Robot pool in RPA Hub

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Robot pool in RPA Hub

    Robot pools in RPA Hub enable ServiceNow customers to efficiently distribute and manage workloads among multiple unattended robots for unattended bot processes. This feature automates robot assignment based on workload and Average Handling Time (AHT), eliminating manual reassignment and maximizing robot utilization. Robot pools apply exclusively to unattended robots and, once enabled for a bot process, disable manual robot assignments.

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    Robot Assignment Methods

    • Manual Robot Assignment: Robots are assigned directly from the Assign Robots tab after a bot process is created.
    • Robot Pool: Enabled on the bot process Details tab, this method dynamically allocates robots based on workload metrics and allocation types such as SLA or percentage reduction.

    Challenges with Manual Assignment

    Manual robot assignment requires release managers to predict workload and adjust robot distribution accordingly, which may lead to resource overconsumption or underutilization when workloads fluctuate.

    Benefits of Robot Pool

    • Automatic robot assignment based on real-time workload and AHT.
    • Dynamic allocation and reallocation of robots to maximize utilization.
    • Reduction in manual intervention and improved efficiency in bot process execution.

    Robot Assignment Process Example

    With robot pools enabled, execution starts with a minimal number of robots and scales based on workload. For instance, if two bot processes share a robot pool, available robots are allocated according to priority and SLA requirements. The graceful stop feature allows robots to finish current tasks before switching processes, enabling seamless robot reallocation between bot processes.

    Configuration and Key Fields

    • Create a Robot Pool: Essential first step to enable dynamic robot allocation.
    • Enable Robot Pool Option on Bot Process: Maps the bot process to a robot pool and hides manual assignment options.
    • Associate a Queue to Bot Process: Required for robot pool activation; one queue per bot process.
    • Bot Process Form Fields: Include Enable Robot Pool, Robot Pool Allocation Type, and Percentage Reduction for allocation management.
    • Queue Form Fields: Include options to configure Average Handling Time and Work Item Count, which influence robot calculation.
    • Robot Calculation: The Calculate button on the Bot Process form helps determine the number of robots required for execution.

    Practical Impact for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging robot pools, customers can optimize unattended robot usage, adapt dynamically to changing workloads, and minimize the administrative overhead of managing robot assignments. This leads to more efficient bot process execution, better SLA adherence, and resource cost savings.

    Create a robot pool in RPA Hub to distribute and manage the workload among multiple unattended robots for unattended bot processes.

    Note:

    After you enable the robot pool option for a bot process, you can’t assign robots from the Assign Robots tab. It is hidden.

    Robot pool feature is applicable for unattended robots only.

    Types of robot assignment

    There are two ways to assign robots:

    Challenges with manual robot assignment

    With the manual assignment of robots, RPA release managers need to anticipate the workload for a process and assign the robots accordingly.

    If there is a change in the workload on specific days of the week, RPA release managers must reassign robots between different processes.

    It can result in over consumption of resources or robots, irrespective of workload.

    Benefits of robot pool

    By using the robot pool in RPA Hub, you get the following benefits:
    • Eliminates the need for manual reassignment, since robots are automatically assigned.
    • Allocates robots per bot process based on pending workload and Average Handling Time (AHT).
    • Maximizes robot utilization by automatically reallocating available robots in pool.

    Robot assignment process

    The following diagram shows an example of assigning robots in RPA Hub.

    If the robot pool option is not enabled, robots are assigned to a bot process directly from the Assigned Robots tab.

    For example, in the Order Management bot process, even if the work items are less, the execution starts on all the robots. The workload is not taken into consideration.

    Another example, if the Invoice Queue has a lot of work items. It runs only on two assigned robots, since there is no dynamic allocation of robots.

    After the robot pool option is enabled, the execution starts with one robot initially. Based on the configuration of the allocation type (SLA or percentage reduction), the robots are automatically allocated depending on the workload.

    For example, in robot pool RP1, there are two robots in Available state, R1 and R2. RP1 is used in two bot processes, Invoice Processing and Order Management. The Order Management bot process uses SLA based allocation type. When the Start Process button is selected for this bot process, two robots from the assigned robot pool execute the bot process. R1 and R2 are now in Running state.

    The Invoice bot process also uses SLA based allocation type and has high priority invoices to be processed. Order Management bot process requires 2 robots to complete all the work items within SLA. To start the execution of invoices that are highest priority, one robot is required for Invoice Processing and one robot for Order Management. So with the help of graceful stop feature, you can stop the Order Management bot process. When you select the Stop Process button for the Order Management bot process, enable the Graceful Stop toggle switch, and select R1 robot to gracefully exit. Then, R1 gracefully exits the bot process after executing the current order processing.

    After R1 gracefully completes Order Management bot process execution, it can be used to start the execution on Invoicing Processing. After all the invoices are processed, R1 can be considered again to execute the Order Processing bot process with the help of a new execution. That is, by triggering the Invoice Processing bot process via the Start Process action manually or via a schedule.

    For more details about start process action, see RPA Hub actions and subflow. For more information about graceful stop and stopping a bot process, see Using Graceful Stop functionality in RPA Hub and Stop an unattended bot process in RPA Hub.

    Figure 1. Robot assignment in RPA Hub
    Snapshot of assigning robots in RPA Hub.

    New fields on the Bot Process form related to Robot Pool

    To enable the robot pool feature for a bot process in RPA Hub, do the following actions:
    Note:
    A queue must be associated to a bot process for enabling robot pool. One queue is mapped to one bot process.

    You can associate a queue to bot process from the related list. For more information, see Associate a queue to the bot process from the related list.

    On the Bot Process form, as an Robotic Process Automation (RPA) release manager or an RPA admin, you can configure the following new fields in the Robot Pool section:
    • Enable Robot Pool
    • Robot Pool
    • Allocation Type
    • Percentage Reduction (if you select the Allocation Type as Percentage Reduction)
    For more information about these fields, see Bot Process form in RPA Hub.

    Robots calculation

    You can calculate the number of robots required to complete a bot process execution by selecting the Calculate button on the Bot Process form.

    New fields on the Queue form related to Robot Pool

    On the Queue form, as an RPA release manager or an RPA admin, you can configure the following new fields in the Average Handling Time (AHT) - Work Items section:
    • Include All Work Items
    • Work Item Count
    For more information about these fields, see Queue form in RPA Hub. Configure these fields to calculate the number of robots required in robot pool for a successful execution of a bot process.