Workload Automation (WA) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – Case Study

Successive waves of automation technologies have left many organisations with a mixed automation portfolio. Since the functionality of automation types only overlaps marginally, if at all, they end up co-existing rather than replacing each other. In a typical enterprise the automation landscape might look like this:

In a Workload Automation(WA) context, operational platforms typically include one or more of the following:

Most organisations are now also actively exploring or rolling-out Robotic Process Automation(RPA), with the leading vendors being Automation Anywhere, UIPath and Blue Prism.

For the purposes of this study, we’ll be looking at integrating AutoSys WA with Automation Anywhere Enterprise RPA, but the same principles can be applied to most WA/RPA platform combinations, albeit with different detailed implementation.

Typically enterprises have established a WA Operations function(often a combination of human operators and AIOps software) monitoring workflows and responding to exceptions.

In parallel with this, RPA and Cognitive Automation technology is being deployed to automate key business processes, with the software robots(or digital co-workers) required to operate at specific times and dates.

It therefore makes sense to leverage an existing WA tool and its established, tried and tested Operations procedures to schedule/trigger RPA and Cognitive Automation activities.

Case Study

Here we detail the way in which AutoSys WA integration with Automation Anywhere RPA was effected on behalf of a leading Enterprise. The requirement was to use established AutoSys scheduling functionality to manage the operation of Automation Anywhere software robots.

An AutoSys job to trigger Automation Anywhere robot(s) can be included as part of job workflow or separate scheduled entity. There are two main options:

Once the target machine is ready to receive the robot execution, the robot is triggered and carries out its designated tasks. In a typical scenario the robot will be providing a value add to the workflow scheduled, providing the ability to validate and check outputs or populating processed data into web forms and systems.

In addition to any monitoring processes (checking disk space/CPU/memory available) that can be defined as part of the workload scheduled, the robot execution systematically checks during its start-up and shutdown processes that any opened windows/applications are closed to ensure a successful execution.

Upon robot completion, the scheduler to Automation Anywhere utility marks the robot session as complete and if so desired shuts down the robot machine to free up resources and reduce running costs.

This solution is shown diagrammatically below.

Summary and Conclusions

Having multiple automation technologies is pretty much a given in most enterprises, with WA and RPA two likely inclusions.

WA has been around longer as a technology, and its scheduling capabilities are well-understood, well-proven and well-trusted.

Pairing best of breed WA functionality with best of breed RPA functionality in an integrated solution therefore makes sense from a number of perspectives.

The Workload Automation to Robotic Process Automation integration solution above is an example of that diverse automation expertise.

Author

Sagar Mehta is Atgen Software Solutions Founder and a recognised expert in the field of Intelligent Automation, including Robotic Process Automation, Workload Automation, DevOps, SRE and Advanced Analytics. Sagar advocates a pragmatic approach to Automation, encouraging a policy of using ‘the best tool for the job’.

Prior to co-founding Atgen Software Solutions, Sagar worked in Senior Automation roles, architecting and delivering robust, scalable solutions for many of the world’s biggest banks and working with leading Automation vendors. He developed his first automated solution in 2006 and has continued to deliver robust, scalable and sophisticated Automation ever since.

Sagar is a regular guest speaker and panellist at Automation seminars, conferences and user group events.