This first step does more than proving how RPA can boost success. It also allows the best of organization to decide the role it should play in the implementation model, what automation partnerships it needs and which partners to choose.
At a glance, key activities include:
- Running the POC.
- Defining a RPA implementation model for the organization.
- Building an automation team.
- Selecting automation partners.
- Developing frameworks deployment, communication and governance.
Why Proof of Concept?
The point of a POC is not to confirm if RPA technology does what it claims to do. The primary POC purpose is to test business case assumptions, validate the best implementation model and assess RPA integration and technology partners. Yet confirming RPA capabilities remains the POC goal for many organizations.
Proof of Concept Confusion
This mistake typically leads to a circumstance in which POC proves little, is not actionable and often slows down RPA momentum. It proves little because a volume of solid business cases already confirms the technology works. It is not actionable because a POC validating RPA does not provide insights into how it might work within that specific organization.
Momentum is hurt because there is not an obvious next step. The POC should be designed to lay the foundation for the much more definitive Pilot step in the journey, and provide the answers and validations needed for approval to move onward to the Pilot.