Just like your firm might offer different types of services there are different ways that some or all of that work may be able to be automated.
Sometimes the work you need to do will be a good fit for being fully automated and other times it may be best for partial automation.
There are two different types of automation available through a technology called Robotic Process Automation or RPA. Those types are referred to as attended and unattended.
Let’s define each and find an analogy to better understand the difference.
Attended Automation
If you need to interact with the task being done but would like help completing the task faster than attended automation is likely the best choice.
Going back to the days I spent watching infomercials as a kid I’m going to reference the slap chop here. It was a device for slicing and dicing. It automated this work, but you had to push a button and evaluate if you were happy with the results. If not, you pushed the button again. This can be thought of as an example of attended automation.
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Unattended Automation
If your task is well mapped from start to finish and can be fully automated then the best option is likely unattended automation.
The slap chop needs our interaction, but the ‘set it and forget it’ rotisserie doesn’t which makes it a better example of unattended automation. Much like the catchphrase indicates, this rotisserie was setup then left to cook your goodies. When it was done you were ready to eat.
PS. For some hilarious infomercial goodness watch more about the slap chop and the rotisserie.
Talk soon,
Sean