It's called business automation, but there are many tools for automating it. You might say, "You don't have to use that special tool for that job !?" So, I tried to classify by business type, environment, user type, etc.

1. Automation of core operations (accounting, HR, CRM, ERP, etc.)

RPA Recommendation: ☆☆☆☆☆

Don't hesitate to introduce package software for basic business operations as a non-industry company such as personnel, salary, management accounting, supply chain, cost accounting, CRM, etc., and automation of industry-specific operations. .. If your company is a startup that has just started, you may manage various things with Excel for the first year or so, but this part is for decades rather than being created by yourself. It is not comparable to the package that has been created over time. Recently, free SaaS services have come out, so it is not recommended to automate or build from scratch by yourself. With packages, you often don't need a highly knowledgeable engineer in your organization to handle the software.

By the way, there are places where RPA can play an active role when connecting these business systems to other systems and inputting data.

2. Automation of Office software alone

RPA Recommendation: ⭐⭐ ☆☆☆

When automating operations using Office software, such as reading data from a file on an Excel file and performing accounting calculations, reading data into PowerPoint or Word and outputting it neatly, the exchange of files and data is 1 If you're limited to one Office file, it's cheaper to code with the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) that comes with Office, or to use macro recording. If you have Office, you can use VBA and macros at no additional license fee. However, when using VBA, if you are coding for a very complex task, you should avoid getting stuck in the pitfall that only the person who coded can modify the automation.

When it comes to complicated work such as handling multiple Office files, it is easier to use RPA as a whole, and the quantity and quality of engineers to be deployed can be low, which improves cost performance. Even in that case, there is a way to improve the stability of operation by writing a macro for the process that fits in one Office file and calling it from RPA.

3. Web scraping alone

RPA Recommendation: ⭐ ☆☆☆☆

In the case of web scraping that extracts specific text or tables on a web page, if the complexity is as simple as extracting only one place on a page, if you have a programmer or engineer, SikuliX, Selenium, etc. are free. It is cheaper to make it with an automation tool or a programming language such as Python. If you are dealing with complex data that spans multiple pages, if you continue to use the retrieved data in other applications, or if you do not have an engineer, you may be able to do it with RPA. However, deploying RPA just for web scraping purposes can be expensive.

4. Autofill work on web forms and application forms

RPA Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ☆

When automating the input work to the form of the Web or Windows application, first try to find a way to input the equivalent by API linkage. If there is no way, you will need to recognize the UI elements and enter the values. In some cases, it can be done with free automation tools such as SikuliX, Selium, or programming languages such as Python, but it tends to be difficult to process. Also, if the screen changes frequently, the code will be rewritten frequently and the management cost will increase. In such cases, it is recommended to use RPA because it is easier to carry out. Use RPA software that makes it easy to grasp the UI elements of the target form. Please note that the input accuracy may differ depending on the RPA software depending on the type of application such as SAP or Remote Desktop.

User registration / usage confirmation
Input to business systems such as accounting, human resources, CRM, ERP (when it cannot be input by API)

5. Automation of a series of flows that connect businesses

RPA Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you want to automate a series of business flows, such as "OCR an image file, extract text, perform verification work, and enter the result in a form", it is better to use RPA software. It is recommended. RPA software is easy to show its true value and is cost-effective when connecting multiple data sets and software.

Invoicing
Expense settlement with transportation expense settlement check function
Expense payee check
Send bulk email
Monitoring and reporting system usage

6. Automation of processes that require human judgment in the middle of the business flow