System is a minefield for various human interventions. A fully automated process runs on a set of controlled variables and environment. What will be the check and balance for these automation? This is also the key critical view towards RPA (Robotics Process Automation).
Minding your RPA
RPA is truly a strange view because it is attempting to speed up data entry of poor User Interface (UI) with automated key strokes. The system of today have so many relational tables that users are expected to link and click every dropdown values or foreign keys. The end results is a horrific experience for users. “Some wise people” will introduce RPA to reduce the key strokes for these data entries. Are these really the right approach?
Balancing the RPA
In most cases, I will not recommend introducing RPA to resolve UI deficiency or bad UI. By doing so, you end up playing a cat and mouse game with the application. This is why there is a balancing act to using RPA. You may end up investing your RPA too much instead of focusing to resolve the underlying process or application constraints.
RPA is not a new tool and existed since the time of web scraping. It gain popularity with digital transformation with the complexity of linked data and UI. This strange view towards RPA means you need to be mindful and balance your RPA wisely.
Danny Kwok 