Thoughts on the state of robotic process automation migration

Blueprint Software Systems recently published its “State of RPA Migration Report, which you can find here. Below, Blueprint President and CEO Dan Shimmerman shares his perspective on the findings.

While manufacturers are continuing to expand their robotic process automation (RPA) estates, the total cost of ownership for automation and maintenance is driving more organizations to migrate their RPA tools from expensive, complex systems to more modern, cost-effective RPA platforms. This was among the major findings of a new survey of 500 senior industry executives conducted by Blueprint Software Systems. The survey also found that RPA migrations are being motivated by demand to leverage better capabilities and features, and a need to simplify automation design and delivery so that the average business user can contribute to automation.

All of this is keeping the desire to migrate RPA platforms very much alive. Nearly 60% of survey respondents reported that they are considering, in the process of, or have already migrated their RPA estates to new RPA platforms. And as in last year’s survey, IT and finance/accounting—the traditional owners and early adopters of automation—are continuing to drive demand to migrate RPA estates to better automation platforms.

While demand for RPA migration has remained high, cost has become a major concern for many manufacturers. Despite such concerns, companies are continuing to allocate sizable budgets to adopting RPA tools. Organizations that have already migrated their RPA estates spent an average of $300,000 to do so, while companies in the process of migrating their automations to new RPA platforms expect to pay $600,000 or more to complete the switch.

Our report also reveals that companies are migrating their RPA estates in a variety of ways. Those that are considering RPA migration, as well as those that have already completed the shift, seem to be relying primarily on procuring an RPA migration solution from a third party. Companies in the process of RPA migrations, however, are more likely to plan on completing their projects manually using internal resources.  

Bottom line, RPA migration remains a significant initiative for numerous manufacturers and other organizations that have adopted automation in 2023. While resources and costs remain the biggest challenges for organizations in this regard, the emergence of automatic RPA-migration solutions are dramatically reducing the cost and effort of migration, freeing up even more workers for more mission-critical or high-value work that technology cannot easily accomplish.