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Leslie Steele, Co-Founder and CEOInterImage has worked with numerous large companies and government agencies to implement effective solutions that automate core business processes. These have ranged from simple workflow solutions supporting a small group to complex enterprise business process management systems supporting 50,000+ users worldwide.
As processes evolve and morph, both gaps and duplications result. “Often in the workplace people are required to perform routine repetitive tasks. In many cases this is because the business systems are not sufficiently integrated and data is not generated and correlated in meaningful ways for users. Too often, humans are tasked with being the somewhat mindless link collecting information from multiple sources and disseminating it to the various files, spreadsheets, databases and individuals for which the data is ultimately destined,” explains Steele. Analysis shows the amount of time consumed by rote work is typically found to be staggering. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the ultra-modern technology that is revolutionizing the execution of these responsibilities. Powerfully adopted in the large financial industry it is now moving into the broader business community. Software Robots built in RPA can perform nearly any redundant task performed on a computer by a person. Additionally, Bots can be built and deployed rapidly at both low individual labor and licensing costs. Their function is easily customized to intelligently mimic the mundane, repeated tasks of a person on a computer. Any redundant task performed on a computer can be automated with a Bot, essentially providing system integrations, data migrations, data lookup, data gathering and correlation, and freeing the workforce to focus on tasks that bring greater job satisfaction and higher enterprise value. People stop having to do robotic work.
Because of its deep history in Business Process Analysis (BPA), Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR), InterImage immediately - and somewhat uniquely - recognized the importance of RPA and is leading its customers in its adoption.
RPA improves the efficiency of outcomes with a high and rapidly realized return on investment, often in weeks and months. We are helping enterprises leverage data, maintain compliance, reduce errors, and speed the execution of repetitive tasks
They are also implementing RPA internally to improve operations. “The savings in man hours and improvement in workplace satisfaction has been definable, significant and immediate,” says Steele. The company’s RPA practice area is the fastest growing sector of its business.
RPA and the Coming of AI
Quite possibly the most important benefit from RPA is data quality assurance and data repair. The successful entry into the adoption of AI in the near future will be critical for any business seeking to remain competitive and any organization seeking to remain efficient. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are inherently data centric. “The quality of data is hyper-critical to the success of any AI initiative and all large organizations have significant data integrity and standardization issues,” explains Steele. “Databases span many decades, were built in disparate environments often to support functions that no longer exist, run on incompatible systems and are, simply, a mess. RPA is uniquely capable of automating the repair and managing the elegant integration of data across systems.” Additionally, as RPA is charged with data collection/management going forward, human error is eliminated. RPA is the vital first step in any serious AI effort.
“In the private sector, companies need to remain competitive and profitable. In the public sector, Federal government agencies are constantly seeking new methods to simplify and extend the quality of human-based work and transform back-office operations into future-ready business support centers. Not only is RPA an imperative to address tight budgets, increasing workloads and the need to increase productivity, there are many compelling reasons to implement RPA now,” asserts Steele. Today, the advent and potential of RPA promises to bring speed, ease, and significant cost reductions and organizations are embracing RPA to realize those benefits. RPA drives standardization of processes and enables rapid deployment of solutions to replace routine human-intensive tasks and services. As more organizations start their journey to adopt RPA, InterImage brings in-depth knowledge and expertise to do so with a full understanding of how it affects the enterprise.
Over 20 years of Experience
Headquartered in Arlington, VA, InterImage has received awards from various councils and associations such as the Federal CIO Council, the Moxie Award finalist, Arlington County e-Council, eGov Award, and others. Washington TECHWAY Magazine listed InterImage as “the third-fastest woman-owned company” and just recently Ms. Steele was given the Patriot Award by the Department of Defense for her company’s support of Reserve and National Guard service members. These awards demonstrate the company’s integrity, dedication, and commitment to quality service and community. InterImage’s accomplishments are attributed to its philosophy and approach for a close and effective communication link between senior management and project teams.
Long an advocate and practitioner of Agile development, InterImage has tailored its Agile development processes for RPA implementations. Their business analysis and development methodologies are appraised to CMMI Level 3 standards and certified Scrum Masters lead software development teams in delivering usable functionality incrementally. These processes directly engage and coordinate the customer’s business units and CIO to identify business needs and processes, deploy solutions, stabilize the environment, and continually improve it. “A key component of our process is development of a roadmap” says Nicole DiGrazia, InterImage’s RPA Practice Lead and Director of Software Engineering. More than a tool to understand when bots will be delivered, the roadmap helps organizations understand governance and support issues surrounding implementations, and how to approach selection of processes to automate.
With years of experience in modernizing legacy systems, InterImage maintains focus on crafting cost-effective solutions. Part of that is understanding no one tool is the right answer for all automation or modernization efforts. However, InterImage finds that in most cases RPA is a component of the answer.
A UiPath Gold Partner in Delivering RPA Solutions
As an extension of the firm’s BPM practice, InterImage forged a partnership with UiPath, a leading developer of RPA platforms. The company has invested in RPA technologies and practices, and has built its own RPA/AI/ML lab and training protocol. Today, the firm has a significant number of employees certified in the UiPath platform. According to Steele, “RPA can deliver the data collection and framework to apply algorithms for the next step – artificial intelligence and machine learning – not just mimic human interaction in a very tightly defined rules-based environment.”
“A key component of our process is development of a roadmap”
As a UiPath Gold Partner, InterImage has access to the latest UiPath products and a deep understanding of RPA best practices enabling them to test concepts internally in its Lab before proposing or delivering solutions to customers. InterImage is a contract holder on major Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC), which attests to the breadth and depth of the firm’s capabilities and performance in delivering enterprise solutions. By combining its systems development and business process engineering expertise, InterImage is helping organizations implement RPA and deploy automated solutions. “RPA improves the efficiency of outcomes with a high and rapidly realized return on investment, often in weeks and months. We are helping enterprises leverage data, maintain compliance, reduce errors, and speed the execution of repetitive tasks,” states Steele.
The Next Big Wave in Automation
With RPA as the underlying foundation for Intelligent Automation, InterImage intends to stay at the forefront of the space by incorporating AI and ML into RPA as part of their portfolio of solutions and continually expand its RPA customer base. “We see Intelligent Automation as the next big wave and plan to incorporate technologies like AI, ML, natural language processing, and more along with RPA in the future,” concludes Steele.
January 31, 2020
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