Automation is transforming businesses worldwide by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving quality. Two powerful forms of automation that are revolutionizing processes are robotic process automation (RPA) and test automation. Integrating these two solutions creates a robust approach to streamlining operations and delivering exceptional products and services.
Businesses today face mounting pressure to accelerate digital transformation. To remain competitive, companies must find ways to eliminate tedious manual work, improve agility, and boost productivity. Intelligent automation delivers on these demands by applying technology to mimic human actions and complete rules-based processes quickly and consistently. RPA and test automation are leading forms of intelligent automation gaining rapid adoption. Let's examine the capabilities and value of each.
RPA utilizes software bots to automate repetitive, manual tasks. Bots can interact with any system or application through the UI to input and extract data, complete forms, update records, and more. RPA bots follow predefined business rules and processes to perform work precisely and without fatigue.
Key benefits of RPA include:
Test automation applies software tools to perform testing activities that would otherwise require significant manual effort. Key techniques include API testing, UI testing, unit testing, integration testing, and regression testing.
Advantages of test automation include:
While RPA and test automation provide value individually, combining them unlocks even greater benefits:
Together, RPA and test automation enable end-to-end process automation from initial development through ongoing enhancement. RPA bots can carry out process steps while test automation validates performance at each stage.
With RPA executing processes rapidly and test automation validating releases quickly, products and services can launch faster. Bots and automated testing compress cycle times while ensuring quality.
RPA improves process consistency while test automation provides more comprehensive validation. This combination boosts quality for products, transactions, reporting, and more.
RPA reveals process inefficiencies like bottlenecks or redundancy. Test automation provides fast feedback on process changes. Together they facilitate continuous process optimization.
With automated processes and testing, organizations can respond rapidly to shifting demands. New products, updates, and integrations can deploy quickly and reliably.
End-to-end automation minimizes the risk of errors and defects. Bots perform work consistently while automated testing validates functionality thoroughly.
Many scenarios benefit from aligning RPA and test automation. Here are some top examples:
Automating the customer onboarding process with RPA accelerates completion of application forms, data entry, documentation, underwriting checks, and account setup. Test automation validates the end-to-end process as well as releases and enhancements.
RPA bots can pull orders, process payments, select shipping, generate labels, and update inventory. Test automation helps verify correct fulfillment.
Bots can compile data, run calculations, populate reports, and distribute documents. Automated testing validates the accuracy of underlying data and results.
RPA automates employee onboarding steps like I-9 verification, benefit enrollment, system provisioning. Test automation helps confirm proper configuration of systems.
Bots can raise purchase orders, schedule deliveries, and reconcile shipments while test automation helps ensure solid integration across supply chain systems.
Maximizing the benefits of integrated automation requires key capabilities:
The RPA and test automation solutions must integrate smoothly via common architecture and data formats to enable continuous processes and testing.
Managing both automation technologies through a unified control center allows full visibility and orchestration of bots and testing.
The solutions must interface easily with diverse systems from ERPs to CRMs to custom applications to enable end-to-end process execution and validation.
RPA and testing solutions that provide codeless automation accelerate deployment and enhance accessibility for business teams without specialized skills.
Advanced RPA bots and test automation that incorporate AI and machine learning drive greater speed, accuracy, and autonomy in executing processes and tests.
Automatically discovering processes and creating bots through observation accelerates RPA deployment. Auto-documentation also enhances test creation.
Robust reporting and analytics provide insights into automation opportunities, ROI, and ongoing optimization.
Worksoft provides an integrated automation platform with advanced Robotic Process Automation RPA and testing capabilities for end-to-end process discovery, automation, and optimization.
Key elements include:
With Worksoft, organizations can rapidly realize the benefits of integrated automation, from maximized efficiency to accelerated delivery to improved quality and customer experience.
Integrating robotic process automation and test automation enables end-to-end intelligent automation that is transformative for digital speed and quality. From customer onboarding to order fulfillment and beyond, RPA and testing can streamline processes for dramatic efficiency gains, rapid delivery, and exceptional quality. To maximize success, businesses need an integrated automation platform with seamless execution between bots and testing, centralized visibility, broad connectivity, codeless automation, AI, and analytics. With the right solution, integrated RPA and test automation provide a powerful digital transformation engine.