What is our primary use case?
Our use case for Blue Prism Cloud is basically RPA, Remote Process Automation, involving automation agents that we use for different scenarios, such as CRM systems or customer support systems. Depending on the situation, we can automate these systems with Blue Prism Cloud. I have utilized some use cases to generate reports from SAP and those kinds of CRM systems. We can also integrate with ServiceNow, allowing us to automatically create a ticket if something goes wrong, establishing a self-healing system that uses automation to resolve issues. For example, if our server is down, we can employ Blue Prism agents to restart the servers. This kind of self-healing use case can also be implemented.
What is most valuable?
The best features in Blue Prism Cloud stem from my decade of experience working with it, beginning when I was with IBM. Over time, Blue Prism Cloud has evolved significantly, transitioning from a code-intensive approach to a more no-code capability, which is one of the advancements I appreciate. Additionally, their incorporation of AI into the system is another advantage. They seem to be ahead of their competitors such as Automation Anywhere and other tools, and now support workflow-based automation.
The user-friendly interface of Blue Prism Cloud has significantly aided my team's ability to design automated processes. They have integrated a workflow-based system into their UI, which benefits clients by allowing them to create agents and deploy them without needing extensive coding knowledge. These advantages provided by the UI enhance our platform experience.
The integration of AI and machine learning in Blue Prism Cloud influences our automation initiatives by providing proprietary AI features as well as the option to integrate with external AI LLMs like OpenAI or cloud services such as Amazon Bedrock. This flexibility is very beneficial. One notable AI feature includes the no-code capability, which acts like a co-pilot AI, assisting developers in establishing use cases for deployment. The self-healing capacity is another aspect; if agents are running and something seems off, Blue Prism Cloud can leverage its AI to monitor systems over time and identify issues, either reporting them or solving them, if feasible given their knowledge base. Additionally, there is significant cognitive power available to search through vast amounts of data across corporate databases, PDFs, or documents, showcasing various use cases for AI capabilities.
The main benefits that Blue Prism Cloud brings include the integration of artificial intelligence in automation processes, the introduction of AI capabilities within the automation agents, and the availability of pre-built automation agents. Moreover, Blue Prism Cloud excels in agentic AI flows, where there is no need for manual agent creation, as there are pre-built agents suitable for different layers of agentic AI.
The security features in Blue Prism Cloud impact compliance efforts through both cybersecurity and government regulation aspects. They have built-in PCI compliance and HIPAA compliance features, enabling them to filter PII, SPI, PHI data. The effectiveness of the cybersecurity measures depends on the customer environment where it is deployed. Being a SaaS solution, they offer dedicated integration capabilities and a multi-cloud setup, enhancing cloud-native security to help prevent cyber threats for the customers we deploy to.
What needs improvement?
The improvements or enhancements I would like to see in Blue Prism Cloud revolve around further developing server-client architecture, focusing on centralized control for remote agents. I believe more capabilities in that area could be beneficial.
At the moment, I don't recall any specific features or functionalities missing from Blue Prism Cloud that come to mind.
In terms of complexity, I find that Blue Prism Cloud is somewhat straightforward to use. Flexibility-wise, it engages well with Microsoft-based technologies. However, there are challenges with OCR capabilities that remain an issue. While there are readily available features that work well, the effectiveness does depend significantly on the type of use case I am implementing.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Regarding performance and scalability, I find scalability in Blue Prism Cloud to be good currently. As it adopts a decentralized model, I haven't encountered any scalability issues. However, the performance is contingent on the underlying infrastructure where the agents run; if there are restrictions there, it may affect the performance of Blue Prism Cloud.
How are customer service and support?
My experience with the technical support of Blue Prism Cloud is positive; it is quite good overall, and I haven't encountered significant problems so I can't complain.
I would rate the technical support of Blue Prism Cloud between seven to eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
What was our ROI?
Measuring success since implementing Blue Prism Cloud largely depends on specific use cases. For example, in one instance with an customer, we improved the CSAT score by 5% within a quarter of implementation. That's just one instance; results can vary case by case. Additionally, if we consider a scenario where ten people were initially working on a task, using the automation could reduce headcount and lead to significant cost savings. These are the kinds of parameters I utilize to assess savings and benefits.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing aspect of Blue Prism Cloud presents a tricky question as there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. The cost-effectiveness varies depending on the specific use case. Nonetheless, I can say that in the SaaS mode, the pricing structure is indeed more flexible compared to the previous enterprise-based licensing, having shifted to a more SaaS-based, usage-driven model which I find better.
What other advice do I have?
Between Blue Prism Cloud and Automation Anywhere, I prefer Blue Prism Cloud for decentralized automation. In contrast, Automation Anywhere is better suited for more centralized automation setups, providing greater centralized control of the automation agents. Blue Prism Cloud excels for decentralized systems because agents can operate more independently while still integrating easily with other SaaS solutions, allowing for more flexible end-to-end automation architectures.
When advising organizations considering Blue Prism Cloud, I emphasize the importance of understanding their architecture and enterprise landscape prior to implementation. If they are pursuing a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud journey, Blue Prism Cloud can be an effective solution. Conversely, for a more centralized on-premise approach, other tools may be more suitable than Blue Prism Cloud.
I rate Blue Prism Cloud eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other