Strategic Global Outsourcing and Offshoring
biggie
Week4-RPAAIandOutsourcing1.pptxRobotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence
BNM748 Strategic Global Outsourcing and Offshoring
Dr. Aleksandre Asatiani
Learning objectives
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
Define RPA and AI in the business context.
Discuss importance of RPA and AI for outsourcing, markets and labour.
Discuss differences between types of AI
Robot fever
Source: Frey & Osborne (2013)
What is AI?
Turing test is an elegant criteria for defining a true AI
Unfortunately Turing’s AI does not exist
Current practical definition of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) – defined as a system’s ability to correctly interpret external data, to learn from such data, and to use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation.
Source: Kaplan and Haenlein (2018). Siri, Siri, in my hand: Who’s the fairest in the land? On the interpretations, illustrations, and implications of artificial intelligence. Business Horizons.
What can AI do for you?
Davenport & Kirby (2016) Just How Smart are Smart Machines. MIT Sloan Management Review
Source: Kaplan and Haenlein (2018)
Types of AI
Robotic Process Automation
There are no ‘robots’ in RPA
RPA is 100% software
“Robotic” is RPA stands for software’s ability to mimic a human
Reverse mechanical turk
Why mimic humans?
1. RPA is easy to configure and modify
Start
Entry exists?
End
End
End
Add entry
Yes
No
Yes
No
Exists in database X?
2. RPA does not interfere with existing IT
Presentation layer
Business logic layer
Data access layer
Database
RPA
Backend integrated applications
Adopted from Willcocks, Lacity & Craig 2015
3. RPA is fast to deploy
Forrester Research (2014) Building a Center of Expertise to Support Robotic Automation.
4. RPA is relatively inexpensive
Projects are short
IT environment not modified
Learning curve for employees is not steep
When to use RPA?
Swivel chair tasks
Input sources
Information systems
CRM
Registries
ERP
Criteria for RPA use
RPA vs Outsourcing
Threat of backsourcing?
High-volume, repetitive, back-office tasks outsourced to save costs and streamline processes…
Developing markets embraced RPA and AI
Q&A
Copyright*©*October*2015*Leslie*Willcocks,*Mary*Lacity*and*Andrew*Craig.*All*Rights*Reserved.!! Page!9! !
“We are not trying to replace enterprise IT, and we are not really trying to compete with BPMS.
It’s really this long tail of processes that are typically deployed by humans that are most suitable
for RPA. Humans can be redeployed to more intelligent decision-making tasks.”
Based on interviews in 12 large organizations, Forrester Research2 found that enterprises
benefit from both BPM and RPA technologies (see Table 1). It argued that RPA complements
BPM: “The trick is to put them together in the right combination to achieve your strategic goals”
(Forrester Research 2014 p. 2).
Table 1: BPM versus RPA
Adapted from Forrester Research (2014) Attribute BPM RPA
Business Goal Reengineer processes Automate existing processes Technical Outcome Create a new application Use existing applications Integration Method Access business logic layer Access the presentation layer of
existing applications Developers Software developers Business operations Testing Requirements System Testing Output verification
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Forrester Research (2014) Building a Center of Expertise to Support Robotic Automation.
Copyright*©*October*2015*Leslie*Willcocks,*Mary*Lacity*and*Andrew*Craig.*All*Rights*Reserved.!! Page!9!
!
“We are not trying to replace enterprise IT, and we are not really trying to compete with BPMS. It’s really this long tail of processes that are typically deployed by humans that are most suitable for RPA. Humans can be redeployed to more intelligent decision-making tasks.” Based on interviews in 12 large organizations, Forrester Research2 found that enterprises benefit from both BPM and RPA technologies (see Table 1). It argued that RPA complements BPM: “The trick is to put them together in the right combination to achieve your strategic goals” (Forrester Research 2014 p. 2). Table 1: BPM versus RPA
Adapted from Forrester Research (2014)
Attribute BPM RPA
Business Goal Reengineer processes Automate existing processes
Technical Outcome Create a new application Use existing applications
Integration Method Access business logic layer Access the presentation layer of
existing applications
Developers Software developers Business operations
Testing Requirements System Testing Output verification
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2
Forrester Research (2014) Building a Center of Expertise to Support Robotic Automation.
Criteria Description
High volume of transactions Task considered for RPA is performed frequently or includes high volume of sub-tasks.
Need to access multiple systems Task involves accessing multiple systems. Example: copying data from a spreadsheet to a customer registry.
Stable environment Task is executed within predefined set of IT systems that remain same every time a task is performed.
Low cognitive requirements Task does not require creativity, subjective judgment or complex interpretation skills.
Easy decomposition into unambiguous rules
Task is easy to break down into simple, straightforward, rule-based steps, with no space for ambiguity or misinterpretation. Example: Allocate all incoming invoices from Company X with value 3000€ or more to category Y.
Proneness to human error Task is prone to human specific error, not occurring to computers. Example: matching numbers across multiple columns.
Limited need for exception handling Task is highly standardized. Little or no exceptions occur while completing a task.
Clear understanding of the current manual costs Company understands current cost structure of a task and is able to estimate difference in cost and calculate return on investment (ROI) of RPA.
Criteria Description
High volume of transactions
Task considered for RPA is performed frequently or includes high volume
of sub-tasks.
Need to access multiple systems
Task involves accessing multiple systems. Example: copying data from a
spreadsheet to a customer registry.
Stable environment
Task is executed within predefined set of IT systems that remain same
every time a task is performed.
Low cognitive requirements
Task does not require creativity, subjective judgment or complex
interpretation skills.
Easy decomposition into unambiguous rules
Task is easy to break down into simple, straightforward, rule-based steps,
with no space for ambiguity or misinterpretation. Example: Allocate all
incoming invoices from Company X with value 3000€ or more to category
Y.
Proneness to human error
Task is prone to human specific error, not occurring to computers.
Example: matching numbers across multiple columns.
Limited need for exception handling
Task is highly standardized. Little or no exceptions occur while completing
a task.
Clear understanding of the current manual costs
Company understands current cost structure of a task and is able to
estimate difference in cost and calculate return on investment (ROI) of
RPA.
|
Criteria |
Description |
|
High volume of transactions |
Task considered for RPA is performed frequently or includes high volume of sub-tasks. |
|
Need to access multiple systems |
Task involves accessing multiple systems. Example: copying data from a spreadsheet to a customer registry. |
|
Stable environment |
Task is executed within predefined set of IT systems that remain same every time a task is performed. |
|
Low cognitive requirements |
Task does not require creativity, subjective judgment or complex interpretation skills. |
|
Easy decomposition into unambiguous rules |
Task is easy to break down into simple, straightforward, rule-based steps, with no space for ambiguity or misinterpretation. Example: Allocate all incoming invoices from Company X with value 3000€ or more to category Y. |
|
Proneness to human error |
Task is prone to human specific error, not occurring to computers. Example: matching numbers across multiple columns. |
|
Limited need for exception handling |
Task is highly standardized. Little or no exceptions occur while completing a task. |
|
Clear understanding of the current manual costs |
Company understands current cost structure of a task and is able to estimate difference in cost and calculate return on investment (ROI) of RPA. |
