RPA Service Providers vs. Intelligent Automation Services: Advantages and Disadvantages

RPA and IA are gaining more attention from various industries and companies interested in digital transformation.

According to the Intelligent Automation Network’s study, in 2021 43% of respondent companies are looking into RPA and 54% are interested in workflow automation. The biggest interest comes from three industries – IT, Finance & Accounting, and Sales & Marketing. But other industries also look for digital automation opportunities, including

• HR;
• Data and Analytics;
• Manufacturing;
• Customer Service;
• Digital Product Development;
• Supply Chain;
• Payroll.

In this article, you’ll learn about the difference between RPA and IA as well as the pros and cons of both solutions.

What is RPA?

RPA stands for robotic process automation. It refers to solutions that automate back-office tasks that were previously done by people. These are usually repetitive tasks like filling in forms, extracting data, or managing files.

RPA service providers create custom solutions for businesses to perform repetitive tasks between enterprise and productivity apps. This includes the creation of particular scripts and protocols that execute such tasks.

To put it simply, RPA solution companies develop software robots that emulate human actions according to a set procedure.

What is IA?

IA stands for Intelligent Automation. It goes beyond RPA solutions because it incorporates AI, Machine Learning, NLP, and Computer Vision. Instead of just doing tasks, it allows more complex solutions and learning and thinking of software robots.

RPA is a part of IA solutions that expand on its functionality.

Importance of Choosing a Reliable RPA service provider

If a company decides to use such advanced technologies, it is essential to look for credible robotic process automation software companies that can tackle such a project.

As it is a new and developing industry, a reliable provider needs to be knowledgeable, well-performing and experienced in this particular industry. Otherwise, they might not know all the intricacies of the workflow and back-office procedures.

When looking for RPA software companies, consider searching for the top software development companies Ukraine and checking the following factors:

• Expertise in RPA and AI;
• Successful implementation cases;
• Specific hard and soft skills;
• Portfolio and testimonials;
• Industry expertise;
• Team size (should correspond with the scope of your project).

RPA Service Providers

So what can a business expect from professional RPA development services? Let’s define the pros and cons of such cooperation.

Advantages of RPA software partners

1. Saving money and costs. RPA solutions rapidly reduce the workflow, which allows for saving money. The employees can focus on other priority tasks while robots perform manual and repetitive duties. By incorporating intelligent automation and RPA, companies can save a significant amount of money on human labor.

Also, the increase in productivity and ROI happens because human errors are eliminated.

2. Higher Productivity and Accuracy

Software robots never get tired, sick, or inconsistent in their performance. As a result, the company can perform faster, better, and cost-effectively. And valuable human talent can focus on more complex tasks.

Protocols do not need breaks and can perform tasks with consistent accuracy and precision. Elimination of human error boosts productivity and efficiency.

3. Easy Implementation and Low Maintenance

An experienced RPA service provider company can create such protocols for all repetitive and manual tasks that drag resources from the core of the business. These software robots do not require much maintenance and are easy to implement. Unless the workflow procedure is altered significantly, there is no need in updating procedures and protocols.

Almost any company hugely benefits from such transformation, whether you are in FinTech development or Healthcare. RPA ensures better performance, higher ROI, and higher customer satisfaction. It provides cost-saving, powerful resilience, as well as improved compliance. It reduces errors and enhances human labor involvement.

Disadvantages of working with RPA service providers:

1. Limited cognitive capabilities and lack of decision-making abilities. Compared to IA, RPA solutions are pretty simple and straightforward. They only perform specific tasks according to an algorithm. They do not have the capabilities to learn, think, or act differently based on the context.

2. RPA has difficulties when working with complex or unstructured data. Such robots perform outstandingly with structured data and procedures. But if the company deals with a lot of complex data, it is not an ideal solution. Working with unstructured data requires more advanced software, like IA.

IA Service Providers

Besides RPA development services, a company can opt for IA development. As it is a more advanced solution, it might take more time to develop and implement. But it also comes with extended functionality that covers more needs.

Advantages of IA service providers:

1. Cognitive and analytical capabilities

RPA and IA differ hugely in this regard. While RPA can only perform rule-based actions, IA has cognitive and analytical capabilities. This means that IA systems can learn and act based on various contexts and environments. They can work with complex and unstructured data. It can identify patterns in large data sets.

Basically, while RPA simulates human work, IA simulates human intelligence. And it incorporates RPA as well.

2. Improved decision-making and problem-solving abilities.

IA solutions offer faster processing of large and complex data sets. This ensures more informed decisions based on facts and numbers. Such solutions can interpret data and make conclusions from it, which is an advanced functionality. It can predict potential risks and errors in Supply Chain, for example, and act upon preventing them.

3. Adaptability to changing environments and data sources

Another huge advantage of IA systems is that they are flexible – they learn and develop based on the data they work with. This means that they can adapt to changing environments and circumstances. They can also adjust to various and new data sources.

IA solutions can perform in unstructured environments and improve with time and experience.

Disadvantages of AI service providers:

1. Higher cost and longer implementation timeline

Compared to RPA, IA takes much longer to develop and implement. Such solutions use AI, ML, NLP, and Computer Vision, which makes them significantly more complex. They require a larger team with specific competencies. And the implementation timeline will be longer as well.

2. Greater complexity and need for specialized expertise

Complex solutions require advanced professionals to be designed, developed, and implemented successfully. Specialized and niche expertise is harder to find, so it adds to the timeline of cooperation. And the provider has to be experienced in your particular industry, whether you are looking for an eCommerce developer or a FinTech developer in the field of IA.

RPA vs Intelligent Automation: Comparison Table

Comparison factor	RPA	IA
Capabilities	Simulates human work, and  can perform rule-based tasks (can be compared to muscles). It mimics tasks.	Simulates human intelligence and can perform in an unstructured environment (can be compared to the brain). It mimics complex business processes.
Level of automation and intelligence	It performs set tasks according to the rules and does not involve intelligence or “thinking”/”learning”.	High automation and intelligence. It can think and learn and thus adapt to new environments and data sources. It can interpret data, make decisions, and has reasoning capabilities.
Cost implications	Cost-efficient	More costly than RPA solutions
Use cases and industries	Invoice processing (Retail); Customer support (Finance, eCommerce, Healthcare); Payroll Management.	DevOps toolchain optimization (IT); Cyber Security and Incident Management (Finance, IT, Production); Intelligent chatbots for customer service (Retail, Insurance, eCommerce); automation of CIM processing (Banking); Employee onboarding (HR).

Conclusion

Digital transformation revolutionizes the way a lot of businesses operate. And it is safe to say that implementation of RPA and IA solutions will continue to grow. Also, such algorithms and systems will become more advanced and adjustable with the development of technologies behind them. 

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