Every human has two sides to them—the hard-working robotic side, a part of our brain that knows to work like a robot, and the rational side, the part that thinks and execute in a logical manner. So do most companies. In fact, a study found that 22% of an employee’s time is spent on performing tasks that are laborious and repetitive. In other words, a significant amount of work of most employees around the world can be easily automated in order to engage them in tasks that need extra-ordinary cognitive skills and creativity. To keep employees occupied in tasks that demand empathy, intelligence and integrity, the demand for RPA is steadily increasing and reaching new heights in today’s digital era.  

Even though RPA can bring home a multitude of benefits, there are certain factors that can impede the process of owning an RPA infrastructure for most start-ups and medium-sized firms. This is why RPA-as-a-Service can serve as a catalyst for easy implementation of an automated workflow and operations in multi-faceted organizations, whatever the size and type. This blog discusses what RPA-as-a-Service is and ways it can help solve the automation challenges a modern enterprise may face today. 

What is Robotic Process Automation?  

Let’s run over what RPA is before delving deep into the concept of RPA-as-a-Service and its lucrative benefits for organizations. 

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a very recently emerged technology that enables businesses to streamline their operations and reduce costs. With the advent of RPA, firms can effortlessly automate manual and business processes that are mainly rule-based. According to a recent Forrester Report, RPA will be worth $2.9 billion by 2021. Moreover, RPA is gaining a strong traction in a variety of business sectors, and it can be leveraged to automate a wide range of tasks, such as data entry, automated accounts payable, payroll processing, handling customer inquiries, and a lot more.  

What is RPA-as-a-Service? 

Much like SaaS, RPA-as-a-Service (RPA) is a form of outsourcing where a third-party service provider offers a cloud-based software robot that deploys automation, machine learning and algorithms to help its clients tackle high-volume and repetitive business operations and workflows.  

As with any other “as-a-Service” business, RPAaaS is offered to companies on a subscription basis. According to many RPAaaS users, the process of implementation and operating it is convenient. Moreover, implementing an RPA that is completely cloud-based seems to be the most cost-effective way to access and harness the ultimate potential of RPA and its services. One of the reasons why a lot of start-ups and medium-sized organizations go for RPA-as-a-Service model is that it allows them test the waters with a subscription-based infrastructure before setting up their own on-prem RPA infrastructure for whatever the reason may be.   

Reasons why RPA-as-a-Service is the go-to enterprise automation model for many business sectors: 

The COVID-19 crisis has contributed to an increase in cloud usage, but it is not the only factor driving this trend. There are two main options for deploying RPA: on-premise RPA and RPA-as-a-Service. RPAaaS is a more cost-effective and easily deployed solution that can provide a faster return on investment compared to on-premise RPA. It is not just large corporations that are using RPAaaS, but small businesses as well to address operational issues. Here are some significant benefits and reasons RPA-as-a-service is a great catalyst for promoting and democratizing automation for every business sector: 

  • Low cost, low risk 

Using RPA-as-a-Service can be a low-risk way for businesses to explore the benefits of automation. Because the customer only pays for the RPA software and services on a subscription basis, there is no upfront investment required. This allows businesses to test the waters with RPA and see if it is a good fit for their needs before committing to a larger implementation. With RPA-as-a-Service in place, companies can quickly scale up without needing to invest in expensive hardware and other tools. As RPAaaS is cloud-based, employees can access it from anywhere across the world, as long as they are connected to the Internet. 

  • Expert guidance at your beck and call 

RPA-as-a-Service providers typically have a team of experts who can assist with the implementation and optimization of the RPA system. This can be beneficial for businesses that are new to automation and want guidance on how to get started. Experts from RPA providers can guide employees on the best practices for developing, deploying and managing RPA projects. So, partnering with the right RPA service provider can help companies best utilize business automation to reduce operational costs, improve efficiency and increase employee and customer experiences. 

  • You’re never running out of customization 

Today, companies deal with more than one client. The more the number of clients, the higher and complex the projects get. With intricate projects come unique needs and customization. RPA-as-a-Service providers can often customize the RPA software to meet the specific needs of the customer. This can be useful for businesses that want to automate specific processes or tasks and need the RPA software to be tailored to their requirements.  

  • Easy Implementation and deployment 

Unlike the time-consuming deployment of on-prem RPA solution, the implementation process of RPAaaS is all about setting up a secure connection between the service provider and the customer’s system to configure automated workflows and business-specific bots. The whole process takes less than a few days, depending on the complexity of the automation process. RPA-as-a-Service can often be implemented more quickly than in-house RPA solutions, as the provider handles all aspects of the implementation process. This can be beneficial for businesses that want to start realizing the benefits of automation without worrying about the upfront expenses that come with on-prem RPA services.  

RPA-as-a-Service: The catalyst for your automation success. 

For the past decade, the suffix “as a service” has been one of the enablers for several innovations in many business sectors. If it were not for business models such as Software as a Service (SaaS) and PaaS (Platform as a Service), which offered critical IT services on a subscription basis, many start-ups and medium-sized firms would not have become as performant and popular as they are today and RPA-as-as-Service is no different to it. 

Now that you know how RPAaaS (RPA-as-a-Service) helps organizations actualize the true potential of automation, it is time that you explore and embrace this next big thing in the world of automation. To sum up in a few words, RPA-as-a-service is an inexpensive way of improving productivity and quality while also freeing time to focus on more high-value activities.  

Discover how can Aspire and AutomationEdge can collaboratively help you have a competitive edge over your rivals through robotic business automation.