Arvato and Blue Prism Partner to Bring Robotic Process Automation to Local Government

Global business outsourcing provider Arvato has entered a strategic partnership with Blue Prism to offer Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to help councils deliver back-office transformation.

The partnership will see Arvato use the cutting-edge automation software to provide local authorities with an end-to-end solution of identifying, designing, building and monitoring automated processes, providing RPA-as-a-service and consultancy and training.

Arvato will use the innovative technology to help current and future clients in local government automate transactional back office functions, such as revenues and benefits, HR, payroll and finance, increasing process speed and efficiency while freeing up employees to deliver front-line services.

RPA uses software to create an agile, virtual workforce which mimics human processing of repetitive labour-intensive tasks. It follows rule-based business processes and interacts with systems in the same way that people do.

The move follows a successful implementation of the technology within Arvato’s partnership with Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council. RPA is completing back office processes with 100 per cent accuracy while making significant savings on resource – for example, in the revenues and benefits department the time taken to input a council tax direct debit has been reduced from five minutes to less than one. Employee satisfaction has also increased as a result of removing the mundane tasks from staff’s day-to-day routine.

Arvato is also working towards achieving Blue Prism’s Partner Accreditation to become a supplier of choice and demonstrating best practice.

Debra Maxwell, CEO, CRM Solutions, Arvato UK & Ireland, said: "In times of austerity and on-going welfare reform, councils need to radically rethink how they deliver services. By automating processes in the back office staff have more time to dedicate to business-critical work, such as improving services for citizens. We look forward to working with Blue Prism to help local authorities address their challenges by driving much-needed transformation and supporting their ‘digital by default’ agenda, now that citizens are accustomed to fast online services.”

Alastair Bathgate, CEO, Blue Prism, said, "We believe there is huge potential for RPA to make a difference in local government thanks to the large number of repetitive back office tasks which can be automated. Combining our leading RPA software with Arvato’s in-depth knowledge of local government processes and expertise in delivering back-office transformation provides a unique offering to help councils realise new efficiencies and service improvements. We’re excited about the new partnership and expect to deliver significant benefits to Arvato’s current and future clients.”

For more information about Arvato, please visit www.arvato.com/uk.html. More information on Blue Prism can be found here.

About Arvato

Arvato is a trusted global business outsourcing partner to the private and public sectors in the UK and Ireland. With more than 50 years of experience in outsourcing, Arvato combines expertise in business process outsourcing (BPO), financial solutions, customer relationship management, supply chain management, cyber security and public sector and citizen services to deliver innovative, individual solutions. Arvato has long-term partnerships with some of the most respected companies in the UK and globally, as well as innovative public sector clients. It is a subsidiary of Arvato, a leading global BPO provider with over 70,000 people employed across almost 40 countries worldwide. Arvato has annual revenues of €4.8bn contributing over a quarter of the Bertelsmann group annual revenues of over €17.1bn. For more information, visit: www.arvato.co.uk.

About Blue Prism

Founded in 2001, Blue Prism (AIM:PRSM) is the leading provider of enterprise-class Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software. The company’s multi-skilled software robots are implemented as digital labor in the most demanding enterprise back-office environments to eliminate the disproportionately low-return, high-risk, manual data entry and processing work that humans shouldn’t be doing. The company’s pioneering technology is used to automate back office tasks in sectors ranging from banking, telecoms, energy, BPO, government, financial services, retail and healthcare sectors. With offices in Manchester, London, Miami and Chicago, Blue Prism debuted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in March of 2016. Blue Prism has been recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor and by AI Business as the Best Enterprise Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the AIconics awards. For more information, visit www.blueprism.com and follow the company on Twitter.

ENDS

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