Robotic process automation tools are not created equal.
For example, we mentioned attended and unattended RPA bots in the previous section. The core difference between the two types of intelligent software agents lies in their ability (or lack thereof!) to perform tasks independently.
It is also necessary to distinguish between business process automation (BPA) and robotic process automation tools; the former merely follow the if-then pattern to automate workflows, while the latter watch your employees interact with software system interfaces and replicate their actions.
BPA and RPA have a brighter, more technologically advanced cousin called
intelligent process automation (IPA). IPA systems feature
imachine learning algorithms that retrieve and analyze
unstructured data hidden in enterprise IT systems.
The number of bots comprising an RPA system, their cognitive abilities, and the workload they handle are listed among the critical robotic process automation cost drivers.
For instance, a simple RPA bot that converts PDF documents into CSV files
may cost your company as little as $25 per month — as long as it processes a few dozens of records over the course of 30 days and does nothing but that. In this case, extra RPA costs may only include a few hours’ worth of maintenance and verification work.
On the contrary, RPA tools that operate within several applications and information systems while checking workflows against multiple conditions require laborious configuration and take longer to implement.
Since the initial cost of robotic process automation might be a heavy burden for small and medium-sized businesses, and ROI perspectives might be too vague to justify the investment, a company should carefully review and analyze processes it is looking to automate. Typically, operations that are performed frequently and take less than 30 minutes to carry out make the best candidates for bot-driven automation.