The only constant in life is change. And this couldn't be truer for the IT community in Eastern Europe. Powered by a professional work ethic and the motivation to excel, the region’s IT sector is experiencing a boom of qualified specialists eager to solve the challenges of tomorrow.
RPA is one of the technologies which is gaining traction in transforming businesses by automating processes and eliminating repetitive, redundant tasks to save valuable resources. So let’s see what places Eastern Europe at an advantage in advancing RPA technology, and why more companies are choosing to invest in the region.
Location. Location. Location.
Serving as a gateway for Asia and the Middle East, Eastern Europe exists as a melting pot of different cultures, influences, and ideas. It is known for its turbulent history and dynamic social environment. The people’s fervent hope for betterment and actionable mindset have allowed the region to overcome many business challenges and rise up strong.
In the last decades, Eastern Europe transitioned from the confines of socialism towards open and accessible markets, welcoming in economic and political liberalization processes. This background knowledge is necessary for understanding the region’s present favorable economic state.
Meet the Locals
The region's ever-changing landscape makes most countries highly adaptable and creative in pioneering new ways to outperform the competition. Despite a declining population, and the region's workforce being tested on every industry level, other regions like South and Southeast Asia can't compare with what Eastern Europe can bring in quality and skill.
Innovate, Transform, Accelerate
The pandemic and its consequences are complex for everyone, and the IT industry is no exception. It received some of the milder effects during and after the Covid-19 first arrival and peak but managed to adapt as fast as few other sectors. In a matter of days, they went from office workplace to work from everywhere solutions throughout every company department. These quick decisions immediately impacted and even improved the performance, timely delivery, and overall client satisfaction for many companies.
An essential part of the outcome is based on integrating Robotic Process Automation (RPA): a licensed software tool to integrate any application via user interface to automate routine, predictable tasks using structured digital data. These products save time and eliminate human employees' need to conduct time-consuming, repetitive, and tedious tasks. Robots are means to secure business continuity for companies in times of pandemic when humans are exposed to restrictions outside of their control. Using such tools in automating routine tasks increases the company's predictability, ensuring that a certain task should and will be delivered on time and within the budget.
RPA solutions provide development environments which are usually codeless, drag-and-drop systems, so they are accessible enough that non-developers can build necessary processes. As an alternative method of making workflows manually, many tools also provide the ability to record actions performed by a human within a software tool that can translate into workflows within the RPA product. The virtual agents perform actions following these workflows both with and without human supervision or intervention.
It is common for RPA solutions to bring key business drivers as business growth and resilience and operational efficiency to new heights. RPA allows an organization to take complete control over tasks it would have once outsourced. This is ideal for peace of mind as it ensures full oversight of how your data is used and processed.
It also has the added benefits of reduced costs and scalability. The second point is particularly important as it’s what allows RPA to move from one task to the next seamlessly. Rather than having to find half a dozen different humans with overlapping skills, you can now outsource everything to one system. It also keeps your overheads lean as you can cost up your projects on an as-needed basis without having to retain staff.
You can implement RPA software in any facet of an organization where manual processes are in place but are most commonly used in finance and operations, sales, and supply chain departments.
The New Normal
The pre-Covid stats say that 8% of the businesses have started to use automation extensively (i.e., more than 50 instances), which is double the percentage from the year before.
It's 2021 now, and these solutions have become the bread and butter of many companies that seek optimization of their processes. Therefore everything that includes deploying bots into third-party applications to automate employees' tasks, both with and without human intervention, is becoming the gold standard for numerous companies.
Because of its easily noticeable financial benefits (i.e., cost reductions and productivity boosts) and the more intricate, qualitative ones like employees' increased job satisfaction, robotic process automation has become the perfect illustration of disruptive technology.
Last but not least, guidance from subject matter experts throughout the way increases the likelihood of profitable outcomes. So plan wisely and realistically, testing thoroughly, maintaining a good pace, involving all the right people in the project are some of the recommended ways to go with RPA.
A Kind Reminder
Our take-home message is that neither past failures nor the anticipation of future ones should hinder your progress towards automation gains.
It is crucial to keep your feet on the ground and acknowledge that, as is usually the case with innovative technologies, implementing RPA can be rather challenging. And yet, this sounds like nothing new for Eastern Europe.
Companies like Scalefocus in Bulgaria and others in the region are implementing and growing their work with this technology, reaching new client satisfaction levels and a reputation as brave innovators. We can honestly say that if the area had a motto, it would probably be "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and do the impossible in the meantime." So bring it on.
Scalefocus can help you build, support, and expand your business as an experienced RPA partner, guiding you throughout the entire journey. Contact us to learn how.