Licensing Risks Posed by Robotic Process Automation

• Robotic process automation automates routine processes by mimicking user actions such as opening files and copying data between applications.
• Licensing rules for Office and other Microsoft products were never designed to accommodate certain robotic process automation scenarios, so using it can make organizations vulnerable to future claims of noncompliance.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is growing in popularity as organizations look to automate routine, repeatable workflows, reduce labor costs, and integrate new applications into legacy systems without needing to rewrite existing software. RPA-based solutions often incorporate Microsoft software such as Office desktop applications, Windows OSs, server-based applications, and Office 365 online services. However, this software is licensed Per User (individual human being) or Per Device (individual local client device), and certain RPA scenarios have no clearly identifiable user or client device, making licensing murky. Consequently, customers face the risk that Microsoft may raise license compliance objections in the future.