Limitations of robotic process automation
While RPA has some advantages, these limitations can be a deterrence for forward-looking organizations seeking to thrive in an increasingly digital world:
1. High maintenance
RPA requires regular management, maintenance and security, which adds on to the processes the IT department has to tackle. The more bots your organization deploys to automate processes, the more the likelihood of your IT department being overwhelmed. Since RPA requires integration into the corporate IT infrastructure, it adds a layer of architectural complexity, and IT overhead. IT personnel have to ensure your RPA bots are working optimally and simultaneously manage other IT processes.
2. Successive changes break processes
RPA is limited to individual tasks and cannot adapt to change. Software bots are trained to follow specific, straightforward actions, so even minor updates to the user interface or underlying systems can cause processes to fail, or return incorrect data. Any exceptions outside predefined procedures can confuse bots, make the automation process brittle, halt RPA processes and require complete re-tuning.
3. Move the focus away from strategic projects
RPA is a tactical, relatively easier way to gain swift process efficiency, but it may unintentionally divert attention away from more critical and strategic projects. It can also make you overlook digitalization opportunities or take you away from more valuable activities, such as replacing large legacy core systems or creating new systems for disruptive business processes.
4. Cannot interpret unstructured data
RPA is not a cognitive solution for interpreting unstructured data. It's more useful for rule-based processes with set criteria and structured, easy-to-access data entry with well-defined processes. It's best for data stored in a quality standardized format in columns and rows that conforms to a data model. Unfortunately, many business documents have unstructured data such as rich media, images, or text that require a higher level of intelligence.
The low-code edge over RPA
Low code is a practical development platform shaking up the industry. Its diverse benefits give it a definite edge over RPA:
Reduced maintenance
Low code’s simplified development process and ready-to-use templates reduce the need for regular maintenance. It lets your business manage and track development processes across the organization from one central dashboard. It's a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that reduces the number of bugs, and streamlines the automation process, making it stress-free.
More flexibility
Low-code is an innovative and flexible tool that helps businesses scale easily. It allows organizations to fill the IT skills shortage gap with business users who build custom applications, helping the company quickly adapt to ever-changing market requirements and business conditions. It increases retention rates because non-tech users can meet customer needs and enhance customer experiences across all channels without waiting on IT developers.
Enhanced agility
Low code process automation is designed to simplify the exhaustive and time-consuming application development process. You can build and update applications faster and easier, to meet current requirements and changing organizational needs. The little coding knowledge and skills required to build apps, pre-built templates, and automated testing in low-code platforms increases organizational agility.
Greater speed
Low code offers an intuitive and highly visual graphical user interface that uses API connectors to integrate with third-party tools to quicken app development. The time and effort typically required to create enterprise-grade applications with low code are relatively less, whether you’re building apps, completely redesigning processes, or adding features. You’ll deliver apps in days or weeks instead of months.
Cost-effective
Low-code platforms’ initial set-up, training, implementation, and maintenance cost less. Creating custom, fully functional apps and updating them requires little coding skills and takes little time, which saves you time and money. Also, low code has fewer staffing needs and doesn’t require specialized IT skills, so it greatly reduces the need for IT experts. IT developers can automate and refine processes to deliver projects faster, further saving money because fewer developers can handle key non-repetitive IT processes.
RPA or low-code solutions: which is better for my company?
RPA is a good fit for “one-off” initiatives and self-contained processes within one department. It’s a good tool for basic task automation and piloting business process automation projects. On the flip side, low-code development is ideal for more complex assignments that require data and coordination across multiple departments or input from employees. It's a sophisticated tool to promote cross-departmental collaboration and increase efficiency.
While your business situation and requirements determine which is better for your company between RPA or low-code platforms, low code remains the standard for business automation. It's a comprehensive strategy that factors in your current and future needs, aligns with your goals, adds value to your business, and can help you outpace your competitors.
Low-code over RPA every time
RPA may be easier to implement, but it's slowly dying. Switching to Kissflow low-code moves you to a more sustainable and adaptive platform that increases business agility, integrates easily with remote solutions, and will help you innovate frequently. It's a cloud-driven solution to help you implement a better digital transformation strategy and meet changing business and customer needs.
.jpg)
