28 Mar, 2021 | Blogs
For organizations looking for ways to make IT integration projects budget-friendly and less complicated, two favorite choices emerge, API-based integrations and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) provide a great way to boost productivity and automate many business activities, but they are not as effective as RPA. The reason: setting up API integration involves a lot of documentation, coding, development, and, invariably, significant time. RPA proves to be a better option instead, since it lets the user enjoy the same benefits without investing so much time and technical resources.
RPA’s competitive advantage is from the fact that it can be implemented without the need to alter existing systems. Since RPA mimics how human interacts with systems, it is faster, user-friendly, and reliable. In other words, RPA is better than APIs since it can easily automate back-end processes without any complicated IT integrations. RPA bots are designed to interact with all types of existing software and servers, making them a preferred choice over their API-based alternatives.
To sum up, RPA is platform-agnostic, less expensive, and less dependent on IT professionals. Here’s how you can tell that your business needs RPA instead of API-based alternatives.
Read how RPA is changing the way we work.
- An API is unavailable
A traditional, IT-controlled integration requires several key components, including the availability of APIs or service calls, application source code, or native integration. On the other hand, RPA can independently run on several packaged solutions and applications. RPA is better than APIs since it doesn’t depend upon external systems, thereby making it a cost-effective solution.
- Limited Integration
There are several disparate legacy enterprise application systems that do not provide integration layers. Such systems demand the creation of APIs that are costly and time-consuming. Users also need to have a deep understanding of the system, which may not have proper support or documentation.
In contrast, RPA can easily interact with all types of servers and solutions, without any need for complex integrations. RPA bots can mimic the actions of humans interacting with the system’s UI and can be used alongside technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) to seamlessly work on any application no matter if it is based on Citrix, desktop, the web, or any other software.
- Lack of IT resources
API technology can be a game-changer for businesses undergoing digital transformation. However, it can also be a labor-intensive work for IT teams, who often lack the bandwidth to set the integrations from various services and products. This creates bottlenecks and delays in project execution. The use of APIs also makes it difficult for developers to consolidate data sets of various features across different APIs.
In comparison, RPA fairs better than APIs since it allows business users to create automation workflows without much technical know-how, thereby reducing the burden on IT teams. Users can create an automated process that can be complemented with advanced commands to finish back-end, manual operations. It not only reduces the burden on IT teams but also lowers manual labor and the total cost of the ownership.
- API Can Risk Business Continuity
The usage and integration of API are usually metered, potentially threatening business continuity. Metered APIs are also a huge ongoing expense and also require a company to often opt for API-hit allowance that they rarely use. RPA bots, on the other hand, can run 24/7 and execute endless number of processes to complete manual tasks in less time.
Learn how RPA can ensure business continuity.
- Timing Consuming
RPA is better than APIs since it is faster and easier to implement. API integrations can be complex and time-consuming and still fail to provide the desired results. RPA, in contrast, can be implemented within weeks to easily automate structured, high-volume repetitive data, and work 24/7 to complete more tasks in less time.
If you’d like to know more about RPA and how it is more cost-effective than API integrations, then contact us today!