoid doing the wrong things, faster and focus instead on doing the right things better
2. Prioritize and iterate: Once you have a handle on the big picture, it’s time to sweat the small stuff. Look for opportunities to automate that can produce quick results, with minimal risk. Build out from there.
3. Look for out-of-the-box solutions: if you start seeing professional services and ‘customization’ costs that go beyond your expectations, take a step back and evaluate your options. The whole point of IPA is to attack the broad use case, then refine and target the exceptions.

Putting Your Plan into Action

If you’re ready to take your back-of-the-napkin math and transform it into an action plan to achieve more, spend less and take the pain out of your business processes, schedule a discovery/demo call with your Artsyl Technologies representative at