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Robotic Process Automation with RPAs and/or RDAs

Last post 11:16 am February 24, 2020 by Ian Mitchell
1 reply
03:21 am February 22, 2020

Hi all!

I'm looking for some insights in developing RPAs (BluePrism as the tool) and RDAs (OpenSpan from PEGA) using scrum. At this point we're using waterfall where the business work with a Business BA to document the process in exquisite detail (a PDD with 238 pages of screen shots that cover the entire process) which is then passed to a BluePrism or PEGA developer to cut the code. High level process is:

  • PDD - Process Definition Document
  • SDD - Solution Design Document
  • Build and System Test
  • UAT
  • Release to production

I've been looking at alternative processes using Scrum but haven't found much information. I have seen a reference on the web that covered a scrum development where the business process SMEs were trained in developing the robot itself and IT provided support for access to applications and infrastructure. I assume IT also provided tool support/education for the business SMEs as they coded. The project then used a scrum approach to build the robot, sub process by sub process to a final result. An IT person also supported the team by documenting what needed to be documented to pass to the run team once the robot went into production.

My question is, is this the recommended approach to RPA/RDA development?

I can see it possibly working but re-training business SMEs to become RPA/RDA developers in large companies seems like a tall order.

I guess the other approach I suppose is to have the business SME join the team full time and somehow present/document each of the sub processes piece by piece to then allow the developers to cut the code and showcase every week or two. This sort of implies instead of developing the 238 document in one hit, the SME writes it sub-process by sub-process but still ending up at the end with the same 238 page document.

Any feedback is appreciated, whether it be references to material that presents an RPA Scrum approach or experiences from other Scrum Masters or PMs.


11:16 am February 24, 2020

Are these RPAs and RDAs products for which ownership can be demonstrated? Is someone accountable for the value they provide, and who hopes to use Scrum so this value can be maximized?


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