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Blueprint for IPA project setup

The Reply IPA implementation approach consists of five phases, combining agile development with classical project management procedures

Integrate different approaches for a successful implementation


According to our experience the key for a successful project is to integrate different approaches, considering different perspectives (Business, IT, People etc.) from the very beginning of an IPA project.

Following our unique Reply project approach, we integrate approaches from IPA implementation (RPA and AI) with business transformation consulting and change management activities ensuring a holistic course of action when implementing IPA into your company setting.

The Reply IPA implementation approach

The approach consists of the following five phases, combining agile development with classical project management procedures.

1. Think

A dedicated phase for analyzing (THINK) is a key factor for a successful IPA project. The goal is to clarify the project conditions and to gain a holistic picture and deep understanding of the current situation on the organizational level as well as within the different business areas. This ensures that all necessary factors and interdependencies between areas are considered in the following project phases.

2. Plan

The PLAN-phase is about further developing and steering the results from the first project THINK-phase. A detailed stakeholder analysis serves as a basis for the set-up of the project governance framework and the final team structure. By conducting scoping and requirement workshops, the high-level project plan and project scope defined in the previous phase is broken down into a detailed roadmap including milestones and dependencies between activities. During this phase, another key task is the development of the company-specific change vision & change story that are used as the basis for target group specific communication activities, covered by the communication plan/roadmap.

3. Build

The Build phase is the development phase of use case. The first use case needs to be taken into different parts. RPA development and development of specific AI frameworks can be paralleled in two agile teams. Our recommendation for the Development phase is to organize this in agile sprint teams and apply agile frameworks.

4. Deploy

The Deploy phase is in a lot of cases the phase, where a project which includes AI does not move into production. Here you apply the go live criteria already defined in your Plan phase. If your outcome of the build phase is finalized, results need to be presented to the core team and stakeholders first. Afterwards the project outcome can be presented cross functional and across the whole company, to share knowledge and best practice.

Continuous improvement
Learnings of the project need to be summarized and the think, plan and build phase should be adapted accordingly.

5. Evolve

To successfully end the first IPA project, the evolve phase needs to hand over the first project into a line organization. Reviewing the first draft of the structure after the first project is essential to adapt the structure according to the learnings.

Reply's expertise

Reply is able to deploy experts from various fields in a targeted manner and have the expertise and experience to combine their services in an integrated and customer tailored project approach.

Thanks to our wide expertise in different technologies and industries, we are able to work out the best automation solutions for your company.