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title: 5 Biggest Mistakes Companies Make When Implementing RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

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# 5 Biggest Mistakes Companies Make When Implementing RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
![QuillBot-generated-image-2](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1TODzBEWl.jpg)
Implementing RPA is often marketed as a "quick win," but statistics from 2025–2026 show that nearly 50% of initial RPA projects fail to meet their goals. Most of these failures aren't technical—they are strategic.

Here are the 5 biggest mistakes companies make when implementing RPA:

1. Automating "Broken" or Unoptimized Processes
The most common mistake is the "garbage in, garbage out" trap. If a process is inefficient, convoluted, or undocumented, automating it just makes the failure happen faster.

The Mistake: Taking a manual process that has 15 unnecessary steps and "bot-ifying" it exactly as is.

The Fix: Use Process Mining or Lean Six Sigma to simplify and optimize the workflow before the bot is built.

2. Treating RPA as a "Set It and Forget It" Tool
Many leaders view bots as permanent appliances rather than "digital employees" that need ongoing supervision.

The Mistake: Assuming a bot will work forever once deployed. In reality, if a website changes its button layout or an Excel version updates, the bot will break.

The Fix: Budget for Bot Maintenance. Establish a "Center of Excellence" (CoE) to monitor bot health and handle "exception management" (what the bot does when it gets confused).

3. Neglecting Change Management & Employee Buy-in
When "robots" are introduced without clear communication, employees often fear job displacement, leading to "knowledge hoarding" or active resistance.

The Mistake: Deploying bots in secret or framing them only as a way to reduce headcount.

The Fix: Rebrand RPA as "Digital Assistants" that take away the "drudge work." Involve the employees who currently do the task—they are the subject matter experts (SMEs) who know the edge [cases better than any developer](http://www.icertglobal.com).

4. Overcomplicating the First Project
Companies often try to automate their most complex, high-stakes process first to prove the tech's worth.

The Mistake: Choosing a process that requires "human judgment" or handles highly [unstructured data](https://www.icertglobal.com/new-technologies/rpa)
(like handwritten notes).

The Fix: Start with "Low-Hanging Fruit." Pick a high-volume, low-complexity task (like data entry between two systems) to build momentum and prove ROI quickly.

5. Lack of IT & Security Involvement
Business units often buy RPA software and start building bots without telling the IT department. This creates "Shadow IT" and massive security holes.

The Mistake: Giving a bot a "master password" or running it on an unsecured laptop.

The Fix: Involve IT from Day 1. Bots need their own unique system credentials, secure access logs, and an infrastructure that scales (like cloud-based [virtual machines](https://www.icertglobal.com/blog/human-and-robot-partnerships-with-next-gen-rpa)rather than physical desktops).