blue prism · 2017. 9. 1. · blue prism's robotic automation software enables business...

For more information please contact:

[email protected] | UK: +44 (0) 870 879 3000 | US: +1 888 7577476

www.blueprism.com

Blue Prism

ROBOTIC OPERATING MODEL OVERVIEW

Commercial in Confidence ®Blue Prism is a registered trademark of Blue Prism Limited of 13

Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1. The Blue Prism Automation Program .......................................................................................................... 3

1.2. Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model .......................................................................................................... 3

2. Process Management ........................................................................................................................................... 5

3. Delivery Management ........................................................................................................................................... 6

4. Operational Support ............................................................................................................................................. 7

4.1. Deployment Control .................................................................................................................................... 7

4.2. BAU Support ............................................................................................................................................... 8

4.3. Operational Contingency ............................................................................................................................ 8

5. Technical Infrastructure, Security and Governance .............................................................................................. 9

5.1. Technical Infrastructure .............................................................................................................................. 9

5.2. Security ..................................................................................................................................................... 10

5.3. Governance ............................................................................................................................................... 11

6. Implementing the Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model .................................................................................... 13

The information contained in this document is the proprietary and confidential information of Blue Prism Limited and should not be

disclosed to a third party without the written consent of an authorised Blue Prism representative. No part of this document may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying without the written

permission of Blue Prism Limited

© Blue Prism Limited, 2001 - 2017

All trademarks are hereby acknowledged and are used to the benefit of their respective owners.

Blue Prism is not responsible for the content of external websites referenced by this document.

Blue Prism Limited, Centrix House, Crow Lane East, Newton-le-Willows, WA12 9UY, United Kingdom

Registered in England: Reg. No. 4260035. Tel: +44 870 879 3000. Web: www.blueprism.com


1. Introduction

1.1. The Blue Prism Automation Program A Blue Prism Automation Program is a rolling program of work driven by the Operational teams which rapidly

delivers ongoing business value through the identification and automation of manual processes within an IT

approved environment.

The Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model provides a structured and controlled environment within which the

deliverables are developed and tested by resources working under the Operations team structure.

The Robotic Operating Model has been designed to integrate fully with our customer’s incumbent change

management systems thereby removing the need for additional procedural and governance obligations.

Robotic Automation refers to process automations where computer software drives existing enterprise application

software in the same way that a user does. This means that unlike traditional application software, Robotic

Automation is a tool or platform that operates and orchestrates other application software through the existing

application's user interface and in this sense is not "integrated".

Blue Prism's Robotic Automation software enables business operations to be agile and cost-effective through rapid

automation of manual, rules-based, back office administrative processes, reducing cost and improving accuracy by

creating a "virtual workforce".

The virtual workforce is built by the operational teams or accredited Blue Prism partners using our robotic

automation technology to rapidly build and deploy automations through leveraging the presentation layer of

existing enterprise applications. The automations are configured and managed within an IT-governed operating

model which has been iteratively developed through numerous large scale and complex deployments.

1.2. Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model The Robotic Operating Model comprises of an initial task of assigning roles and responsibilities to all tasks across the

automation programme, along with the following key elements:

Process Management – how changes are initiated, prioritised, approved and scheduled.

Delivery Management - the structure controlling the definition, design, development and test of individual processes.

Operational Support - the procedures which govern how process changes are physically deployed into the operational environment in a safe and resilient manner, the resources and skills required to manage the day to day running of processes in the operational environment and the measures in place to ensure business continuity.

Technical Infrastructure, Security and Governance – the provision and management of a structured and scalable technical environment for process delivery in accordance with corporate security policy.


The relationship between these key elements of the Robotic Operating Model is illustrated below.

An overview of each of these elements is provided below, detailed documentation and supporting templates exist

for all sections outlined below.


2. Process Management The Process Management Policy comprises the policies and procedures required to create a continuous pipeline of

work into the Automation Program in a structured and controlled way. The key areas to consider when defining the

Process Management policy are:

Defining the Process Management Policy – The policy should cover:

o The method for identifying, analysing and scoring candidate processes for automation and effectively communicating the scoring outcomes.

o The method for scheduling planned automations once scored and prioritised. This includes timescales, communicating intentions to relevant parties, method and/or procedures for project initiation, etc.

o The templates / documents to be used including responsibilities for completion and sign off.

Defining the Process Change Control Policy – The policy should cover:

o The method for initiating and managing change requests to existing processes, generated through operational demand.


Defining the System Change Control Policy – The policy should cover:

o The method for initiating and managing change requests to existing processes, generated through host system changes.



3. Delivery Management The Blue Prism Process Delivery Methodology is a proven means of delivering the benefits of an Automation

Program (rapid, low cost change driven by the Operational teams), whilst maintaining a full level of governance

under the Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model.

It outlines the delivery concepts required to enable:

Detailed process analysis and solution design

Full involvement and leadership from Operational teams in the design and requirements specification

A Design Authority in place to review and sign off solution designs before the configuration of the automation build work begins

Rapid configuration of reusable components and processes

Ongoing incremental testing of the reusable components even before the full business processes are developed

Efficient translation of the business requirement into a working process

Comprehensive Verification and Acceptance Test periods

Controlled release of process benefits at the earliest opportunity T

The key areas to consider when defining the Delivery Management policy are:

Defining the Process Delivery Methodology. The Methodology should cover:

o Definition of the individual project phases from project start up through to UAT, including the gateways between each phase and the entry and exit criteria for each gateway.


Defining the Test Approach. The Test Approach is a key component of the Delivery Management policy. Key considerations are:

o Definition of the key test phases from including the gateways between each phase and the entry and exit criteria for each gateway.

o For each phase, the Blue Prism Environment to be used.

o For each phase, whether live or test versions of the in-scope applications are to be used.

o For each phase, whether live or test data is to be used.

o For each phase, who is responsible for the production of test scripts?

o For each phase, who is responsible for test execution?

o For each phase, who is responsible for test case sign off?

o For each phase, the templates / documents to be used including responsibilities for completion and sign off.


4. Operational Support The Operational Support Policy comprises of the policies and procedures required to maintain a stable operational

environment that delivers operational benefits within agreed SLA’s. Operational Support is focussed around the

following areas:

Deployment Control

BAU Support

Operational Contingency

The following diagram illustrates the Operational Support model

4.1. Deployment Control The Deployment Control policy describes the procedures for transitioning process changes through the technical

environments that support the Automation Program (e.g. Acceptance test environment / production environment

etc.) including the templates / documents to be used and the responsibilities for completion and sign off of same.

This includes the safe and controlled deployment of new processes as well as planned and unplanned changes to

existing processes.

The Deployment Control policy exists to:

Ensure continued security and protect against malicious activity

Schedule deployment in line with key dependencies

Ensure appropriate review and approval


4.2. BAU Support The Blue Prism product provides comprehensive Management Information on process performance and system

availability and exception as well as sophisticated Exception Handling functionality.

Resource from the appropriate team will be required to monitor and manage the Blue Prism outputs to ensure all

information is quickly and effectively disseminated to the relevant party.

Support agreements will be established with all suppliers to provide a model for maximum system availability and

effective case management.

Blue Prism also recommends that processes running in the operational environment are subject to periodic

maintenance checks. This will ensure the process is kept up to date with the latest business process and system

requirements thereby maximising the business benefits.

4.3. Operational Contingency

The Operational Contingency Plan outlines how the organisation will respond in the event of critical failure in the

production environment.

Where a process was previously performed by people and those people have changed role (meaning they are no

longer available to perform this function during a system outage), it may be considered important to have an

alternative means of executing that same process. This is particularly relevant for those processes which are

subject to a tight SLA’s

It is essential in such instances to have an emergency backup production environment. The Operational

Contingency Plan will define the procedures and responsibility for invoking contingency, test frequency the

creation/specification of the contingency environment.

The Operation Contingency Plan should also contain process-specific instructions for each automated process in

the production environment.


5. Technical Infrastructure, Security and Governance Technical Infrastructure, Security and Governance comprises of the policies and procedures required to ensure

that a structured and scalable technical environment exists to support current and future operational requirements

along with ensuring adherence to all corporate security policies.

Technical Infrastructure, Security and Governance are focussed around the following areas which are discussed in

more detail below.

Technical Infrastructure

Security

Database Administration

5.1. Technical Infrastructure Technical Infrastructure definition and planning ensures that sufficient hardware and software resources exist to

deliver the Automation Program in its entirety. Technical Infrastructure planning considers the future delivery

requirements of the Automation Program and plans the required technical environment. Hardware and software

requirements will need to be continually assessed as new processes may require additional Blue Prism licenses,

target system software, third party licences, extra runtime production hardware etc. The lead time for these

components needs to be factored into the delivery plans.

The key steps in building a Blue Prism Technical Infrastructure are as follows:

Request Blue Prism Release – A Blue Prism Release will be requested by the Blue Prism team and is typically provided to the customer in the form a URL to a Blue Prism download area. The download area contains all the Blue Prism software required for the automation programme along with installation instructions to enable the client to perform the installations.

Request Blue Prism Licence – To enable the Blue Prism software to function a Blue Prism Licence is required. The licence will be requested by the Blue Prism team and provided to the client in the form of a file to be installed using the Blue Prism product.

Produce High Level Design - This step will document, at a high level, the design of the technical environment. Key considerations are:

o The number of Blue Prism Environments required (e.g. Development, UAT, Production, and Disaster Recovery (DR)).

o The applications required in each environment.

o The version (i.e. Test or Live) of each application in each environment.

o The data to be used in each environment for each application (i.e. test or live).

o Network folder access in each environment.

o The number of servers, databases, robot pc’s etc. required for each environment.

Produce Detailed Design - Once the High Level Design has been agreed, a detailed design can be produced.

o Build Development Environment

o Build UAT Environment

o Build Production Environment

o Build DR Environment


5.2. Security Security of the Blue Prism implementation is a key part of the operating model. Every Automation Program must be

governed by a security policy, complemented by appropriate procedures that have been agreed by all relevant

parties.

Access to target systems will already have security control built around them. The security policy which will govern

the Blue Prism application, its database and access to the customer’s target systems will allow Blue Prism to be

operated in a secure and controlled environment.

Key considerations in defining a security policy are:

Define Blue Prism Access Model – Blue Prism supports two methods of authentication, namely ‘Blue Prism user authentication’ and ‘Active Directory authentication’ (or ‘single sign on’). The type of authentication to be used is set when the database is created and cannot be changed on existing databases. Integral to this is the definition and setup of the user privileges across each of the Blue Prism environments.

Define Blue Prism Access Support procedures - Procedures should be in place to define how a Blue Prism user is added, amended or removed. Consideration should also be given to the expiry term of new Blue Prism accounts and, where Blue Prism user authentication is being used, the expiry term of the password along with any other password rules (e.g. minimum length, compulsory characters etc.)

Define Target System Access Model – Blue Prism accesses target systems much as a human user would and as such requires its own user names and passwords. Therefore consideration should be given to the following:

o What ‘user id’s’ will the robots use for each application?

o How many robot ‘user id’s’ are required for each application?

o How will passwords be created, stored and managed for each application?

o Which areas of the network will robots have access to?

Define Target System Access Support procedures – Once the Target System Access Model has been defined, the support of this model needs to be defined. Consideration should be given to the following:

o Who will be responsible for creating, amending or deleting robot accounts?

o How will IT Helpdesks manage robot account queries?

Windows Access Model – These sections refers to how the Resource PCs will log on to Windows and access the LAN.

o What credentials will be used?

o What privileges will be assigned?

o Will Login Agent be used?

o When and how will the passwords be changed?

o What Resources will the access credentials be granted access?

o What will the credential management policy be if Blue Prism’s Login Agent is used?

Windows Access Support – The creation and modifying of Windows credentials will need to be carefully governed and in the event of lock out, expiry etc. a procedure will need to be in place to quickly re-enable access.


Environment Access Model - This section of the security policy relates to the security of the Blue Prism environments, ensuring that the environments in which the Blue Prism solution and the systems it accesses runs in are secure. Consideration should be given to the following:

o Who will have access to the Blue Prism databases and servers in each environment?

o Who will have access to the Resource PC’s in each environment?

o How will this be audited?

Environment Access Support Procedures – Once the Environment Access Model has been defined, the support of this model needs to be defined. Consideration should be given to the following:

o What are the procedures to be followed when supporting the Blue Prism Servers, Database and Resource PC’s?

o Who will be responsible for creating, amending or deleting environment access permissions?

Define Data Policies - Blue Prism has the ability to store data in work queues and logs. Consideration should be given to:

o Policies regarding data held in Blue Prism work queues and logs including data retention policies?

o Ensuring the security policy respects the organisation's own information security policy, industry specific data standards as well as adhering to

The Data Protection Act (1998)

The Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) Order 2000.

The Computer Misuse Act (1990)

5.3. Governance

5.3.1 Audit Logs Archive Blue Prism has the ability to log all stages of the process and its objects to the central session log, providing a

transparent and detailed audit trail of all process activity.

A data policy should be created to define the policies regarding data held in Blue Prism work queues and logs.

Depending on the level of detail selected, the audit logs can begin to consume a large amount of disk space. A

sensible archive strategy will allow the production database size to be kept to a minimum whilst still allowing

retrieval of log files, should business units require them. This mitigates the critical failure due to lack of disk space. Commercial in Confidence ®Blue Prism is a registered trademark of Blue Prism Limited Page 12 of 13

An archive policy should be created and documented. It will need to be reviewed periodically, as more and more

processes are automated.

5.3.2 Backup A clear backup policy for automated process should exist. This includes both processes in production and in

development. This allows normal operation to resume following any data losses on the database server. A

centralised, nightly backup of the database server may be considered sufficient. Other organisations may wish to

implement a secondary layer of backup for further assurance, using the Blue Prism software product's export

facility.

The backup policy should be documented and regularly reviewed as part of the Robotic Operating Model creation


5.3.3 Disaster Recovery Where Blue Prism is running business critical automated processes, the consequence of a production environment

failure preventing the successful running of these processes can be serious. Consideration should be given to:

The creation of a disaster recovery environment to act as a contingency production environment.

The procedures involved in invoking DR

The procedures involved in returning to the Business as Usual Production Environment

The frequency of testing the DR environment and associated procedures


6. Implementing the Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model Key elements of the Blue Prism Robotic Operating Model should be implemented as an integral part of initiating

the first process delivery project – the remaining elements will evolve as the delivery lifecycle progresses.

A ROM Implementation Tracking Sheet exists to assist in the implementation of an Operating Model.

An Enterprise RPA - Delivery Swimlanes Overview exists to assist in the activities to implement a Robotic Operating

Model.

blue prism · 2017. 9. 1. · blue prism's robotic automation software enables business...

Documents