The use of UIPATH as an RPA solution

Robotic process automation (RPA) continues to grow as a tactical solution to improve operational efficiency, using non-invasive integration. Gartner defines RPA as “a licensed software tool for integrating any application via a user interface to automate predictable routine tasks using structured digital data.” Within its RPA practice, SQORUS uses the UiPath solution to design and develop robots. UiPath is named a leader in Gartner’s 2020 Magic Quadrant for RPA.

When to use RPA with UiPath

RPA can be used to automate processes hitherto carried out by humans, which are time-consuming and tedious for the employee.

The greater the volume of data to be processed, the more useful it is to involve RPA. The robot can extract and prepare data (from source systems, databases, the web…), perform processing and checks based on a set of rules, create documents by incorporating the right information, or write, sort, extract email attachments, etc. The list is not exhaustive… In short, anything a human can do, a robot can do if the data is structured and does not require “human judgment”.

For example, in the banking environment, the robot helps KYC (Know your customer) processes that allow to verify the identity of a company’s customers and their compliance with current legislation, in order to detect identity theft, financial fraud etc.

Another recurring example is ERP data entry for issuing purchase orders, delivery notes, invoices and, more broadly, for managing after-sales service.

The advantages are the gain in speed of execution, the limitation of the errors of seizure, the rationalization of the business processes as well as to be able to discharge the collaborators of not very interesting tasks to carry out oneself. An employee freed from tedious tasks is a happier and more efficient employee.

Why use UiPath

Robots UiPath robots robots have excellent relationships with a wide range of platforms. They have an excellent relationship with SAP, Salesforce, AWS or Oracle, but also with office applications such as Microsoft Office. UiPath is a flexible, scalable automation platform. The customer support is responsive and excellent, according to all the reviews listed on the web. The robots work in the front and back office.

How UiPath for Business works

On the technical side, you choose the type of project you want to create. It can be a blank process, a process already created to be implemented within another process, create an assisted robot (or not if there’s no need for human control), or a hybrid robot.

Once chosen, in the development environment, we can download the missing packages if they are not present by default, so as to be able to retrieve the full “panoply” of necessary and specific activities for robot development.

The activities are inserted in “drag and drop” in the development window, for a really significant saving in lines of code. Everything is visual, such as diagrams and block nesting, which improves the overall vision of the processes.

All you have to do is to make the necessary adjustments, process and store the recovered information in variables, connect the desired databases to them, and then continue in this way until the end of the process. This can be executed or revised in debug mode.

The robots can be deployed and controlled via an Orchestrator in the browser, which allows them to be remotely controlled, to be set in “queues” and to monitor their performance and statistics in real time. A smartphone app is also available.

The different offers

UiPath offers 1 free and 3 paid enterprise packages.

• The “Community” version (free) enables you to learn how to use the platform, but the robots you create cannot be put into production.
• The new “Activities” are deployed there for testing, which makes this version less stable than an enterprise version. The Studio version is ideal for in-house POC projects.
• The “Enterprise Server” version enables UiPath to be integrated into the infrared environment, and includes the Orchestrator
• The “Enterprise Cloud” version also includes the Orchestrator

The different offers

UiPath offers 1 free and 3 paid enterprise packages.

• The “Community” version (free) enables you to learn how to use the platform, but the robots you create cannot be put into production.
• The new “Activities” are deployed there for testing, which makes this version less stable than an enterprise version. The Studio version is ideal for in-house POC projects.
• The “Enterprise Server” version enables UiPath to be integrated into the infrared environment, and includes the Orchestrator
• The “Enterprise Cloud” version also includes the Orchestrator

Benefits of UiPath

The advantages of UiPath are:

• Its speed of development
• Ergonomic design for easy handling
• Its visual design provides a quick, global view of a process Its robots can operate in assisted, unattended and hybrid modes, and can be centrally orchestrated
• The Orchestrator for monitoring, launching robots and viewing real-time statistics at any time, even on your smartphone
• An active community with an international forum – Free online training with UiPath Academy and regular online webinars to stay current – Strong customer support for the enterprise offering – This month, UiPath announces the acquisition of Cloud Elements, a pioneering API integration platform – It is now the first provider to offer both UI-based and API-based automation capabilities within a single platform

The disadvantages of UiPath

Also read in our "IT project governance" file:

• Lowcode platform: the future of application development?
• The use of UIPATH as an RPA solution
• Project comitology: the governance bodies of an IT project and their roles
• Steering and governance of a Finance IS project: which profiles should be involved?
• Steering and governance of an IT project: which profiles should be involved?
• Project governance: what role for the steering committee?
• The actors of a project team: organization, role and skills
• The IS manager at the heart of the development and evolution of systems
• HRIS Manager: what role in the evolution of HR Information Systems?
• IS project manager: what role and responsibility in an IS project?
• Functional consultant: a role close to the business processes
• Technical consultant: a profession at the heart of technological development
• Solution architect: a profession that manages development and deployment
• DevOps Consultant: role, missions and development skills
• Data Protection Officer (DPO): what roles and missions?
• CISO: a key job within the business for system security
• The service delivery manager at the heart of team management
• Scrum master, a key profession for Scrum project management
• Data scientist: a strategic profession at the service of management
• MOA / MOE: how are the roles divided on a project of implementation of an information system?