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

147 Pages·2021·3.053 MB·English

by  Mario Smeets, Ralph Erhard, Thomas Kaußler

Mario Smeets
Ralph Erhard
Thomas Kaußler
Robotic Process
Automation (RPA) in
the Financial Sector
Technology – Implementation –
Success For Decision Makers and Users
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the
Financial Sector
Mario Smeets · Ralph Erhard · Thomas Kaußler
Robotic Process Automation
(RPA) in the Financial Sector
Technology—Implementation—Success
For Decision Makers and Users
Mario Smeets Ralph Erhard
Düsseldorf, Germany Düsseldorf, Germany
Thomas Kaußler
Düsseldorf, Germany
ISBN 978-3-658-32973-0 ISBN 978-3-658-32974-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32974-7
This book is a translation of the original German edition „Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in der
Finanzwirtschaft“ by Smeets, Mario, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH in 2019. The
translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com).
A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically
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Contents
1 Introduction ..................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction ................................................ 1
1.2 State of the Art Research ...................................... 4
References ....................................................... 5
2 Robotic Process Automation—Background and Introduction ............ 7
2.1 What is RPA— and What is Not ................................ 7
2.2 RPA from a Technical Perspective ............................... 15
2.3 Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, Time Saving, and More—The
Diverse Potentials of RPA ..................................... 20
2.4 RPA in the Context of Process Management ....................... 30
2.5 RPA in the Context of (Process) Digitisation ...................... 32
References ....................................................... 34
3 Application Areas of RPA .......................................... 37
3.1 Suitable Industries, Companies and Business Sectors ................ 37
3.2 Technical Selection Criteria for Automatable Processes .............. 40
3.3 Selection of RPA Use Cases in the Financial Sector ................. 42
References ....................................................... 45
4 RPA Market Overview and RPA Software Solutions ................... 47
4.1 The RPA Market—Hype or Long-Term Trend ..................... 47
4.2 Software Providers and Their Solutions .......................... 48
4.3 RPA Consultants and Implementation Partners ..................... 50
References ....................................................... 55
5 The Implementation of RPA ....................................... 57
5.1 Overview of the Basic Process Model—Phases .................... 61
5.2 Setting up a Suitable Project Structure ........................... 62
5.3 Selection of the Processes to be Automated ....................... 64
5.4 Selection of a Suitable RPA Solution ............................ 71
5.5 Execution of a Proof of Technique (PoT) ......................... 76
v
vi Contents
5.6 Realisation of an Upstream Process Optimisation ................... 77
5.7 (Agile) Development of Artefacts ............................... 82
5.8 Test Design, Test Execution and Artefact Acceptance ................ 84
5.9 Emergency Plans and Fallback Solutions ......................... 88
5.10 Ensuring the Long-Term Operation of the RPA Solution ............. 89
5.11 RPA Rollout ................................................ 92
References ....................................................... 97
6 Introduction of RPA Governance ................................... 99
6.1 Need for RPA Governance ..................................... 99
6.2 Contents and Steps to Establish RPA Governance .................. 101
6.3 RPA Units and Their Organisational Classification .................. 106
References ....................................................... 116
7 Success Factors of RPA Implementations ............................. 119
7.1 Overview .................................................. 119
7.2 Correct Process Selection and Preparation ........................ 120
7.3 Early Establishment of RPA Governance ......................... 121
7.4 Consideration of Regulatory and Related Framework Conditions ...... 121
7.5 Comprehensive Documentation Through Technical Concepts and
Instructions ................................................. 127
7.6 Involvement of Relevant Stakeholders ............................ 128
7.7 Building up Internal Know-How Carriers and Promoters ............. 130
7.8 Training of Employees in the Use of RPA ......................... 131
7.9 Accompanying Change Management ............................ 131
References ....................................................... 131
8 Special Case—RPA in One-Time Situations .......................... 133
8.1 Distinction from the Automation of Repetitive Processes ............. 133
8.2 Case Study: RPA as Data Migration Tool ......................... 134
9 Looking to the Future—The FurtherDevelopment of RPA Technology .... 137
9.1 Different Directions for Further Development ..................... 137
9.2 Possible Combinations with Other Software Solutions ............... 138
9.3 Further Development of RPA: Intelligent
Automation—Cognitive and Self-Learning Complete Solutions ....... 139
References ....................................................... 141
Appendix A ........................................................ 143
About the Authors
Mario Smeets is a managing director of the swedish fashion
and lifestyle brand Sanna Lindstroem, a management con-
sultant as well as the founder and former managing director
of a company for process automation. The author is Master
of Business Administration with focus on Management of
Financial Institutions and Master of Science in Economics.
Ralph Erhard is founder and partner of DCP Deutsche
Consulting Partner. His consulting focus for banks and insur-
ance companies is on strategic issues, the further develop-
ment of business models, organisational consulting, and the
implementation and support of (IT) implementations. He has
been involved in process optimisation and automation for
more than 20 years. The author is a graduate industrial engi-
neer and Master of Science with focus on industrial
engineering.
vii
viii About the Authors
Thomas Kaußler is founder and partner of DCP Deutsche
Consulting Partner and specialises in consulting in the finan-
cial services segment for banks, insurance companies, ser-
vice providers and system providers in the capital market
business. His focus is on implementation and migration pro-
jects as well as the optimisation of organisational structures
and processes including the operational implementation and
design of business models and (IT) management processes.
The author is a graduate industrial engineer.
1
Introduction
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 impor-
tant 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 ben-
efits or are simply technically not feasible.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) offers an alternative. With this software solu-
tion, 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 enjoy-
ing 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
1Companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2021 1
M. Smeets et al., Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the Financial Sector,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32974-7_1
2 1 Introduction
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 mar-
ket 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 aggre-
gated 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 ena-
bles 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 inter-
ested 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 pro-
cess management and (process) digitalisation.
Chapter 3 provides an overview of possible areas of application of RPA—across sec-
tors 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.