Unfolding events this year such as the global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the rapid build out of remote workforces validate that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a game-changing technology.

This cutting edge technology is being used by companies today to not only automate repetitive processes but also to sift through huge volumes of data to identify relevant information for users. Data is the most valuable asset today, and companies are increasingly seeking ways to save time and money, boost employee productivity, improve customer experience, and maintain competitiveness all at once.

The magnitude of the current crisis has organizations around the world looking for new technologies like RPA and cognitive automation to alleviate disruptions. With more businesses integrating RPA in their back-office operations, it is essential to know how they can make sure that they are not compromising their security.

In our previous blog, we share key information related to RPA security and industry best practices. Here we’ll be discussing the impacts of RPA on data protection and management.

 

Improved Compliance

A OnePoll research survey for Scott Dodds of Ultima found that 88% of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom are considering using intelligent RPA to help them with data compliance.

The capacity of RPA to increase the accuracy of processing rules-based tasks makes it a great solution to ensure compliance by removing human error. It also ensures greater security of data and information, and can be implemented in many processes in the human resource, legal, finance, and IT department. RPA simplifies the data mapping, one of the challenges in ensuring data protection compliance, by identifying and classifying information stored in an organization. Software bots can also be programmed to automatically generate audit logs, detect breach, and send notifications to the concerned department.

 

Improved Data Quality and Accuracy

According to a Deloitte global survey of 400 companies, 90% of them adopt RPA to improve data quality and accuracy. This only goes to show how eager businesses are to automate data collection processes.

Robotic process automation tools enable integration across legacy systems, improving the security and data completeness. Frequent human inefficiencies and poor adherence disrupt the data chain which results in poor quality data. However, with an efficient RPA solution, data collection and application will have a better yield. Properly configured bots perform tasks with 100% accuracy, ensuring error-free data input.

Apart from attaining early process improvements, lowered process cycle time, cost savings, and increased throughput capacity with RPA, software robots can be used to automate data science to simulate, visualize, and recognize areas of improvement in existing processes.

 

More Consistency

In a study conducted by Forrester Consulting, 62% of respondents said RPA reduced manual errors leading to better data.  Using robotic process automation helps companies minimize the error inherent in human work, thereby consistently improving the accuracy and quality of work.

A well-designed RPA solution lowers RPA security risks associated with training employees and teaching them security practices. The automated environment of RPA helps mitigate other human-related errors in business operations, thus ensuring a less risky and consistent work with trustworthy data.

 

Addressing different data security threats is not an easy task. But with RPA, companies can significantly reduce other risks as well, by increasing compliance to business norms, by being adaptive and consistent in ensuring dependable data. To this end, RPA should be wisely implemented. This basically amounts to choosing the right RPA platform for your business.

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