The importance of implementing a center of excellence to reduce the operational risks and inefficiencies of an uncontrolled structure
Process automation has dramatically changed the way companies work. The main trend in the world in this regard is the robotization of processes, known as RPA (Robotic Process Automation), which consists of the creation of scripts that simulate human activities carried out in daily business on a routine basis.
This practice has great market support because of the benefits provided by the gain in operational efficiency, considering that the deployment of robots is an agile process, which makes it possible to reduce personnel costs. In addition, it can still generate quality gains, since compared to humans, it is less susceptible to errors in repetitive processes.
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Why does the increase in automation efficiency go through RPA?
However, because it is a relatively new approach for organizations, the use of RPA generally occurs initially without well-defined processes that guarantee the mitigation of errors and risks in the construction and operation of these automations.
The importance of Governance
Following the purpose of automations, the absence of a control structure makes this process more agile and less bureaucratic. On the other hand, the lack of well-structured governance in the expansion and use of these automations poses major operational risks.
As robots are highly flexible and applicable in diverse contexts, many organizations encourage the development of new automations in any business area. For this reason, there is a tendency to think that RPA does not need significant involvement from the information technology (IT) team and this can be a big trap.
The robots created can access corporate systems and the lack of governance can cause problems that directly affect the company's operation, such as the fall of a critical application. As a real example, in a large company in the banking sector, a robot that captured information on an internal portal was shared by some areas in order to gain the group's efficiency. The simultaneous use of automation meant that several transactions were executed in a short period of time, overwhelming the portal and, subsequently, interrupting general access to the system.
To avoid such risks, automation programs require centralized control and robust governance. Without this, they can become a series of disordered projects, directing robots to suboptimal tasks, with overlapping solutions and using different development patterns and technology, which makes scalability and control difficult. In addition, it poses information security risks and can pollute corporate systems with electronic waste, since the robot performs tasks in batches. If there are any problems, this can only be noticed at the end of the process.
Implementing governance through a Center of Excellence (CoE)
One way to implement centralized automation management is through a center of excellence, known as the CoE (Center of Excellence). This area must ensure that best practices are implemented with the development of reusable solutions and that the use of robots does not pose any risk to the organization. The CoE organization can be divided into 3 types:
The CoE's responsibilities vary depending on the established governance model, but some of the most common activities are listed below:
- Leverage the theme within the company, training and raising awareness among teams
- Evaluate both the critical nature and the quality of the solutions developed, ensuring adherence to good practices
- Monitor the operation of the robots and ensure execution SLAs
- Monitor and report the main stages of the development process
- Ensure the execution of established governance processes
- Ensure continuous improvement of processes and tools
Other important aspects to note
1) Encouraging monitoring
Robust monitoring and a security policy are essential to ensure that none of the tools and infrastructure involved in the development of robots are harmed and they do not violate company policies. It is important to emphasize that, in order for this quality and critical assessment not to become a bottleneck and discourage the areas to use it, it must be scaled up well and its benefits must be shared with the company.
It is essential that all automation that interfaces with business systems, subject to falls due to the volume of accesses, must undergo a validation process in relation to the times and the expected volume of its execution.
2) Sharing good practices
In order to ensure improved knowledge management and the dissemination of best practices, the CoE must promote content sharing initiatives. One of the most effective ways is through code libraries, which drive new developments, reducing rework. In this process, the CoE must not act solely as quality assurance of the codes. It is also responsible for monitoring the development of RPA projects, advising them so that there is no more than one automation performing similar tasks. With a structured and accompanied flow, the replication of qualified content increases business efficiency without posing risks to the operation.
Conclusion
The development of RPAs can be carried out in a centralized, decentralized, or hybrid manner. Regardless of the model chosen, it is of paramount importance that there is well-defined governance over the development and operation of robots, in order to guarantee their quality, minimize operational risks and avoid rework. The challenge lies in balancing adequate governance with process agility. However, by properly sizing the responsible area (IT or another defined one) creating policies to support development in business areas, it is possible to arrive at the ideal system.
About the authors
Vinicius Rodrigues is a Visagio consultant, a specialist in process engineering, analytics, budget management, supply chain and operations projects in the retail, consumer goods, health, mining and banking sectors.
Djalma Cunha is a Visagio consultant, a specialist in logistics, supply chain and operations projects, process reengineering and data analysis, having worked in the retail, banking and mining sectors.
Monique Reznik is a Visagio consultant with experience in process optimization, CSC, budgeting, optimization, logistics and analytics projects in the retail, banking and real estate sectors.
