Learning from Experience: A Guide to an

Efficient Virtual Workforce in Capital Markets

Robotics Process Automation
(RPA) and virtual workforces are
frequently discussed trends in
capital markets—but only a few
organizations have gone as far
as implementation. There are a
number of challenges when it
comes to large scale adoptions
of RPA. But when these are
overcome, RPA can deliver major
cost, control and speed benefits.

2
Tapping into the full power of a virtual What sets Robotic Process
workforce requires organizations to set
up infrastructure that maximizes benefits
Automation apart
and complies with data restrictions, educates RPA is getting plenty of airtime, but many capital
markets businesses do not fully appreciate how this
employees to embrace the technology and new technology differs from legacy alternatives, such
embeds RPA within the company culture. as Desktop Automation (DA) (see Figure 1).
In this way, firms can look forward to In general, RPA offers an unparalleled level of enterprise
industrialized implementations with an ease scalability, control and management information reporting.
To maximize the technology’s potential, firms need to
and speed of delivery that is unique to RPA.
have in place the appropriate technical infrastructure
for their chosen RPA product. That involves setting up
Investment in virtual workforces puts businesses
the software on a centralized server rather than user
at the forefront of innovation. Looking ahead, desktops, and assigning a login to a virtual worker to
new technologies, such as artificial intelligence run the automation independently 24/7. That way, the
process is not dependent on a user being present.
(AI), will be used to further grow and develop
these virtual workforces into autonomous, Setting up this infrastructure requires up-front investment,
a long-term strategic view, and a strong grasp of the
automated solutions. differences between RPA and DA. For example, a limited
understanding of these requirements can lead internal
stakeholders to think their organization is ready for RPA
when it is not. That, in turn, has a direct impact on delivery,
set-up and benefits realized—consequences that are
magnified by inconsistent communication within a firm.

Figure 1: Automation spectrum

DESKTOP ROBOTIC PROCESS ARTIFICIAL DIGITAL

AUTOMATION AUTOMATION INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANTS

• Basic “arms” • Virtual “workers” • Cognitive “brains” • Smart “hybrids”

• Manual operator • Scheduled engine • Consists of multiple • Computer-generated
initiates a sequence mimics execution of technologies that enable character that simulates
of automated steps manual user’s repetitive computers to sense, a conversation to answer
activities without requiring perceive, understand, questions or queries,
intervention or assistance learn, reason and infer and provide guidance

Source: Accenture Research

3
Why silos are not the answer Reduced business benefit
Organizations can reap the full benefit of RPA when they
Some investment banks operate their business areas as silos
use it consistently, at scale, and as part of a culture of
with minimal cross-departmental collaboration. Separate
continuous improvement and automation. That, however,
departmental budget processes, organizational politics and
becomes increasingly difficult when there are multiple tools
the RPA “arms race” often reinforce this siloed way of working.
and teams involved.
Firms that lack consistent strategies, tools, standards and
One solution is a centralized RPA factory or center of
processes across the organization face two key problems
excellence that provides RPA implementation services
when it comes to RPA:
and support to all internal departments (see Figure 2).
Centralization helps ensure that:
Duplication
If two departments choose different tools for similar • Consistent standards are set and enforced.
purposes, an organization has to deal with two
• Methods are defined and followed.
sets of license agreements, implementation teams,
methodologies, templates, change management • The organization’s RPA strategy and goals are achieved.
procedures and more. It’s a huge waste of financial
and human resources that is entirely avoidable. • Duplication is minimized and efficiency is maximized.

Figure 2: Centralized center of excellence

PROJECT A Operating Model PROJECT D

Governance

Training

Tool/Vendor Management PROJECT E

PROJECT B
Methods and Standards

Training

Infrastructure
PROJECT C PROJECT F

Source: Accenture Research

4
Why policy must come first Why FTEs aren’t just a number
Bringing an innovative technology, such as RPA, into an One of the main selling points of a virtual workforce
organization is not always straightforward. In some cases, is the opportunity to increase automation and
it may require changes to company policy—changes that potentially replace human resources with lower-cost
must be initiated early, would be subject to approval robots. Defining the business case at the outset and
and should be formally communicated to stakeholders. revisiting it at each project phase are important steps
Automated solutions inevitably raise many questions, to ensure that the anticipated benefits are delivered.
such as these two:
The massive focus on efficiency and straight-through
How will the robot log in to applications processing in recent years has streamlined capital markets
organizations. Therefore, there are cases where one
through the user interface? resource performs many processes throughout a day,
Robots within RPA represent a virtual worker. They and automating one of those processes will not produce
must be assigned their own credentials so that they substantial cost savings for the organization.
can act independently of human users. A robot account
can help firms standardize robot profiles across the Take the settlements function, for example. One resource
business and create a true virtual workforce where may spend the morning clearing the settlement pre-
robots move seamlessly from one process to another matching exceptions queues and the afternoon investigating
around the clock. Using credentials to turn robots into failed trades. In this scenario, two processes would
virtual workers is a new idea for many organizations, need to be automated to realize any resource savings.
and may necessitate a policy shift or system change. Organizations also need to consider who will be monitoring
the automation for any exceptions. Will the original
Who is liable for the robot’s actions? resource or a central team of controllers be responsible?
The post-implementation operating model for the
Most, if not all, business processes will still have a human organization should then be factored into the business case.
owner who is accountable for that process, especially given
the new drive for senior manager regimes from global For an RPA implementation to have maximum impact,
regulators. As for traditional system implementations, firms should not only analyze processes for RPA suitability,
business owners are responsible for reviewing automation but also map current resource use and forecast future
testing and implementation, and confirming that the resource use in a virtual workforce situation. Only then
process meets their requirements and the firm’s information can a firm be confident that any planned process
technology (IT) policies. Additional stakeholder sign-offs, automation will produce the intended cost savings.
including legal and IT, may be required to move a process
into production, but business leads will ultimately be
responsible for their processes—in the same way they
would be with a human team. A policy change or
new governance measure may be necessary to ensure
appropriate accountability within the organization.

5
How education leads to dedication At present, and due to the current economic conditions
in which they operate, many investment banks are
A successful RPA implementation requires sustained announcing FTE reductions across the board. Firms can use
sponsorship from the business and IT throughout the RPA to do this in a controlled way, so long as they hold
deployment lifecycle. C-suite sponsors must formally on to enough SMEs to support implementation first.
communicate their vision for a virtual workforce to all
levels of the organization. Realizing such a vision requires Information technology teams
buy-in from stakeholders across the business (see Figure 3). Caution in the face of change is natural, but educating all
The following two examples highlight the importance of relevant parties at the outset of an RPA engagement can help
stakeholder engagement. mitigate reservations. While RPA is usually business-driven,
IT will need to play a central role to ensure that technology
Business process SMEs is selected correctly and integrated appropriately, and that
Commitment and input from team members who are any potential concerns across IT teams are addressed early
currently performing the process are critical for successful on. That includes application owners and those involved
automation. The time required for a robotics implementation in IT infrastructure, risk, security, audit and architecture.
can be significant, especially for complex processes. Clear
IT teams are often apprehensive about new technology
expectations must be set regarding the time required
implementations that will interact with their systems
from SMEs at the outset of an automation project.
and may impact planned system changes. Early interaction
Business-as-usual processes tend to take priority over and ongoing governance can serve to educate relevant
change implementations within organizations, so SMEs parties, resolve any questions and foster a sense of
can find themselves in a catch-22 position on where to inclusion. Failure to take these steps may result in
dedicate their time. Organizations should be prepared unnecessary friction down the line.
to reassign day-to-day activities to free up key SMEs,
and have ready a post-implementation plan that outlines
future roles and responsibilities.

Figure 3: RPA stakeholder matrix

COO
PROCESS SME
BPO PARTNERS

RISK

LEGAL PROCESS EXCELLENCE

IT ARCHITECTURE

HUMAN RESOURCES

IT RISK BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE

COMPLIANCE
PROJECT MANAGER

IT DEPARTMENT LEAD

SUB-PROCESS LEAD

CIO IT SUPPORT
PROCESS AREA LEAD
FINANCE
BUSINESS AREA LEAD

IT APPLICATION OWNER
BUSINESS
IT STRATEGY

CEO
BUSINESS CHANGE
OPERATIONS
CTO IT SECURITY
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE LEAD BUSINESS AUDIT

IT INFRASTRUCTURE IT AUDIT
INNOVATION TEAM
Source: Accenture Research
6
Why data restrictions matter How regulation affects the
When analyzing processes for automation opportunities, virtual workforce
maintaining awareness of the data being processed is
essential. Particularly in capital markets, certain processes The capital markets industry has encountered a wave of
are subject to data confidentiality restrictions. When regulation over the past decade. Many firms have been
tax operations are based in locations such as Zurich forced to change existing processes and IT systems,
or Luxembourg, for example, sensitive client data is and establish control points, to become compliant and
used to create tax documentation. The automation of avoid huge fines. For example, reconciliation processes
processes will require implementation teams to access between business functions, including the front office and
this data and associated applications. Understanding operations, are critical to prove completeness and accuracy.
the process scope and corresponding data restrictions Regulators routinely perform checks to ensure banks are
at the outset is critical for estimating architecture and in control. These processes are also highly suitable for
resource costs, and building an accurate business case. automation through RPA.

In this environment, organizations need to understand

Technical architecture where and how their control points are impacted by
An organization’s technical architecture and set-up will automation. That may require applying the necessary
depend on the RPA tool chosen. Data restrictions can testing, operating model or control rigor to ensure that
be an issue for enterprise-wide tools with centralized risk, compliance and regulatory requirements are met
servers that are used across locations and business during implementation and ongoing production support.
areas. Separate architectures may be required for
locations with data restrictions, which would increase Since many organizations are still early in their RPA
infrastructure costs for the RPA implementation. adoptions, they have yet to leverage metrics. But metric
dashboards—those within RPA tools or those that span
Resource management multiple automation systems, such as optical character
recognition (OCR) and AI products—can provide visibility
Many organizations favor automation teams in offshore regarding automation performance, highlight areas for
locations to reduce delivery costs and maximize the improvement and assist in the prioritization of issues
business case. When designing, building and supporting across critical processes. Circulating these metrics to
an automated solution, access to data from the underlying management via a robust governance process will help
process is essential. If remote access to applications or embed RPA into the organization and reassure skeptical
data cannot be granted by the business, offshore resources stakeholders that RPA—coupled with a culture of
may need to travel to these locations or higher-cost continuous improvement—can increase control, improve
local resources may need to be used, thus impacting efficiency and reduce risk within the organization.
project costs.

7
What the next generation of
workforce virtualization looks like
As the concept of virtual workers gains traction, and interest
grows across capital markets organizations, RPA is starting
to define the future structure of firms. Many organizations
have focused on using enterprise ready RPA tools to
enable virtual workforces and realize business benefits.
RPA vendors are now competing intensely and investing
heavily, continually expanding their product features to
include advanced reporting, analytics and OCR engines.

Additional functionality and increased automation will likely

come with the integration of other complementary products
in the workforce virtualization space, including speech
recognition, natural-language processing and cognitive
analytics tools. These emerging technologies will drastically
increase the capabilities of virtual workers and the range
of processes they are able to perform.

First-movers have already started to realize the benefits

of a virtual workforce. That leaves the vast majority of
organizations to decide whether they will invest the time
and effort required to implement RPA effectively, or risk
being left behind.

8
Contacts About Accenture
Rachel Astley Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
Senior Manager, Accenture Capital Markets providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
[email protected] consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining
unmatched experience and specialized skills across more
A senior manager within Accenture’s Capital Markets practice
than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned
in the UK, Rachel Astley has 12 years of experience working
by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at
on large scale transformation programs. She has been
the intersection of business and technology to help clients
leading a major Robotics Process Automation engagement
improve their performance and create sustainable value
at a T1 investment bank, driving out RPA best practices
for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people
and enabling the client to realize strong business benefits.
serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
Dominic Stanyer innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.
Visit us at www.accenture.com.
Managing Director, Accenture Capital Markets
[email protected] Disclaimer
Dominic Stanyer is a managing director and Accenture’s UKI This report has been prepared by and is distributed by
Capital Markets practice lead. He heads the global Capital Accenture. This document is for information purposes. No
Markets Workforce Virtualisation offering, working closely part of this document may be reproduced in any manner
with the Accenture experts across technology, operations without the written permission of Accenture. While we take
and our industry groups. Dominic joined the business in 2003 precautions to ensure that the source and the information we
and has a wealth of experience combining business change base our judgments on is reliable, we do not represent that
with technology architecture and delivery at our investment this information is accurate or complete and it should not
banking clients. Dominic has a PhD in Computer Science and be relied upon as such. It is provided with the understanding
prior to joining Accenture, he worked as a technical design that Accenture is not acting in a fiduciary capacity. Opinions
authority on a number of large scale technology projects. expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

David Treat
Managing Director, Accenture Capital Markets
[email protected]
Dave Treat is a managing director and the global head of
Accenture’s Capital Markets Blockchain practice. He has
18 years of experience in financial services split between
consulting and industry roles, with the last decade being
focused on capital markets. Dave has expertise in running
strategy functions, innovation, strategic cost management,
large-scale restructuring, customer relationship management,
M&A, outsourcing and offshoring and process excellence.

Additional contributors include:

Sanket Shah, Shyam Radia, Isaac Robertson-Jonas
and Oliver Wright.

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