Robotic Process Automation Development Life Cycle (RDLC)


RPA is a concept with a development life cycle that consists of the organisational processes that need to be automated; the requirements to be followed are: deploying a bot and continuing to monitor it after it completes a task. The RPA process flow is approached in a segmented manner so that each stage can be carefully examined, evaluated, and enhanced to improve delivery, execution, and performance. The following six phases typically make up an implementation strategy for RPA.

Robotic process automation is known as RPA. People automatically think that when an activity is described as robotic, actual robots are involved. RPA really refers to a method of automating a real business process so that a task may be completed without the involvement of a person.

  • Robotic − Robots are machines designed to carry out human−performed jobs.

  • Process − A process is a series of tasks brought together to carry out an important action.

  • Automation − Automation is the process of carrying out operations automatically.


Determine Stage

Finding potential business processes that can be automated using robotic process automation is the first and most important stage in the creation and testing of the RPA lifecycle. Not Robotic processes allow for the automation of any process. For instance, RPA favours structured data over unstructured data, which makes up more than 70% of all business−related data. RPA is also chosen because it is better suited for a process with rules than one with judgment. Even if the exceptions to such principles have shown that AI and machine learning can be helpful to some extent. Therefore, it is crucial that business teams and RPA stakeholders jointly identify the appropriate processes that will hasten the development of RPA. 10. Robotic Process Automation Development Life Cycle (RDLC)

Analyze

Analyzing the processes that have been identified as prospective stages or processes for automation is the second step in the RPA process flow. After carefully examining the technological viability, a process architect determines the needs for such procedures. The analysis and various complexities involved in the identified processes are used to determine the degree of automation at this stage. For example, what is the time and money saved? Can this automation improve every aspect of the business process? Does the output quality really improve as a result of this automation? What kind of business value can this automation bring once it is implemented?

Design

A Process Definition Document, or PDD, is created during this stage of the RPA life cycle development. As implied by the name, this PDD outlines the phases that will make up the automated process. The automated process's potential dependencies, such as the systems it interacts with or the laws that have an influence on it, are also identified and mapped at this step. The next step is to create a flowchart or object model diagram that shows the steps in the automated process in order.

Develop

The next step in the RPA lifecycle is to construct the automation scripts and codes using the various RPA tools available in accordance with the specifications and definitions established in the design phase. The market is home to a number of RPA tools, each with a unique set of features, including Keysight's Eggplant, Blue Prism, UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Pega. Depending on the task at hand and the required level of sophistication, several tools are used. The bot is built by the RPA developer using the optimal technology for the procedure.

Test

Once the bot has been created and is ready, it is tested as part of the RPA lifecycle to see if it satisfies all the requirements and is operating as intended. Typically, the testing team in collaboration with QA performs this post−development test phase. The bot is prepared for deployment once it has passed quality assurance.

User Acceptance Tests

The RPA development team tests the created bots at this phase. These bots are evaluated in a pre−production setting to see how well users can automate particular jobs. If the testing step is successfully completed, the process moves on to the following level. Additionally, if the testing is unsuccessful, it is returned to the development phase where RPA developers look into and fix any issues they discovered during the testing process.The bots go on to the deployment step of the RPA Lifecycle once they have successfully passed testing.

Implementation

The RPA lifecycle's last stage is implementation. The bot is prepared for deployment once it has passed all of the QA testing. The integrity of each component is examined. In order to address any concerns, the development and testing phases are revisited for a potential solution. It is necessary to regularly check the bot's performance once it has been put into place to make sure it is operating smoothly and to its fullest potential

Importance of RPA Cycle

The capacity to interact with other systems via screen scraping, API integration, or any other method is the most crucial feature of an RPA system. Because they are software applications built on top of other software, bots. Every bot interacts differently with numerous systems, and any modification to those systems may have an impact on the performance of the bot. A critical phase of RPA lifecycle management is change management. Additionally, proactive change management techniques that foresee the change and address it before the bot crashes or yields unexpected results can significantly boost the bot's performance by reducing downtime and boosting ROI.

RPA's Drawbacks Include

  • Potential Job Loss − Because many tasks are automatable, there is a strong likelihood that some individuals may lose their employment. Employees in repetitive labor positions like data input are primarily impacted by this.

  • High Initial Setup Cost − Installing licenced software comes at a high cost.

  • Hiring Skilled Staff − Because RPA is a new technology, there aren't many people that have extensive expertise in RPA and its tools. According to the research, there are about 4000+ openings in India, 3000+ openings in the USA, 500+ openings in Canada, and the UK.

Updated on: 09-Dec-2022

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