Introduction
Within the automaton space, the Automation-as-a-service (AaaS) model has witnessed a boost in growth. According to Mordor Intelligence, the global AaaS market was estimated at more than $2.6 billion in 2020, with the CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) forecasted to reach 26,9% for the period of 2021-2026 due to its growing adoption among all end-user industries. This prediction about increase in AaaS adoption is impressive given the fact that enterprises have been cutting their technology spending due to the economic instability in the COVID-19 era.
One of the key reasons spurring the demand for AaaS is that businesses have realized its tangible and proven results – reduced IT spending, accelerated service delivery, quick troubleshooting among other benefits. Besides, AaaS also makes it easier for IT departments to build an Orchestrated Data Center (includes cloud and external services) to access and leverage data and provide security and compliance.
Major RPA vendors have also launched RPA-as-a-Service (RPAaaS) platforms to accelerate the adoption of RPA globally. In addition, many MSPs are offering various pricing models to cater to businesses with varying needs and help them implement RPA across their operational processes.
It is evident from the arguments above that the AaaS market will continue to thrive on Robotic Process Automation, and it will be among the top tech trends to watch in 2021. With this in mind, let us understand the major dynamics of the RPAaaS market in 2021 and beyond.
Top RPAaaS trends to watch in 2021
Trend # 1: RPAaaS is the convenient tool of choice for many businesses
RPAaaS is a cloud-first resource. It is flexible, scalable, and without any transition issues, unlike the on-premise platforms. With a shorter time to deployment and no technology lock-ins, RPAaaS emerges as a high-impact and straightforward solution for businesses looking to benefit from RPA capabilities at minimal costs. This is why many companies are considering RPAaaS as a practical option, as it does not involve hardware investment like RPA. However, not all MSPs will be able to pass on the savings on bot licenses to their clients depending on their partnership with their vendors.
We will continue to see more and more businesses adopting RPAaaS with the help of their MSPs versus the in-house implementation model.
Trend #2: Proliferation of RPAaaS
Gartner predicted a 23.1% growth in the worldwide use of public cloud services totaling $332.3 billion as compared to $270 billion in 2020. One of the main reasons for the increased usage and adoption of the cloud is the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but it will not remain the only cause in the future. On-premise RPA and RPAaaS are two ends of the RPA deployment spectrum. Compared to the on-premise RPA, RPAaaS is a cost-effective solution that is easy to deploy and offers faster ROI. Its use is not limited to big corporations now, and even SMBs are adopting it to address their operational issues. Furthermore, many MSPs are planning or have already launched RPAaaS models as more organizations are embracing SaaS.
Considering the value of RPAaaS already established – no development and deployment costs and a minimum number of employees needing to manage it– we will see more businesses leveraging RPAaaS in the future.
Trend #3: New pricing models
In the early days, companies could not fully determine how many bot licenses they would need. So, they usually bought more, and some even got one license for every automated process. Some of these bots remain unused with no tracking in place.
There is a license cost associated with every bot, and the unutilized ones will result in unnecessary spending. This can be avoided with a good RPAaaS solution; it also motivates RPAaaS providers to create various pricing models such as subscription-based pricing to serve the varying appetite of firms in different sectors. Moreover, it encourages those companies to stop thinking and start RPA implementation with small projects.
Trend#4: Quick access to RPA capability
Many RPAaaS platforms allow companies to benefit from this technology despite the lack of RPA systems. They can keep doing business as usual because their provider would invest in this technology and take care of the updates. So, the clients can enjoy RPA capabilities at minimal costs. The MSP is also responsible for risks, disaster recovery, data privacy, and enterprise-grade security.
Additionally, RPAaaS helps IT departments save time and costs when migrating from legacy systems such as SAP, Oracle, and processes to the cloud. By deploying RPAaaS, they can automate processes dependent on these legacy systems quickly.
Given the seamless automation experience offered by the RPAaaS model, we will see its increased adoption even among the most conservative players.
Trend# 5: A flexible MSP-Vendor partnership
We expect to see rapid adoption of RPAaaS just like SaaS, PaaS, and ITaaS resulting in a different MSP-Vendor partnership. A strong partnership is vital for MSPs looking to take their business to the next level and offer better service to clients.
MSPs would want to partner with a vendor when this relationship benefits them in terms of:
- Certifications to gain technical training and business advantages.
- Opportunities to raise their business profile.
- Access to the latest technology as the vendors are constantly updating their portfolios.
- Low prices for solutions so they can pass on this benefit to their clients.
The potential value of this partnership depends on how an MSP can use this relationship to benefit its customers, so it is not marketing fluff.
How MSPs can win big in the RPAaaS market
So far, we have discussed that the RPAaaS market will continue to grow at a rapid speed, driven by the demand for “practical and convenient consumption of RPA.” It means that MSPs will be looking to partner with those vendors who could help them handle specific technologies with convenience and offer clear benefits to their clients.
RPAaaS is not about just selling technology at affordable prices but a result of a successful MSP-Vendor partnership to ensure that a client can conveniently reap the benefits of RPA.
Here are the few benefits ElectroNeek offers to its partners to empower them to provide better service to their clients:
1. Free bot licenses so the MSPs can pass on the cost savings to their customers
2. Low-code/ no-code IDE, so your developer can quickly adapt the system, and build and deploy bots within a few days
3. A training program directly with ElectroNeek
4. A multi-tier partner-centric program, so you never feel pressured on prices
5. Our support to get more visibility in the MSP market
6. Access to our Online RPA Academy and Knowledge base.
The ElectroNeek Global Partnership Program is focused on enabling our MSP partners to win more work, deliver better services, and earn more revenue (no commercial licenses), and ensure that this partnership helps businesses benefit from the RPAaaS model successfully.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we've observed how RPA-as-a-Service has become mainstream in the RPA market. MSPs must plan accordingly to add advanced technology capabilities to their existing operating models to benefit from these trends and become competitive through 2021 and beyond.
It's high time for MSPs to evolve and join forces with ElectroNeek to diversify and grow their business successfully. Want to see how? Contact one of our sales representatives and see our solutions in action specifically tailored to your brand.