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Deutsch It really took off a few years ago, and its success is unbroken: robots are appearing in more and more places and fields, and more and more companies are recognising the potential of robotisation. But the field is still in its infancy, and there is still a lot to learn.
Is robotisation still more of an emerging trend than a real business strategy? What are the obstacles to the field's breakthrough? Will programming skills in this area really not be a major factor? What are the steps that cannot be avoided if one wants to achieve measurable, significant and long-term results from automation?
Among other things, we explored the above questions in a refreshingly frank and enlightening discussion at the Test Innovation Technology Ltd. (TestIT) with one of its founders and CTO, Mihály Kocsis.
IThon.info: what is worth knowing about TestIT, what are your main activities?
Mihály Kocsis: My co-founder and I established the company in 2016, driven by a shared belief that we could achieve greater efficiency compared to what we had experienced in previous environments. The necessity of manual testing and the potential within test automation are perfectly complemented by the rapidly rising field of RPA. RPA. Therefore, we were confident that there was a market for a company primarily focused on these areas. The four years since have confirmed that our assessment of the situation was accurate. Today, as a dedicated team of nearly 30 professionals, we support our clients with IT and business consulting, system design, testingand robotisation solutions
IThon.info: Some people may confuse the terms test automation and process automation, or use them synonymously. How can you describe the difference between the two?
Mihály Kocsis: Indeed, in everyday life we also encounter the confusion of the two areas. A test automation we strive to map the user's habits, all the user interactions, and ensure the expected quality of the software through pre-written, automated scripts. The RPAThe aim is to ensure that the robot-automated process runs with maximum safety, without human intervention, and without errors. The logic of the two areas is nevertheless very similar, since each of the a full mapping of processes but their function is completely different.
IThon.info: What industries are you involved in or do you have a project that you are particularly proud of?
Mihály Kocsis: Our customers are mainly domestic telecommunications, or Financial sector, but we have recently started to build a relationship with a Health with a company from the field who are developing a cancer drug optimisation app. We support them in establishing scalable IT processes so that, regardless of their growth, they can standardize client requirements. The application collects data from numerous sources about different types of cancer and the therapeutic solutions applied. Based on the impact of the gathered data, it recommends the most suitable treatment for the patient. Participating in this project is not only professionally rewarding but also provides additional drive and motivation due to its noble purpose.
IThon.info: You yourself have recently started to work on process automation: how do you see the impact of robotisation on a global level?
Mihály Kocsis: Let's look at the data! In 2018, nearly $850 million in revenue the industry, with revenues from the sale of framework software (more on this in a moment) and consulting $1.3 billion in 2019 was. The year 2020 will obviously not be as prominent, but still an increase of 12-15% is forecast, and currently projected to be $7.2 billion by 2025. These figures alone show how profitable an industry it is, with profits for essentially all stakeholders.
IThon.info: What are the trends in the industry and what will be the key technologies of the future?
Mihály Kocsis: What we expect to make a huge difference is robotisation frameworks the increasing penetration of. UiPath or Blue Prism have pioneered frameworks that greatly simplify practical implementation. They map processes to the business level, thereby you will not necessarily need deep development knowledge to automate with a robot. This means that a business analyst will also be able to perform a significant portion of the tasks using these frameworks. Naturally, developer expertise will always be essential for comprehensive robotic automation activities.
IThon.info: How should you imagine an RPA project, what are the main phases (in broad terms, of course)?
Mihály Kocsis: The process is based on robotisation strategy, which is still in its infancy, few have recognised the need for it and the importance of integrating it with business start-ups. The first step is always to assess whether the process should be automated. It may seem trivial, but it is very important that the goal should not be to eliminate a system function that is missing through automation, because that is what system development is supposed to solve. Once it has been decided that automation is indeed the solution, an all-encompassing economic calculations must be carried out. After that, you must not miss the a very thorough and detailed understanding and assessment of processes, both business and IT. At the moment, this is the step in the process that many people skip, or at least do not see as critical to its success. The development of the robot only comes afterwards, essentially a significant but often invisible part of the work is done in the previous steps. Once that's done, you need to start the business approval process, the continuous monitoring, measurements and feedback.
IThon.info: where are we in terms of RPA in Hungary? You mention that the robotisation strategy and the process management required for it are still in their infancy, what exactly does this mean?
Mihály Kocsis: In our country, robotisation is a generally fashionable, well-sounding buzzword, but many people jump into it on impulse. According to independent experts, it is true that, on average worldwide and in our country too 50% of processes could be robotised in every company. What is holding this back, both at home and globally, is quite simply that companies do not have a deep knowledge of their own processes. Where they do have flowcharts, they are either very outdated, both methodologically and in terms of process modelling tools, or often seen as a task to be completed. Until a company is bit by bit aware of its processes, it is very difficult to talk about automation. How can something we don't even know ourselves be automated, left to a robot? Having worked with BPR and BPMN in the past, it is particularly important for me to draw attention to this.
IThon.info: We often hear about the fear that robots will take away human jobs. How do you see this?
Mihály Kocsis: This is not a realistic fear at the moment, as we are still at the very beginning of process automation. Of course, this is likely to happen sooner or later in the future, but it is impossible to make any predictions. At the moment, robots are being used monotonous, nerve-wracking tasks can be triggered, which allows a company's employees to work in the focus on tasks that really create value. The robots don't sleep at night either, so they can help with many tasks that used to take people hours to start their day, but thanks to automation, the data they need is available when they start work.
IThon.info: What can companies gain the most from RPA automation?A automatizáció által?
Mihály Kocsis: Ultimately, they can gain a market advantage by Using RPA correctly and at a strategic level in addition. We are not far from it when we are clearly a company that automates the same process later than its competitors will be at a disadvantage. I myself am looking forward to a time when cost reduction will not be the driving force behind the use of RPA, but rather better market competitiveness.
IThon.info: What does what you have said mean for TestIT?
Mihály Kocsis: The already mentioned robotisation frameworks have huge potential for us too. An important objective is to launch partnerships with different vendors, as UiPath this has already happened. As a small company, we have to look at what we can offer our colleagues in comparison to what a large company can offer, and building a similar knowledge base can be an important tool. For our new employees, the a strong business and systems approach will be a key factor, as these capabilities will play a very important role in success thanks to the robotisation framework.
IThon.info: Looking back on the last four years, what are you most proud of?
Mihály Kocsis: The fact that we have developed into a stable company, a tremendous achievement, and I think it is also important to underline that we were able to maintain this during the epidemic. We have a very low turnover rate, I can think of one or two cases where a colleague left us. This means a lot in the light of the fact that our colleagues work at our clients' headquarters, spread across several teams, so it is not always easy to team unit to keep. We are paying particular attention to this, for example, we are currently mapping out who would like to have joint events, meetings, in-house events, despite the epidemic and taking into account who would like to have them.
IThon.info: In closing, what would you highlight for those who are thinking about automating processes in their company with the help of robots?
Mihály Kocsis: It is much better to look into what RPA stands for, and there is simply no getting away from the fact that "dismantle" the company in terms of processes. Many people think that the development itself, the scripting, is the most important and complicated part of RPA, but it is roughly 50% of the whole process if you have to do the process mapping, documentation and initial measurements. Before that, there are important and unmissable steps that fundamentally determine success. Anyone who is brave enough to go through all of these at this stage will have a competitive advantage.
Interested in test automationAre you keen to work on RPA projects and gain the knowledge on which to build your future? Find out more about TestIT team!
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The above interview was given to IThon.info by Mihály Kocsis, one of the owners and CTO of our company.
The original version, published here without changes, can be found at the link below:
