RPA Projects: How long until implementation, and who is involved?

Start here, with two previous posts on the topic:

• What types of projects are good for RPA?
• When RPA projects fail, why does that happen?

OK. Now let’s talk about timelines and people

How long do these projects take to implement?

This is the million-dollar question, and the answer does vary by a host of factors, including your scope, your industry, your vertical, your goals, your existing IT team, and more.

In general, though, for a low process complexity RPA bot, you’re talking about a process of:

• Design
• Build and test
• User acceptance testing
• Go-Live

That can often be accomplished in 3-4 weeks depending on various factors.

For a medium process complexity RPA implementation, you work through the same steps as above — but the design phase itself might take 2-3 weeks, and the overall implementation could run 6-7 weeks.

For a high process complexity RPA implementation, you are usually looking at 9-11 weeks.

Again, all these numbers will vary by your specific situation, goals, and needs. We are more than happy to discuss a process you think is ripe for RPA, though, and attempt to give you the most accurate timeline possible.

Who works on the implementation?

Great question. Usually, it will work like this:

• The first tier is the “Build” tier. These people are putting RPA bots together and making sure your goals will be met. This includes:
  • Process Discovery, usually conducted by the RPA lead
  • Process Analysis, usually conducted by a mix of a Business Analyst, Subject Matter Expert, and RPA Lead
  • The development itself, led by the developer
  • User Acceptance testing, which is driven by the Business Analyst, the developer, and other units of the business that may touch the RPA bot
  • Production release, led by the developer and the business units
• The second tier is the “Control” tier, which involves the maintenance and running of the RPA bots. That includes:
  • Scheduling
  • Running
  • Monitoring
  • Maintenance
  • Dashboarding

All the control functionality comes from the provider/vendor, which ideally would be us. If you’d like to talk about bots, automation, RPA, and general digital transformation, feel free to reach out!