Definition

A centre of excellence is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support and/or training in a focus area for the rest of the business. In automation, it means the above and more. The priorities of a COE span several areas, with different sponsors, and are expected to change over time. Nonetheless, the fundamental principles of the CoE group should be clear and consistent, as these are critical to the CoE’s continuous success and evolution.

COE group shall operate across areas within the practice or organization, with a focus on:

• Providing thought leadership and direction
• Establishing and promoting best practices
• Research and development, to provide appropriate recommendations
• Support and education

For any Centre of Excellence to be successful, they should have a set of clearly and concisely defined guiding principles that will provide its direction and focus.

I suggest these five areas for establishing and successfully evolving a CoE:

1. Process, Practice & Standardization
2. Leveraging assets, Subject Matter Experts
3. Performance Measurement using KPI’s
4. Governance & Guidance
5. Research & Development

Centre of Excellence in RPA

RPA Centre of Excellence is vital in any automation deployment to deliver scale and instil an ‘automation first’ mindset. The CoE brings together smart people and cutting-edge technology from all parts of the enterprise. What does that mean in real terms? It means creating the go-to place for employees to gain knowledge and resources on how automation can help their department. Rather than merely setting up a team and assuming success, a COE must be a place to distribute, reuse and enlighten staff to the possibilities of automation. The COE will generally have three main areas to focus on. People, Process and Technology.

Key Function areas in an RPA COE:

• Strategy
• Governance
• Pipeline Management
• Implementation and Delivery Management
• Maintain, Continuous Improvement
• Training / Upskilling