What is RPA? | How it Works, RPA Tools & Applications | Edureka
As the world is moving forward to using variants of technologies, so has automation improved its ways to make our work easier. Though the word automation was coined in the 1950s, very few people really understood what it meant. So, in this blog on ‘What is RPA’? I will discuss what exactly is robotic process automation and its various factors.
The following are the topics covered in this blog:
- What is RPA?
- How RPA Works?
- How to Get Started with RPA?
- RPA Tools
- Comparison of RPA Tools
- Market Trend of RPA Tools
- Applications of RPA
So, let’s get started by first understanding What is RPA?
What is RPA?
The process of automating business operations with the help of robots to reduce human intervention is said to be Robotic Process Automation(RPA).
If I have to elaborate on each of these terms one by one, then
- Robots are entities that mimic human actions are called Robots.
- A process is a sequence of steps that lead to meaningful activity. For example, the process of making tea or your favorite dish, etc.
- Automation is any process that is done by a robot without human intervention.
So, when we summarize all these terms together, then mimicking human actions to perform a sequence of steps, leading to meaningful activity, without any human intervention is also known as Robotic Process Automation.
If you wish to learn further about Robotic Process Automation, then I suggest you go through this interesting video on What is RPA?
How RPA Works?
This question has always popped on whether RPA uses physical robots, or are there actual robots present to automate tasks.
Well, let me tell you that RPA does not replace humans with actual robots. But, there is software available in the market which lets you configure automation workflows to automate your business operations. According to our experts, the demand for RPA certification training is going to rise by 150% due to the lack of the skill set in the market.
Though I have mentioned that RPA is implemented through software that is nothing but RPA Tools/Vendors, let me tell you a few guidelines on how to get started with RPA, before we start discussing tools.
How To Get Started With RPA?
You need to follow the below steps, to get started with RPA:
- Step 1: Gain extensive knowledge about the history behind RPA. That is, learn all about Traditional Automation.
- Step 2: Learn about RPA and the various Applications of RPA.
- Step 3: Choose the process that you wish to automate, and retrospect the process dependencies. This is a way to make sure that your business doesn’t suffer loss while you are busy automating the task.
- Step 4: Gain extensive hands-on experience in RPA Tools, such as UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere.
Moving ahead with this article on What is RPA, let me tell you the top tools in the RPA market, which will help you automate tasks.
RPA Tools
RPA Tools/Vendors are the software through which you can configure tasks to get automated. In today’s market, there are RPA Vendors such as Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, UiPath, WorkFusion, Pega Systems, and many more. But, the leaders in the market are the trio (UiPath, Blue Prism & Automation Anywhere). Refer to the below Forester Research on RPA, to know the current ranking of various RPA Tools.
Comparison of top tools
As I mentioned before the leaders in the RPA market are UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere. These tools are the most widely used tools in the industry for various purposes. These tools have their own advantages and drawbacks.
Let us first see the market trend of these tools.
Market Trend of RPA Tools
Here, the red line here is UiPath, the blue line Blue Prism and the yellow line is Automation Anywhere. As it is evident from the graph, UiPath emerges as a winner here. Now, if you are wondering why does UiPath win the game?
Then, you can consider the following table to know the reasons behind UiPath leading the game.
FeaturesUiPathBlue PrismAutomation AnywhereIs the trial version available? Community edition/ Free edition is available to trial version available trial version is available for 30 days it user-friendly? Provides the user-friendly visual designer provides a user-friendly visual designer, easier than Automation AnywhereDevelopers friendly but requires high programming skills.PopularityMost Popular ToolMore popular than Automation AnywhereThe least popular tool in the trio
All the tools are similar in their functioning and structure. But, if you are new to automation and want to learn how to automate tasks, then UiPath offers a free edition with a drag and drop visual designer. This tool doesn’t need programming knowledge and can automate any number of tasks as you wish.
So, if you can master one tool, then this will give you a good headstart to enhance your career opportunities.
Moving ahead with this article on What is RPA, let me quickly tell you the various Applications of RPA.
Applications of RPA
Multinational companies such as Deloitte, Accenture, Capgemini, and many more, use Robotic Process Automation in their day-to-day tasks. These companies, benefit by using RPA as it provides, accurate, reliable, consistent outputs with high productivity rates. So, now let me tell you the top applications of RPA so that you know the various sectors in which RPA can be used.
As you can see in the above image RPA offers much more than testing. By using in accounting, financial service, and human resource industries, the pressure on a man is reduced, and can harness his talents in a better way. So, RPA is a technology that will make your work easy, in a reliable manner.
So, folks, with this, we come to an end to this “what is RPA” article. If you wish to check out more articles on the market’s most trending technologies like Artificial Intelligence, DevOps, Ethical Hacking, then you can refer to Edureka’s official site.
Originally published at https://www.edureka.co on March 13, 2018.
