{"id":6570,"date":"2018-05-03T09:14:02","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T16:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-prod.qad.com\/blog\/?p=6570"},"modified":"2018-10-05T10:42:28","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T17:42:28","slug":"leveraging-robotic-process-automation-help-move-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qad.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/leveraging-robotic-process-automation-help-move-cloud","title":{"rendered":"Could Leveraging Robotic Process Automation Help Move You to the Cloud?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6572″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Cloud ERP systems<\/a> like QAD\u2019s deliver a flexible, predictable and low-risk solution that delivers easy access, rapid implementation, minimal IT burden and a host of productivity features. QAD enables companies to focus on their customers without having to spend critical resources on the maintenance and administration of their ERP system. However, despite the proven advantages and unique benefits that a <\/span>cloud-based ERP<\/span> system can deliver, some companies are still struggling to make the switch. One of the key reasons is because many companies are tied to one or more legacy applications. <\/span><\/p>\n

Abandoning legacy applications is not always an easy task and companies stick with them for various reasons. While the cost of switching is certainly a factor, most often, companies are reluctant to switch because the legacy system provides a unique strategic functionality — one that still operates effectively and is probably a key differentiator from the competition. Companies become reluctant to maintain two or more systems, which diminishes the efficiency promise of a cloud ERP system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can bridge this gap between legacy applications and cloud ERP by industry-specific functionality of legacy systems while enabling them to benefit from the latest technology and the efficiencies of operating in the cloud. <\/span><\/p>\n

What is RPA?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Think of RPA as a virtual employee that can fetch and interact with data from disparate systems just like a living person would. RPA is a platform and application agnostic that operates at the user interface level — or presentation layer — allowing an RPA bot to do anything a trained user can do. Since RPA does not operate at a program level, it does not require any code-level changes to your software systems, thereby leaving the underlying applications such as Payroll<\/a> and IT infrastructure untouched. <\/span><\/p>\n

Manual tasks that are often associated with the access and sharing of data between two separate and unrelated systems are ideal for an RPA bot. Some examples include: Logging in to the legacy applications; Generating or downloading files and reports; Inputting and sorting the downloaded data into spreadsheets; Logging in to the cloud ERP; Updating or creating account, item, customer and supplier records; Sending notifications and updating legacy systems. RPA removes the barriers of cloud ERP adoption by automating the tasks that would otherwise have to be manually performed on two or more applications. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some key features of RPA include:<\/span><\/p>\n