Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the Financial Sector: Technology - Implementation - Success For Decision Makers and Users

By Mario Smeets, Ralph Erhard and Thomas Kaußler

Dieses Buch bringt Ihnen die Robotic Process Automation in der Finanzwirtschaft näher

In der Finanzbranche ist das Thema Prozessautomatisierung seit Jahren nicht mehr wegzudenken. Doch wie setzt man solche Veränderungen im Rahmen des Changemanagements erfolgreich und effizient um?

Das Buch „Robotic Process Automation in der Finanzwirtschaft“ zeigt es Ihnen. Im Fokus steht der recht junge RPA-Ansatz aus der Intelligent Automation. Dabei imitieren Roboter das menschliche Handeln. Die Eingabe von Befehlen erfolgt direkt über die Oberfläche. So gehören tiefgreifende Softwareveränderungen der Vergangenheit an. Im Zuge dessen klärt dieses Buch u. a. folgende Fragen bezüglich der Robotic Process Automation in der Finanzwirtschaft:

• Was ist RPA überhaupt?
• Welche Vorteile bringt diese Technologie mit sich?
• Welche Erfolgsfaktoren tragen zu einer optimalen RPA-Implementierung bei?
• Wie sieht ein mögliches RPA-Kompetenzcenter aus?
• Welche Anwendungsbereiche für RPA gibt es?

Eine Leseempfehlung für ein breites Zielpublikum

Daneben beschäftigen sich die Autoren nicht nur mit dem Ist-Zustand der Robotic Process Automation. Zudem erhalten Sie einen Ausblick auf die zukünftige Entwicklung dieser Software-Lösung. Durch den hohen Praxisbezug ist das Buch speziell für folgende Zielgruppen eine lesenswerte Empfehlung:

• Verantwortliche für die Implementierung von Prozessen oder Technologien im IT-Bereich
• RPA-Anwender und Personen, die sich dafür interessieren
• Erfahrene Experten und Praktiker, die branchenübergreifend mit RPA vertraut sind

• Language: English
• Publisher: Springer
• Release date: Jul 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9783658329747

Book preview

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2021

M. Smeets et al.Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the Financial Sectorhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32974-7_1

1. Introduction

Mario Smeets¹  , Ralph Erhard¹ and Thomas Kaußler¹

(1)

Düsseldorf, Germany

Abstract

Chapter 1 provides a first introduction to the topic of RPA in the financial sector. In addition to an overview of the contents of the book and its structure, the current state of research in the field of RPA is presented.

1.1 Introduction

Everyone knows them: Time-intensive processes that keep other often more important activities from taking place, and which are completely rule-based and follow rigid patterns; maintaining spreadsheets, transferring data from one application to another or checking system entries using long lists, mostly in financial institutions in the back office, but also in IT or controlling and accounting. Automating such activities would give employees freedom for other, more complex tasks. Often, the costs of automation by creating interfaces and (re)programming the applications exceed their possible benefits or are simply technically not feasible.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) offers an alternative. With this software solution, applications can be automated without having to intervene in program codes or create interfaces. RPA is a technology that is neither old nor new, but is currently enjoying enormous attention, especially in the financial sector. Well-known consulting firms promise a large growth of the RPA market in the coming years. According to a study by the Information Services Group (ISG), 72% of all companies¹ surveyed are already expected to use RPAs in 2019—either in live operation or at least as part of pilot projects (see Otto and Longo 2017). Other studies also quote figures of around 70% (see Ostrowicz 2017, for example). Dickgreber et al. (2018) assume that the global RPA market will be worth five billion US dollars in 2020. This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 56% since 2012—which has even been increasing continuously in recent years. The McKinsey Global Institute assigns the global financial industry an (aggregated) technical automation potential of 43% (see McKinsey Global Institute 2017). Whether this refers to specific processes or individual activities is not clear from this highly aggregated figure. Nevertheless, the core statement is clear: the financial sector has enormous potential for increasing efficiency and saving costs through automation, much of which can be leveraged with RPA.

Even though many companies in the financial sector have already recognised this potential and are beginning to use RPA, the number of companies with widespread use of the technology is still very small. According to a survey by the consulting firm Deloitte, only 3% of all companies surveyed use more than 50 RPA bots (see Watson and Wright 2017). At the same time, 63% of the companies surveyed were not able to meet the deadlines they had set themselves for RPA projects. Lamberton (2017) reports that around 30 to 50% of the RPA projects carried out by its customers fail.

There is a corresponding need for action in order to be able to implement successful RPA projects in an organisation and to exploit the potential of this technology. To do this, it is necessary to understand and classify the technology and to know its relevant areas of application. The present book provides support in this respect. In addition, it offers its readers the opportunity to find their own answer to the question of whether RPA is just hype or a promising technology for long-term success.

The book serves as a guide through a complete RPA implementation project. It enables you to carry out the (initial) RPA implementation in your own organisation. The aim is not to provide a detailed explanation of the technical background of RPA. Similarly, the focus is not on guidelines and recommendations for RPA developers. Rather, the work is intended for future or already experienced users of RPA and for anyone interested in the technology. Process and technology managers at all hierarchical levels of IT and organisational areas, as well as users and those responsible in the specialist areas—across all industries, even if the focus here is on the financial sector.

Structure

First, Chapter 2 defines the understanding of RPA used here. For this purpose, RPA is distinguished from other, partly similar technologies. This is followed by an in-depth look at the technical properties of RPA before the potential benefits of the technology are discussed in detail. Chapter 2 concludes by placing the technology in the context of process management and (process) digitalisation.

Chapter 3 provides an overview of possible areas of application of RPA—across sectors and in relation to the financial sector. From this, the (general) technical selection criteria for processes that can be automated are derived. Finally, an exemplary selection of possible concrete use cases in the financial sector is presented.

Chapter 4 deals with the RPA market. For this purpose, an overview is provided which allows a feel for the current development of the RPA market. After a brief discussion of the right choice of software providers, possible support services by RPA consultants and implementation partners are discussed in detail.

Chapter 5 explains the (project-based) procedure for implementing RPA. The focus is on topics that are relevant to the initial implementation of RPA. However, other aspects also apply to subsequent implementations. The chapter can be used as a kind of guideline for implementing RPA in your own organisation. Many of the topics outlined earlier are addressed in depth in this chapter—for example, selecting the right RPA software and suitable RPA processes.

Chapter 6 deals with RPA governance, a topic that has rarely been considered in the relevant literature to date, but which is at the same time highly relevant, especially when it comes to the long-term operation of RPA. In addition to the contents of RPA governance and the procedure for its introduction within an organisation, another thematic focus is the establishment of the so-called RPA unit—the integration of RPA into scheduled operations.

Chapter 7 summarises the most important factors for successful RPA introduction and use and supplements these with other relevant components.

Chapter 8 shows by means of a practical example how RPA can provide added value in non-recurring situations.

Chapter 9 closes the book with a look into the (near) future. Here two different directions of development are discussed: on the one hand, the manifold possibilities of combining RPA with other technologies, the second is the further development of RPA technology itself.

Contribution to Scientific Discourse

RPA is still a young technology. In addition, RPA is one of many process management tools (see Sect. 2.​4), even though it is currently receiving special attention, especially in the financial sector. As a result, the amount of scientific literature already available and the number of robust scientific studies is (still) relatively small. Although the present work is intended to support practitioners in the use of RPA, it is also a declared objective to prepare the basic outlines of a future scientific discourse. For this purpose, statements from documented scientific studies or practice reports were first evaluated and then validated by expert interviews. In addition, these expert interviews were used to develop possible future fields of research in the field of RPA by means of open questions. Appendix: Explanation of expert interviews explains the procedure in detail. The results of the expert interviews are listed at the relevant places within the book.

1.2 State of the Art Research

Scientific research on RPA has so far been limited to introductory essays explaining the technology, distinguishing it from other technologies and opening up potential applications. This is supplemented by individual case studies and expert interviews. Allweyer (2016) explains the technology in its basic features. He presents features that distinguish it from other similar technologies and provides a comprehensive explanation of the areas of application and potential benefits of RPA. In addition, he provides a first outlook—from a scientific perspective—on a highly relevant field of research, namely the impact of RPA on employees and workplaces and thus the future interaction between man and machine. Van der Aalst et al. (2018) position RPA in the environment of other automation technologies. They compare RPA in particular with Straight Through Processing (STP). The authors also open up further questions that need to be answered. These are, for example, the question of the correct process selection criteria or—here too—questions relating to the interaction between humans and machines and the allocation of responsibility for machine malfunction.

As one of the landmark case studies, Lacity and Willcocks (2016) explain the use of RPA at Telefónica O2. They address many issues relevant to the use of the technology and provide valuable initial practical experience and comparative values. They also list twelve other companies that have introduced RPA but have not carried out any concrete studies on these use cases. Willcocks et al. (2017) use another case study based on the company Xchanging to derive further practical recommendations for the use of RPA. In particular, they explain a sensible procedure for RPA implementation. Willcocks and Lacity (2016) bring together the results of their case studies, expert interviews, and other results of their research on RPA. Their focus is on research into the automation of back-office processes.

A case study based on a company operating in the German market is being conducted by Hermann et al. (2018). The focus is on the added value that RPA can offer in the controlling department of any company. Kharchenko et al. (2018) examine the influence of RPA (and other technologies) on the previous business models of call centres.

In addition to the literature published in scientific journals, there are various studies that have been carried out recently by larger consulting firms and the like. Examples are Ostrowicz (2017, 2018) or Watson and Wright (2017). From a scientific point of view, the studies are only of limited use, for example, because the methodology applied is not always explained in detail or the research design chosen lacks underlying premises. This is understandable; the studies rarely pursue the goal of scientific research. Nevertheless, they provide relevant statements for practice and starting points for further research. For this reason, their results—just like those of the other literature mentioned above—are regularly used and cited in this work.

Other sources are available in the form of guides for RPA developers or consultants (see for example Murdoch 2018). These generally do not correspond to scientific standards but are nevertheless used with the objective of a practical guide.

References

Allweyer T (2016) Robotic Process Automation—Neue Perspektiven für die Prozessautomatisierung. Fachbereich Informatik und Mikrosystemtechnik Hochschule Kaiserslautern. https://​www.​kurze-prozesse.​de/​blog/​wp-content/​uploads/​2016/​11/​Neue-Perspektiven-durch-Robotic-Process-Automation.​pdf. Accessed: 27. Dec. 2018

van der Aalst WMP, Bichler M, Heinzl A (2018) Robotic process automation. Bus Inf Syst Eng 60(4):269–272. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1007/​s12599-018-0542-4Crossref

Dickgreber F, Schneider H, Warren B, Adam R (2018) Robotic process automation. https://​crm.​arvato.​com/​en/​solutions/​crm-and-customer-services/​download/​whitepaper-robotic-process-automation-rpa-for-finance-back-office-processes.​html#download. Accessed: 20. Jan. 2019

Hermann K, Stoi R, Wolf B (2018) Robotic process automation im finance & controlling der MANN+HUMMEL Gruppe. Controlling 30(3):28–34Crossref

Kharchenko A, Kleinschmidt T, Karla J (2018) Callcenter 4.0—Wie verändern Spracherkennung, Künstliche Intelligenz und Robotic Process Automation die bisherigen Geschäftsmodelle von Callcentern. HMD 55:383–397. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1365/​s40702-018-0405-yCrossref

Lacity M, Willcocks L (2016) Robotic Process Automation at Telefónica O2. MIS Q Exec 15(1):21–35

Lamberton C (2017) Get ready for robotic process automation. https://​www.​ey.​com/​gl/​en/​industries/​financial-services/​fso-insights-get-ready-for-robotic-process-automation. Accessed: 28. Jan. 2019

McKinsey Global Institute (2017) A future that works: automation, employment, and productivity. McKinsey & Company, New York

Murdoch R (2018) Robotic process automation. Guide to building software robots, automate repetitive tasks & become an RPA Consultant. Eigenverlag

Ostrowicz S (2017) Einsatz von Robotics in der Finanzindustrie. https://​www.​horvath-partners.​com/​es/​media-center/​studien/​detail/​einsatz-von-robotics-in-der-finanzindustrie/​. Accessed: 24. Jan. 2019

Ostrowicz S (2018) Next Generation Process Automation: Integrierte Prozessautomation im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung. Ergebnisbericht Studie 2018. Horváth & Partners, Frankfurt a. M.

Otto S, Longo M (2017) ISG-Studie: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) sorgt für mehr Produktivität und nicht für Jobverluste. https://​www.​isg-one.​com/​docs/​default-source/​default-document-library/​isg-automation-index-de_​final_​form.​pdf?​sfvrsn=​15defe31_​0. Accessed: 20. Jan. 2019

Watson J, Wright D (2017) The robots are ready. Are you? https://​www.​google.​com/​url?​sa=​t&​rct=​j&​q=​&​esrc=​s&​source=​web&​cd=​1&​ved=​2ahUKEwjizofA5Mn​fAhURYlAKHWHaBqo​QFjAAegQIChAC&​url=​https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.​deloitte.​com%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2FDeloitte%2Ftr%2FDocuments%2Ftechnology%2Fdeloitte-robots-are-ready.​pdf&​usg=​AOvVaw2luiVINhzN​clPK70Ac7_​zc. Accessed: 31. Dec. 2018

Willcocks L, Lacity M (2016) Service automation. Robots and the future of work. Steve Brooks Publishing, Warwickshire

Willcocks L, Lacity M, Craig A (2017) Robotic process automation: strategic transformation lever for global business services? J Inf Technol Teach Cases 7:17–28Crossref

Footnotes

1

Companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2021

M. Smeets et al.Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the Financial Sectorhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32974-7_2

2. Robotic Process Automation—Background and Introduction

Mario Smeets¹  , Ralph Erhard¹ and Thomas Kaußler¹

(1)

Düsseldorf, Germany

Abstract

The chapter first defines the understanding of robotic process automation (RPA) used here. This is distinguished from other automation solutions and other technologies that are regularly referenced in connection with RPA. An introduction to the actual RPA technology follows. The focus here is not on a detailed IT-technological background, but on a fundamental understanding of technology for all relevant target groups. This is followed not only by a detailed discussion about the possible advantages and disadvantages of RPA, but also about the disadvantages of the technology, before finally classifying RPA in the context of process management.

2.1 What is RPA— and What is Not

Basic Definition of RPA

Before considering the technological details, the advantages and also the disadvantages of RPA, a common understanding of RPA must be established. How does it differ from similar technologies and why is RPA currently on everyoneʼs lips?

As with comparative developments, there is no clear definition of RPA in the literature. Rather, there are various definitions and descriptions of what RPA is and what it is not. For example, van der Aalst et al. (2018, p. 269) describe RPA as a collective term for tools that operate other applications on computer systems via the graphical user interface, as a human would do. Allweyer (2016) describes RPA as a software program that supports people in performing certain tasks or completely replaces them. The following definition of RPA should be applied here.

RPA is not a physical machine. Rather, RPA is installable software. The aim of this software is to support people in carrying out their activities or to relieve them of individual activities completely. It communicates with other digital systems, extracts data, manipulates it, and inserts it into other applications. RPA is suitable in its basic features for fully or partially automated handling of business and administrative processes. It is a solution that does not require any fundamental changes to the existing IT infrastructure in order to be used. It uses the user interface in the same way as a human would use it. RPA can therefore also be described as a non-invasive technology.

When we talk about an RPA bot, we refer to a single license of RPA software. Here the term bot is used instead of the alternative term robot to clarify that the software is acting independently—i.e. automatically.

The RPA solutions under consideration here do not use artificial intelligence, components of machine learning, that is, the independent generation of knowledge by a system, or similar—unless explicitly stated otherwise. The reason for this is that experience shows that most applications—at least in extensive, high-volume process automation—in the financial sector have so far been limited to such (basic) solutions.

Results of the Expert Interviews

The experts surveyed confirm that the focus of the use of RPA to date has tended to be on less complex, highly structured, and frequently occurring