Backend application change monitoring

[FélixGranados]

Hi all,

I would like to start a discussion about one thing that I guess most of us (if not everybody) suffers from time to time. Sometimes robot execution terminates because the backend application where the robots tries to execute the process (SAP, web application...) has changed and then we need to recalibrate the robot again.

The position we have in general about this issues is just reactive, we wait until the application change, the robot crash and then we fix it but I would like to have a more proactive approach. The options I see are the next:

1) Speak with IT and other stakeholders so we are informed about future changes: In few cases is an option but, in general, simply there are too many changes to use this option broadly 
2) To use a "monitoring robot" that test the applications before the the real robots are executed. Is an option but maybe too manual
3) To use a commercial tool design for this feature: This would be great but I´m not aware of any exiting tool

So what I would like to ask is, how do you face this situation? Do you use any of the previous options? any other option?

Best regards,
Félix

------------------------------
Félix Granados
------------------------------

[John__Carter]

Hi Felix - this has always been a problem with no easy answer. Your point (1) is critical - the business is benefiting from RPA, so the risk/impact/cost of change needs to be understood, acknowledged and mitigated. Getting people to appreciate what application updates could mean to the business is a big first step, then a joint mitigation plan can be devised. On the one hand business applications have to be kept up to date, but this could mean additional time and effort to retrain the digital workers.

Knowing when updates are coming is a big help, and if IT can provide an pre-release in a sandbox environment, then the RPA team can investigate the impact of the update, and given enough time, make any changes necessary. Alternatively, maybe the digital workforce could be (temporarily) excluded from application updates in order to give the RPA team time to accommodate the updates.

However, for 3rd party applications this advanced warning is probably not possible, and the only option is to try to detect changes that have already been made. Perhaps a test process could be scheduled to check that the application integration is still working and report any problems. This is unlikely to require constant monitoring as in (2) and maybe once a week is sufficient, and perhaps at night or at the weekend.

If a 3rd party app is known to change often, then this needs to included in the analysis of a potential RPA project. If business requirements demand an aggressive SLA or a low tolerance for downtime, then maybe the anticipated effort to maintain an automation for this app makes the project unsuitable for RPA.

Here at BP we are giving this difficult problem some thought, and wondering if in the future digital workers could have the ability to automatically adapt to change.

------------------------------
John Carter
Professional Services
Blue Prism
------------------------------

[FélixGranados]

Hi John,

Thanks for your comments. I think that thru coordination with Business and IT will be able to detect in advance big changes (so far we are doing...sometimes) but minor changes that happens in the backend hundred of times per day are not going to be detect before they happen.

Being frankly the only option I see (until the robots are able to adapt themselves) is to use technology, either another robot or commercial monitoring tools. Are you aware are of any of these solutions being implemented?

Thanks,
Félix

------------------------------
Félix Granados
------------------------------

[PritamPoojari]

Hi

If the UI is changing that frequently maybe worth considering if you can integrate using API or backend systems, if that option exists.

------------------------------
Pritam Poojari
Solution Architect
Capgemini
Europe/London
------------------------------

[FélixGranados]

Hi Pritam,

Thanks to reply. When I mention so huge number of changes is related with the full IT landscape where we have deployed our robots (no just one application). So the question is how do you deal with all the changes that happens in the backend. Do you have a reactive position or you are able to be more proactive?

Best regards,

Felix

Enviado desde dispositivo móvil 

AVISO LEGAL:
Este correo electrónico contiene información privada y confidencial y está dirigido únicamente a su destinatario. Si usted no es el destinatario original de este mensaje y por este medio pudo acceder a dicha información, por favor, elimine el mensaje. Sin perjuicio de lo establecido en la legislación vigente, cualquier divulgación o uso del mismo o de su contenido para fines distintos de aquellos para los que Repsol ha permitido su acceso, está terminantemente prohibido. Esta comunicación es solo para propósitos de información y no debería ser considerada como una declaración oficial de Repsol. La transmisión del correo electrónico no garantiza que sea seguro o esté libre de error. Por consiguiente, no manifestamos que esta información sea completa o precisa. Toda información está sujeta a alterarse sin previo aviso.

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT:
This email contains information which is private and confidential and it is addressed only to its recipient. If you are not the original recipient of this message and by this means you could access this information, please delete it. Without prejudice to provisions of current legislation, any disclosure or use of this email or its contents for purposes other than those for which Repsol allowed access, is strictly prohibited. This communication is for information purposes only and should not be regarded as an official statement from Repsol. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. Therefore, we do not claim that this information is complete or accurate and it should not be relied upon as such. All information is subject to change without notice.

[PritamPoojari]

Hi Felix

I understand what you mean now.
In terms of proactive , like John mentioned our clients handle it by communicating with different dev teams, and testing against test versions of those systems. 
It also depends on how the automation has been built, where in it can handle changes minor changes. 
Unfortunately there is no silver bullet and sometimes we do have to react to changes and respond accordingly.




------------------------------
Pritam Poojari
Solution Architect
Capgemini
Europe/London
------------------------------

[John__Carter]

Hi Felix - to me, 'minor changes...hundred of times per day'  suggests that the environment is not really suitable for RPA. At present digital workers are not flexible enough to deal with such a level of disruption and are at their best in a stable and predictable environment. The drive towards intelligent RPA will improve things but robots are a long way from being as adaptable as humans.

My advice would be to try to minimise change imposed on the digital workforce, rather than try to cope with it.

------------------------------
John Carter
Professional Services
Blue Prism
------------------------------

[FélixGranados]

Hi John,

At the end, so many minor changes is what we may have in complex IT environment with hundreds of applications and we should deal with that (of course not all the applications change every day and some applications change more than others so the key is not to put in places robots in applications that change a lot or even that are going to suffer big changes in the next months) .What I was wondering is if somehow synthetic monitoring or even application performance management tools would may help us here but maybe the technical solution is to create a robot to do that kind of monitoring.

Thanks a lot for your help. I will keep the thread open few days more in order to see if there is any other comment but I guess the answer is clear: communication with stakeholders in order to prevent or at least detect in advance changes (business and IT mainly), implement robots only over the most stable applications and finally (and this is my opinion) to do synthetic monitoring with the help of a robot checking the applications where you have robots that either are critical or not run not frequently.

Thanks,

Félix

	Félix Granados Sanandrés HUB RPA
(   917532476 * fgranadoss@repsol.com

AVISO LEGAL:
Este correo electrónico contiene información privada y confidencial y está dirigido únicamente a su destinatario. Si usted no es el destinatario original de este mensaje y por este medio pudo acceder a dicha información, por favor, elimine el mensaje. Sin perjuicio de lo establecido en la legislación vigente, cualquier divulgación o uso del mismo o de su contenido para fines distintos de aquellos para los que Repsol ha permitido su acceso, está terminantemente prohibido. Esta comunicación es solo para propósitos de información y no debería ser considerada como una declaración oficial de Repsol. La transmisión del correo electrónico no garantiza que sea seguro o esté libre de error. Por consiguiente, no manifestamos que esta información sea completa o precisa. Toda información está sujeta a alterarse sin previo aviso.

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT:
This email contains information which is private and confidential and it is addressed only to its recipient. If you are not the original recipient of this message and by this means you could access this information, please delete it. Without prejudice to provisions of current legislation, any disclosure or use of this email or its contents for purposes other than those for which Repsol allowed access, is strictly prohibited. This communication is for information purposes only and should not be regarded as an official statement from Repsol. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. Therefore, we do not claim that this information is complete or accurate and it should not be relied upon as such. All information is subject to change without notice.

[John__Carter]

Hi Felix - please keep us updated on your progress via this thread. I think you are right, and that a combination of the 3 approaches is required - awareness and coordination with the business and application owners, stabilising and controlling the RPA environment as much as possible, and proactively monitoring for application changes. Sometimes the monitoring can be a simple as checking the version number of the application - as minimum that can tell you to make further checks.

Lastly, you may be aware that BP has a Spanish entity now and they may be able to help you directly.

------------------------------
John Carter
Professional Services
Blue Prism
------------------------------

[FélixGranados]

Hi John,

Of course I know José Manuel and Carlos. I discussed briefly this situation with them and they are looking for more information but I wanted to know also the experience from other customers or experts.

Thanks,

Felix

Enviado desde dispositivo móvil 

AVISO LEGAL:
Este correo electrónico contiene información privada y confidencial y está dirigido únicamente a su destinatario. Si usted no es el destinatario original de este mensaje y por este medio pudo acceder a dicha información, por favor, elimine el mensaje. Sin perjuicio de lo establecido en la legislación vigente, cualquier divulgación o uso del mismo o de su contenido para fines distintos de aquellos para los que Repsol ha permitido su acceso, está terminantemente prohibido. Esta comunicación es solo para propósitos de información y no debería ser considerada como una declaración oficial de Repsol. La transmisión del correo electrónico no garantiza que sea seguro o esté libre de error. Por consiguiente, no manifestamos que esta información sea completa o precisa. Toda información está sujeta a alterarse sin previo aviso.

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT:
This email contains information which is private and confidential and it is addressed only to its recipient. If you are not the original recipient of this message and by this means you could access this information, please delete it. Without prejudice to provisions of current legislation, any disclosure or use of this email or its contents for purposes other than those for which Repsol allowed access, is strictly prohibited. This communication is for information purposes only and should not be regarded as an official statement from Repsol. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. Therefore, we do not claim that this information is complete or accurate and it should not be relied upon as such. All information is subject to change without notice.