Robotic Process Automation -- A Systematic Literature Review and Assessment Framework

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the automation of rule-based routine processes to increase efficiency and to reduce costs. Due to the utmost importance of process automation in industry, RPA attracts increasing attention in the scientific field as well. This paper presents the state-of-the-art in the RPA field by means of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). In this SLR, 63 publications are identified, categorised, and analysed along well-defined research questions. From the SLR findings, moreover, a framework for systematically analysing, assessing, and comparing existing as well as upcoming RPA works is derived. The discovered thematic clusters advise further investigations in order to develop an even more detailed structural research approach for RPA.