2019 RPA Predictions (And Thank you 2018!)
I cannot believe we are almost at our Thanksgiving holiday in the USA. 2018 has zipped by for me and been a complete whirlwind of change. 2018 developed into a significant career pivot for me. After finding my feet, I have stumbled into this evolution in computing called Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and cannot be more excited for what it will bring in 2019. I started reflecting on all this change and find myself wanted to say "thank you" to three people I have never met in person, yet they all have dramatically helped me make this transition to a career in RPA .
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-brooks/ - probably owe this guy the most ;) Edward's training company, https://therpaacademy.com/, has got me up to speed with great content and certification! Plus his authentic support, humor, and excitement for RPA has inspired me along the way. Edward is now helping me open new career doors as a trainer, thanks Edward, I owe you some haggis!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianbarkin/ - as soon as I started searching for RPA topics Ian popped up. Ian’s ability to share complex topics with a straightforward delivery and inherent passion for the domain got me pumped up to continue my journey into RPA. I highly reccomend Ians fantastic RPA overview video, https://www.linkedin.com/learning/introducing-robotic-process-automation/welcome-to-the-future-of-work, and his introduction to local Symphony staff (Katrina Demulling, Kourtney Barnes) for support of our NE RPA Meetup, , has been a huge help, thank you!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-rapala-65516441/ - the world is truly a small place now and that is a good thing. Despite being located in the Czech republic, never meeting in person. Jan and the staff at NEOOPs have been incredibly supportive in sharing RPA information and ideas in 2018. I reached out to NEOOPS regarding training and it has lead to a wonderful networking relationship. The training at the time did not work out but Jan provided a a full demo, not for sales, but just to help show me what this RPA thing was all about. Pretty cool. Did not know me from Adam but was totally willing to share his passion for RPA. Thank you! I am looking forward to future conversations!
Also, a big thank you to all my close family and friends, and surprisingly local government ;), for their support, coaching, and services.
Some IMHO 2019 Predictions for RPA Market
RPA turns lead into gold! - mmmm no but the Hype Cycle will continue. RPA will truly become a common term among the majority of US businesses in 2019. Having worked in the digital marketing space for a few years I always liked seeing the yearly image come out of all the players in the market, it has now turned into a Georges Seurat like painting, . I think RPA/IA will be similar. I suspect some high profile acquisitions and mergers but also an explosion of new RPA tools and services.
“There is divinity in the clouds” - Lailah Gifty Akita And BOTS! Cloud RPA is going to significantly shake things up. The ability to leverage/lease RPA SaaS services to scale for spikes due to seasonal work (i.e. tax season) or unpredictable work and then scale down is going to change an already new world of RPA. This should open RPA up to a much wider audience (SMB) as well provide interesting economic work models.
Calling Mr. Watson - For those firms out of the RPA gate, no moss on their shoes, they are sending their bots to advanced services school and experimenting with APIs from Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. With all the leading vendors establishing relationships, it is going to be fun to experiment with extending our digital works and begin to move up the Intelligent Automation curve.
Tear down that wall! - The operational wall that is. For some RPA teams out there they are beginning to drown in their own success. Quick wins have lead to increased requests, which has lead to rapid growth, and now governance issues. Good problem to have? Maybe, but for the folks in the trenches it feels like quick sand. Change control, credential control, scheduling logistics are all operational issues we will be looking to vendors, partners, and the community to help us with in 2019.
Could I have some BPO with my RPA? - the recent announcement by Bizagi, K2, and other BPM/BPO vendors, really shows where things are headed. And I think it is pretty cool. True business process design will be built out in their layer with their own tools, provided a common framework, self documentation, and much more with key digital work integration points going out to our new RPA digital workforce.
We truly live in interesting times when we can connect at light speed and help each other succeed sight unseen!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ed Garabedian
RPA Developer & Trainer, Certified in Blue Prism
