Micro Outsourcing - A Fresh Approach to RPA - OPTSM

Micro-Outsourcing

Micro-Outsourcing is a Fresh Approach that makes the benefits of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) available to every organisation who have people who are carrying out repetitive tasks – regardless of the size, industry and range of operations.

RPA uses software robots – we call ours Jo – to reduce cost, increase capacity and flexibility and release human resources for higher value activities.

The software robot accesses business applications using the ‘front-end’ in exactly the same way as a human user. It completes repetitive tasks faster and more accurately – meaning no need to make changes to existing systems. Using our approach, it can be deployed rapidly with no up-front cost and benefits can be realised in days / weeks.

What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

RPA is a combination of technologies that make it possible to automate repetitive manual office tasks that require little judgement. These are the tasks that tie down humans with fingers on keyboards – performed using a mouse and a keyboard in your existing IT systems.
RPA is a tool that thrives on tasks that are driven by rules, procedures, schedules and instructions.
RPA deploys a software robot – a digital team-mate – that works as part of your overall team. It is scheduled to work at allotted times – day or night, weekday or weekend.
Software robots are ‘trained’ and report on their progress. They access necessary applications and execute their allocated tasks – typically working 10-20x faster than a human worker
Software robots generate reports on tasks completed, making quality and control much easier.
As processes evolve the robots ‘training’ can be modified and tested in minutes – providing enormous flexibility and increasing agility within the operation.

What is the Fresh Approach?

Robotic Process Automation has been deployed in many organisations, but the up-front investment involved in the most common approaches can often present a barrier to rapid deployment.

Traditional approach = Licence the software, build the infrastructure and hire a team to deliver
Outsource approach = rent a robot, infrastructure and development team
Fresh approach = Process as a service / ‘micro-outsource’ – no up-front costs, with the advantage of full control

Our Fresh Approach makes it possible to identify opportunities, confirm feasibility and benefits and deploy in typically 3-5 weeks. “Micro-outsourcing” is fast and creates no disruption to existing operations.

What does 'rapid, no-risk deployment' mean?

Processes can be identified fast and automated in days / weeks and there are no charges until the go-ahead has been given to develop and deploy. Typically an engagement will look like:

Initial discussion – might this approach be a fit?
Stakeholder workshop – identify candidate processes for automation
Process feasibility and business case
- We observe the tasks being undertaken as they are today, establish cost of current performance and plan / price how it would be developed and deployed.
- There is no cost to you until you commit to development – meaning you can accurately predict the benefits up-front and at no risk
Development
- The robot is ‘trained’ to execute the tasks – this has been done for some clients in as little as 3-4 days
Demonstration
- We show that the robot is able to execute the tasks effectively using test work – this stage typically involves no more than an hour of client staff’s time
Refinement
- Once it has been verified that the process can be carried out we work to optimise to cover variations in the process and pin down any inconsistencies. This typically involves 2-3 45-60 minute calls.
- Controlled roll-out – the software robot executes the process on small batches to ensure that all variations / inconsistencies have been identified. This is typically carried out over 1-2 days.
Productionise
- Once you are happy that the process is right, it can be deployed to run at your chosen time / frequency. We continue to monitor and support the process – making necessary changes as new variations are identified or the process evolves.
- You only start to pay monthly once the process has been put into production

What are the benefits?

No up-front costs

You only pay once the process is to be deployed – with a monthly ‘rental’ model that only starts after the robot starts actually doing the job
No need to make changes to your systems
No need to invest in resources or infrastructure

Fully managed operation

We make sure that the robot is always ready to work
When a process or system changes, we retrain robots accordingly
The robot reports on work completed – providing additional insights into process performance and opportunities for additional improvement

Fast and Tangible results

Development, testing and refinement typically takes 3-4 weeks
Testing is simple – just like assessing a human user and watching that steps are carried out correctly