RABAN - a software implementation process for robotic process automation (RPA) projects

Abstract

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the next level of business process automation, provides adaptive and transformative solutions to replace timeconsuming, non-value-adding, and repetitive human tasks in a Business Process (BP).

RPA

based BP transformation projects differ from typical software development projects because RPA bots are developed on stable code. It is counterproductive to use existing software processes in RPA projects. A process template (i.e., software implementation process and metrics to track the project) is yet to be derived for RPA projects. The estimated initial RPA project failure rates are 30-50%, and the lack of a fitting implementation process is attributed as one of the key contributors to failure. We addressed this gap and derived a novel process for RPA projects named Raban and metrics to track RPA projects. Scrum was used to formulate the Raban. Focus group discussions were conducted with scrum teams and identified 80 challenges. Those analyzed in Straussian grounded theory are grouped into six categories (i.e., lack of agile mindset, inconsistency in story estimation, client management issues, lack of adherence to agile practices, scope change in requirement freeze, and lack of quantitative measurement). Prioritized 15 burning challenges were classified based on significance, and taxonomy was developed. Derived steps to estimate RPA use-cases and a framework to achieve customer satisfaction adopting design thinking practices in agile projects. Moreover, 17 software metrics and three artifacts were derived and validated in five scrum projects. Raban was derived based on the solutions identified and further fine-tuned based on the feedback from follow-up interviews with the stakeholders and two workshops conducted with the other RPA project teams. After that, 14 metrics and two artifacts were derived for Raban and validated in a RPA project. Moreover, to select the right candidate BP for RPA transformation, predictive machine learning model was developed, where the decision made as yes/no on RPA suitability. We used 16 factors and a two-class decision forest classification model to develop the model.