Will My RPA Robot Get Blocked? No, if used responsibly.
RPA (robot process automation) has been around for 20 years, are used by public companies, and present little risk of being blocked by your vendors.
The Process Definition Document (PDD): a tool to help you document your process and automate it.
Describe the Process
Once a process has been identified as a good candidate to be automated, it is time to
- document it in detail and
- video record it in detail.
This documentation will then serve as the basis for implementing the software robot that will take over and handle the process in the future.
During this requirements gathering phase, the business unit needs to get familiar with the current process and the business domain in which it is executed. This often means sitting next to the user when the process is run, asking all relevant questions, and exploring all possible cases.
The result of this analysis phase is collected in a document and video called Process definition document (PDD), which is then shared with all the relevant people involved, approved, and signed off.
Download our template for your process definition documents
We are happy to share our process definition document (PDD) template for you to use freely in your next Process Automation.
The process definition document template includes indications about how you should fill the various sections. Remember to delete the explanation text.
Contents of the process definition document
What should a process definition document achieve? A good PDD document should provide clear answers to the following questions:
- What is the process used for, and what is its end goal?
- What are the steps involved in the process? Are there any decision points?
- Who is in charge of the process?
- By whom and how often is the process executed?
- What are the systems involved in the process?
- Does the user need special authorization or roles to run the process?
- What are the possible problems and exceptions that can happen during the procedure? How does the user handle those?
(Depending on your organization size, not all the sections will be needed.)
Here is an example of a completed Process Definition Document. This example can you help you think about how to create your own PDD.
Good luck!
Rich Handler
CEO, AR Proactive