Newly Appointed Data Architect

[DeviousDi]

Hiya!

Well, we have just started out RPA journey, and I have accepted the post as Data Architect. I've been an MI Analyst for way too many years to mention, and my OCD, as I like to called it, others call it a skill!, is my attention to detail, so the DA is the best for me!

We have gone with Thoughtonomy / Blue Prism, and currently have our first Virtual Worker, up and running, and carrying out automation's for us.

Does anyone have any tips or trick they could offer me? Although Thoughtonomy is a great company, in regards to procedures, checking / monitoring data, keeping track of information, they don't really cover that area.

Like I said, this is totally new to us, and any help would be appreciated! I have googled, but it just brings back RPA packages!

Should anyone be in the process of starting out, and need any info, I will happily share my thoughts, and become RPA buddies!

Thanks All

Di

 

[anisjolly]

Hi Di

Welcome to the forum and congrats on having your first automation up and running! Without going into too much detail, the best advice I can give you is to make sure you've considered just a few ideas such as the following:

- Coding Standards for your automations
- Documentation - make sure your PDDs (Process Definition Documents) are easy to read and that your developers create relevant SDDs (Solution Design Documents) to support their development
- Data Rentention - Always check to see how long you need to retain data within your Thoughtonomy / Blue Prism environment. Housekeeping is a good thing. However, as you've only got one automation currently running, this shouldn't be a big issue just yet. Something to consider going forward.
- Permissions - Development / Testing and Production environment should have different permissions; i.e. no one should be able to edit processes in a Test or Production environment. All editing capabilities should only exist in Development. Some may agree with this and some may disagree. It all depends on how you see your environment working and the policies which are in place in your organisation.

There so much to consider, a lot of best practice for sure, most of which follow a dedicated RPA methodology and some ideas are taken from other methodologies. It all depends on whatever fits your organisation's vision.

I personally prefer to stick with Blue Prism methodology as it's been developed strictly with RPA in mind. Might be worth giving Thoughtonomy a nudge to see if they have / can share some methodology goodness with you