The Pros and Cons of In-House Versus Outsourced RPA

Posted on Posted in Robotic Process Automation

In 2016, the robotic process automation (RPA) market grew 64 percent to $200 million.in-house and outsourced RPA pros and cons

Many pilot projects successfully proved how RPA can accomplish repetitive tasks in a shorter amount of time. It saves employees too from doing the same old tasks.

The new development in business process automation promises a potential ROI of 30 to 200 percent in the first year.

With these attractive results, the RPA market may grow 70 to 90 percent by 2018.

But before you join in the trend, you’ll have to figure out first how to source RPA: inside or outside?

In-house RPA Versus Outsourced RPA

Should you train in-house or should you outsource your RPA integrator? Read on to know the pros and cons of each side and figure out what’s best for you.

What are the pros and cons of in-house RPA?

In-house automation focuses on training your own workforce. You can either buy RPA licenses straight from a vendor or build your own by having an insourced RPA development team.

Pros:
• Changes in robot applications can be done quickly and easily
• Trained in-house workforce can come up with more dynamic solutions to improve software robotics tailored for the business.
• Easier quality control
• Confidential proprietary information is protected
• Freedom from being financially tied to another company
• Quick reintegration of new tasks to robots

Cons:
• Additional financial investment for training employees
• The need for additional workers
• Adding training hours that may slow down work productivity
• Travel expenses for off-site training

What are the pros and cons of outsourcing RPA?

In outsourcing robotics, you need to find a BPO provider which can act as an integrator. BPO providers offer “business process-as-a-service” or “robots-as-a-service” arrangements.

Pros:
• Fast reaction to changes in scale of work
• Fixed cost
• More knowledgeable and experienced in the robotic technology industry
• Outside perspective on the task can bring better solutions
• Retraining own employees not needed
• Creates capacity to focus on bigger business and workforce issues
• Replaceable when needs aren’t met

Cons:
• Additional expenses in contracts and other legal matters
• Travel expenses to bring integrators in the actual site
• Extra costs in robotic setup changes

What to consider before choosing what’s right for you

There’s no such thing as the best option for all. There are factors to consider depending on the specific business you have. These include the following:

• Capacity
How complex is the process of integrating automation to your business? Do you need robotic process automation, intelligent automation, or both? Does your company have the people and technology? Are you going to build or buy the RPA solution?

• Quality
Based on your evaluation on your own or your provider’s automation software demo, which best suits your business?

• Time
How much time is needed for your company to learn and understand how RPA works? How fast do you want an automation solution to begin and bring in results?

• Cost
How much are you willing to spend for RPA?

 

And the winner?
The winner depends on your business needs and resources. If you’re willing to invest huge amounts of money and time for your own robots and technology in a niche business, then go for an in-house RPA.

But not all businesses have the resources to have their own tools and development team. In this case, staff augmentation could be a better option as it allows you to outsource to experienced and skilled RPA integrators that can do the work for your business in times you need them. In this way, you’ll never feel that your business is losing time and productivity.

If you lack the time, money, skills, and technology, and you’re not sure yet if you can risk having an all in-house software robotics; then, it’s best to outsource. Contact us today.

Send us a message

 

Or why not mix both?

While your in-house workforce goes under training, you can look for RPA staff augmentation services.

 

References:

CIO – Robotic process automation market poised for explosive growth

Deloitte – The business leader’s guide to robotic and intelligent automation

McKinsey – The next acronym you need to know about: RPA (robotic process automation)

 

Related Articles:

How to Effectively Implement RPA within your Organization

Ideyatech CEO Allan Tan goes to Intelligent Automation Summit 2017

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