You’ve decided to invest in RPA, and one of your biggest questions is whether to go with a business partner or not. While there are plenty of other technology solutions to go “stag” on, RPA is one we don’t recommend going alone.  

An RPA business partner provides the worth of building a relationship with you to meet your objectives — and a whole lot more. We’ve broken down six advantages of why an RPA business partner is so beneficial.  

6 Advantages of Pairing Up with a Business Partner for RPA

1. They help you meet your needs and requirements for RPA. 

While RPA is a software that almost anyone can download and use, it’s not something you can just jump into and, in fact, 30 to 50 percent of initial RPA projects fail, according to Ernest & Young. Before starting an RPA program, there are requirements to keep in mind to effectively have a successful RPA implementation such as: 

• Developing a Center of Excellence 
• Having specific bot development skills 
• Managing the infrastructure appropriately  
• Knowing and understanding your criteria for success 

If any of these traits are missing from your RPA program, chances are it won’t succeed. Here a business partner can come in handy as they can help make sure that your enterprise has the fundamental requirements and framework for a successful RPA program.   

2. They act as an extension of your team. 

The fact is the size of your team is going to determine the bandwidth you’ll be able to dedicate to RPA. Not to mention it’s necessary to have specific roles that make up your RPA team including at least one developer and a few business analysts.  

Understandably, most companies don’t have the manpower for these roles right away. Here a business partner can step in to fulfill these roles and then later train your employees to come in when they have enough experience.  

When working with a business partner, it’ll be as if you’re working with a fellow co-worker. Each and every step will be with you side-by-side to ensure you are just as part of the process, so you can walk away with a full understanding. Think of a business partner as an extension of your team. 

And speaking building your team, it’s also important to consider having an RPA Center of Excellence (CoE). Your CoE are the evangelists of RPA ensuring that the whole company is well-educated on RPA and the value it brings to the company. Additionally, a CoE ensures that RPA projects are carried out successfully. If you’re in need of a CoE, we offer workshops to help get you started and build your team.   

3.  They own your goals. 

When kicking off your RPA solution, you probably have many goals in mind of what you want to achieve like the number of processes that you want to automate by X number of months, what to prioritize for automation and whether you plan to scale. And these goals don’t even address KPI initiatives like ROI, process outcomes, cycle times and error-rates.  

Your goals and KPIs are just as important to your business partner as they are to you and they’ll make sure to outline what is needed to achieve your goals and help meet them. They’ll even shed light on realistic expectations with KPIs and if there are ways they can expediate processes to reach these goals and grow your ROI faster than expected.  

Another important consideration of going with a business partner is they can help come up with goals you may not even thought of — and new approaches, too.

4. They accommodate your budget.     

Ah, budget. One of those items you must carefully juggle when making an investment. The good news is a business partner is extremely consciousness of this and will work with you to make sure you don’t break the bank, while getting maximum output for your buck. 

Generally, to help with budget business partners will offer pricing packages that varies from the RPA software itself, sometimes with bots included, to a whole RPA package that includes consulting, implementation, deployment and support.  

And another benefit you’ll receive that you may not have considered beyond RPA expense costs is that business partners bring a wealth of experience, skills and knowledge that gets passed down to you.

5. They assist in developing your own experience to build confidence.

While RPA is known for its low–code approach, there’s still a learning curve with understanding the platform and how it works. A business partner will ensure that you feel comfortable working with the program and developing automation processes on your own. They can also be there to assist you in troubleshooting your automation process and even look for opportunities for scaling. Additionally, support is always available with supplemental resources including guides, videos and how-tos. 

Some business partners also offer RPA training packages to further develop RPA experience such as bot-building workshops, CoE development and business analyst programs. 

 6. They look into the future.

Technology is always advancing and to keep up it’s important to adopt new innovations as they come. A good business partner is on top of any product developments and updates to ensure you’re getting the latest versions and the benefits that comes along with it too! For RPA, this is useful as the platforms update frequently and introduce new functionalities that could be a game changer for automating. 

Another advantage of a business partner is some will offer intelligent automation solutions such as AI and Machine Learning, which can complement and enhance RPA’s capabilities, to make your automation smarter, more efficient and end-to-end. 
 

The Buying Process What to Expect 

When making your first move in the RPA buying process, it’ll usually start off with a call or meeting that’ll educate you on how RPA works and its potential within your industry. 

Next there is a follow-up call regarding RPA opportunities, known as the process discovery stage. During this stage, questions will be asked regarding what your objective is for RPA to establish goals are and expectations for return on investment. 

After this stage, a proof of concept (POC) may be developed to show how the automation works within processes, and then from there, is the purchase stage.  

The purchase stage will detail what is included with the RPA package including a plan that includes certain responsibilities the business partner might own such as configuration and deployment. After the purchase is made, additional support or training might be available as part of the purchase package or at an additional cost. 

The Advantages of Choosing Pyramid Solutions 

If choosing a business partner sounds like it’s the appropriate route for your RPA implementation, consider us. We offer all the advantages mentioned above, plus a little extra including:  

• We have a team of certified, experienced experts  
• We offer top-industry RPA vendors and know them in-and-out 
• We have decades of automation experience  
• We provide accelerators and tool kits that help get your RPA program up and running fast 
• We offer various RPA packages to accommodate you 

Interested? We’re able to help you every step of the way, from a consulting session for identifying RPA opportunities to support and training. Want to learn more about RPA? Check out our resources below: