RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation. The goal of RPA software is for “robots” or “bots” to take on repeatable, time-consuming, mundane tasks so people don’t have to do them. Similar to robots in manufacturing, they can be trained to do almost anything a human can do, but they aren’t very creative! An RPA bot can take over a computer’s keyboard and mouse and complete a variety of tasks you’ve instructed it to perform, just like a human would.

For example, you may train a bot to do the following:

1. Every night at midnight
2. Open our vendor’s website and log in
3. Click 10 links to download the prior day’s Excel reports
4. Move the reports SharePoint.
5. Email operations to let them know the reports are available and include a link.

We often say, if you can train an intern to perform a process, you can probably train an RPA bot to do the same process.

So what is UiPath? UiPath is a company that makes the most robust, flexible, and easy-to-use RPA software. We aren’t the only ones who think that! Gartner and Forrester compare RPA tools constantly, and UiPath has been on top for years.

UiPath “robots” can be taught to copy, paste, type, drag-and-drop, click buttons, launch/log in to applications, run reports, access/read your email, read PDF documents, and almost anything else a user does with a keyboard or mouse. 

We have seen users in accounting, HR, marketing, sales operations, engineering, legal, audit, supply chain, and operations automate processes across their departments using UiPath. With UiPath they’ve automated running reports, sending emails, moving data from PDF documents to Excel, retrieving data from portals, entering data into multiple systems, orchestrating multiple software programs that need to run in order, and hundreds of processes.  

Every industry, organization, and department has processes that can be automated. Most of the processes we automate with UiPath are processes that users hate doing. They are usually critical processes, but they must be done at inconvenient times and are mindless and repetitive, but if they aren’t done (or are done incorrectly), it can cause major problems for the business. If you’ve ever filled out the same information ten times on ten forms at the doctor’s office, it will be upsetting to learn that a bot could have taken your first set of answers and typed it into every one of their systems, and it would never “fat finger” your name, address, or SSN! 

If done correctly, UiPath/RPA are an extension of your team. They don’t require a salary, sleep, food, water, or breaks. They are also just “robots” and are only as valuable as the processes you’ve taught them to perform. Luckily, UiPath has developed a robust set of tools that streamlines training and monitoring your robot team members.