The Record - Issue 20: Spring 2021

59 V I EWPO I NT Why RPA is vital for business success A LY S S A PUT Z E R : ME TA F I L E I NFORMAT I ON S Y S T EMS Robotic process automation has enabled organisations to safely transition to remote working models during the pandemic, but it will be essential for future business recovery and resilience too S ince the pandemic struck, more companies than ever before have adopted some form of automation technology to ease the chal- lenges of moving to remote working. Robotic process automation (RPA) technology, for exam- ple, has allowed organisations to continue to run business operations securely, efficiently and strategically, regardless of where their employees are working. RPA and other forms of automa- tion will also be key to business recovery and the gradual return to normal operations as the world slowly moves towards the post-pandemic future. There are five key reasons for this. First, the pandemic led to a loss of revenue for many companies and implementing an RPA solution – such as MetaViewer from Metafile – can help them to identify issues with existing processes so they can recover lost revenue. In the future, organisations can also use RPA to further reconfigure and improve procedures to move forward with greater efficiency. Second, empowering accounts payable (AP) staff to work more efficiently will be critical for post-pandemic recovery. By implementing RPA, businesses can automate and streamline AP pro- cesses, which means employees will no longer need to spend time on tedious data entry or other manual processes. This allows organisations to catch up on AP projects that may have fallen by the wayside during the pandemic, while also ena- bling employees to focus on more pertinent tasks. In addition, all businesses are looking for ways to save money as they continue the recovery pro- cess and automation is vital for doing just that. It eliminates manual data entry, which means organisations can save money on printing, scan- ning, faxing, filing and mailing costs. Throughout the pandemic, RPA has been one of the best tools for allowing businesses to remain operational while employees work safely from home. It will also play an important role in help- ing organisations to transition employees back to the workplace gradually by enabling office-based staff to easily collaborate with colleagues at home. Finally, RPA can also help businesses build resilience. Unfortunately, there is no crystal ball to determine when a crisis may hit. However, with tools like RPA and Microsoft Dynamics in place, organisations can rest assured that they are set up to successfully handle future crises. Whether organisations adopted RPA before or during the pandemic, it’s clear that the technol- ogy will remain essential and continue to offer business benefits long into the future. Alyssa Putzer is the marketing communications specialist for Metafile Information Systems