Robotic process automation (RPA) projects are a challenging endeavor. According to a
recent survey, 69% of RPA projects fail to take off because of their complexity. And for the lucky ones that manage to proceed to execution, up to 50% of them fail. To further complicate matters, Blueprint, an enterprise automation company, reports that 63% of business leaders are not satisfied with their RPA implementation speed. PwC’s study supports this idea. The consultancy found that conducting an RPA proof of concept or a pilot project often takes 4-6 months instead of the expected 4-6 weeks.
However, if companies take on their automation projects prepared and aware of the possible RPA challenges, they can reap great rewards. Many are already benefiting from
workflow automation services as the global RPA market increases in value. The Grand View Research forecasts this market to hit $13.74 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 32.8% from 2020.
Also,
COVID-19 vastly accelerated automation, despite the pitfalls of RPA deployment. To highlight the significant role of the pandemic, Mihir Shukla, Co-founder and CEO of Automation Anywhere,
gave the following example: at one point during the pandemic, a large bank was forced to update six million loan records immediately. Without RPA, such an enormous task would take two years to accomplish.
So, why do RPA projects fail? And how to succeed despite the discouraging stats above?