Robotic Process Automation Manager at Imerys
Real User
It is a well put together solution which allows us to produce more quality work faster
Pros and Cons
  • "The flexibility which has been built into it is its most valuable feature."
  • "Our first automation removed manual work from employees, so they are now able to more quickly product quality work."
  • "The support and user community need improvement. For example, it would be nice to have a place for those who create bots to have a place to share information and success stories."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is to automate manual tasks to free up space for more value-added tasks.

How has it helped my organization?

Our first automation removed manual work from employees, so they are now able to more quickly product quality work.

What is most valuable?

The flexibility which has been built into it.

What needs improvement?

The support and user community need improvement. For example, it would be nice to have a place for those who create bots to have a place to share information and success stories.

Buyer's Guide
Automation Anywhere (AA)
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Automation Anywhere (AA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
771,212 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable.

We're in the process of scaling currently. We started off with two pilot automations, then we needed an engagement strategy to get people excited about it and get their ideas. Then, we needed to prioritize those ideas and go deeper into the processes. But, we plan to start on the next phase soon.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. You create ticket on the website, then hear back from someone. I do wish they were a bit quicker with a solution.

How was the initial setup?

It was a bit complex. You can contact support, and they will help you through it.

What was our ROI?

We measure our ROI as time savings per month returned back to the business. We are currently saving about 150 hours per month.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Automation Anywhere, UiPath, and Blue Prism. 

We chose Automation Anywhere because of its user-friendly interface. It is a well put together solution.

What other advice do I have?

We don't currently use attended automation.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Vice President Business Development at myInvenio
Real User
Very comprehensive with different platforms, though the pricing model should be more flexible
Pros and Cons
  • "Very comprehensive with different platforms especially SAP and Oracle EBS."
  • "The digital worker is interesting."
  • "I think the pricing model should be more flexible."

What is our primary use case?

Accounts payable is our primary focuses for automation, and we are looking forward to this report. Thanks.

How has it helped my organization?

We are in the early stages and need to see how it goes for future bot building especially Bot Store today.

What is most valuable?

  • Very comprehensive with different platforms especially SAP and Oracle EBS
  • The digital worker is interesting.

What needs improvement?

I am interested in discovery, and what this means for companies like mine. I think the pricing model should be more flexible.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner. We are a process mining company.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Automation Anywhere (AA)
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Automation Anywhere (AA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
771,212 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1463937 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jr. RPA Developer at ProEchoes Technology
Real User
Reasonably-priced, easy to use and maintain, but it needs to be more developer-friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "Excel automation is especially helpful because a lot of small companies are still using Excel as their data storage."
  • "The assign value function is not there in the A2019 Community edition, which makes it hard for a developer to manipulate the data."

What is our primary use case?

I start using automation anywhere for my first project to automate HR process. For HR, one of my customers uses a lot of manual processes in their company. They manually update reports in Excel and have a lot of use cases that trigger emails to staff.  Examples of emails are applications for training or requests to top management for approval.

By using Automation Anywhere, we can help our customer manage their data by connecting the Bot to the database and automate emails that are sent between staff and the top management.

How has it helped my organization?

When implementing RPA with AA for an organization, we can figure out the spaghetti processes and align the business process so that they become linear. This is possible because RPA uses rule-based automation. Ultimately, it means that the organization will be more structured.

Having AA also helps to improve time-savings, as it is able to complete the whole process faster. The accuracy of the data posted in the system also increases.

In terms of cost, AA reduces the cost of hiring workers because the number of workers can be fixed after implementing RPA.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are object cloning, image recognition, assignment value, and automation for databases, OCR, PDF, Excel, and email.

Excel automation is especially helpful because a lot of small companies are still using Excel as their data storage.

Database automation is really important for executing report queries.

PDF automation is useful because a lot of companies still use PDFs as fillable forms. To automate a PDF, it uses the OCR function to extract data, from either a soft copy or handwritten-scan form.

Last but not least, the assignment value command is really needed to help with the manipulation of variable datatypes. Without this, it is quite hard to manipulate the data.

What needs improvement?

The assign value function is not there in the A2019 Community edition, which makes it hard for a developer to manipulate the data. For example, using a data table record, when I want to assign a value to a record variable, I am not able to assign it properly. I am only able to define a hardcoded value inside that variable, whereas the requirement is to put the value inside that variable dynamically using another variable. 

In the next release, I am hoping to have a feature where the developer can use a programming method like ".Double/.toString" to make programming faster. As it is now, one has to pull commands one by one for assignment.

Next, I am hoping that AA can have an explanation and directions for each command and how it is to be used by developers. For example, with the OCR function, it would be helpful to know what data is compulsory for the developer to enter, and what data is optional. By having guide like this, it would be more developer-friendly. This would be better for beginners who are using AA for the first time. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Automation Anywhere for less than one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

the stability of the studio is ok and some features is easy to use. but sometimes i feel to automate excel is quite hard and developer need to make many repetitive steps just to insert dynamic data into each cell in excel.Hopes in version 11.3 will have read range and write range function instead need to loop many times and set the cell one by one.btw, i like dictionary data type and impress with AA because no need to read file and just put the path it can already work. but i hope for dictionary variable data type also can support .xlsx file to save as dictionary and able to add dictionary key and value that outside from the file by able to add keypair value by assigning them  as temporary value during process.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Quickly scale to thousands of bots in the front and back office, no matter the type—attended, unattended, or intelligent automation.

The modern microservices architecture enables the platform to scale both vertically and horizontally, delivering fast ROI.

How are customer service and technical support?

We do not yet have experience with customer support. We have been using AA for less than one year.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In another company, I previously used a different RPA solution. I have switched because I have changed companies, to one that is using AA.

How was the initial setup?

To install the application is easy, but you need to prepare a few accounts during the initial setup. These include a Creator account for developers, a Bot Runner, a server, and a database.

What about the implementation team?

We deployed with the assistance of a vendor team and we are satisfied.

What was our ROI?

Some of the factors that contribute to ROI are the low cost, ease of maintenance, and automatic updates.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    This is a comprehensive automation offering with a scalable architecture and flexible pricing models. This keeps the RPA TCO low and you can automate with confidence.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We evaluated UiPath before choosing Automation Anywhere.

    What other advice do I have?

    Overall, this is a great tool because it's easy to maintain and it can reduce hiring costs, leading to reduced overall costs in the future.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Other
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    DevOps at Centrax Systems
    Real User
    Easy workflow creation and management, continuous operation, and excellent service
    Pros and Cons
    • "The marketing automation software provides easy workflow creation and management."
    • "I would like to see a technology where they can automatically update or upgrade themselves to the latest version, without having to uninstall the current bot."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our use cases include email filtering to get rid of spam, phishing, and many more.

    Workflow automation has helped a lot with cost reduction, greater accuracy, and delivery speed. It then continues to add value as it picks up momentum and spreads across the organization.

    Workers now have more time on their hands to use their intuitive minds to think about great ideas. All we do is train our digital workers, then they do the work 24/7- 365 without any errors, unlike humans who need time in the day to rest. They are the best part of the business.

    How has it helped my organization?

    All of the business processes we can automate, such as the digital forms you can create, have improved the way we function. The digital forms reduce a lot of paperwork, as well as the stress of losing or misplacing important data.

    The sales team is also doing great because their sales operations are improving with the usage of AA.

    It offers insights on how to improve with the dashboards that represent your business KPIs. You get information about the trends and know exactly where to improve, and even how you can achieve that.

    The sales process is also automated in instances such as follow-ups.

    What is most valuable?

    The marketing automation software provides easy workflow creation and management. It increases productivity and it is easy to follow and optimize. Use workflows to set priority, status, and route incoming tickets to ensure your SLAs are met.

    Trigger responses are real-time responses that are easy to send to customers. Every response needs to be prompt because even a five-minute delay can lead to a lost customer opportunity. The software has a feature that allows you to time and schedule your responses so that they can be sent in real-time. 

    What needs improvement?

    In the control room, the manual bot update should be looked at. I would like to see a technology where they can automatically update or upgrade themselves to the latest version, without having to uninstall the current bot.

    Bots should also be automatically downloaded to all computers or devices in the organization without people having to individually install them on their machines.

    The device connection can also be improved, as I happen to lose connection most of the time. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    My company has been using Automation Anywhere for a while now, but I have only recently joined and I'm still in training.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Stability is high because these are machines with fewer errors compared to humans, and more production time because they work 24/7- 365 without taking any breaks. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is very high and there is no need for numerous source codes. Should the size of the organization go up, there is no need to worry, as AA can handle any size.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    They solve tickets quickly and are always ready to attend to any queries, concerns, etc. The service is excellent.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    This is actually my first real job and I'm currently doing an internship, so I have not used other RPA products.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward and the instructions were easy to follow.

    What about the implementation team?

    The implementation was through an in-house team.

    What was our ROI?

    Our ROI is an average of 6.5%.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    There is a free trial so that they can get an overview, and there are different licenses that are very affordable and can suit every business model.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    The company that I work for has evaluated other options and they were also using Zoho.

    What other advice do I have?

    My recommendation is that more businesses should use it. AA doesn't require any prior IT or developer experience, and it has lots of tutorial videos of how-tos. 

    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?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    RPA Program Manager at Raksha Technologies Private Limited
    Real User
    Easy to use with a helpful drag-and-drop interface and recording capabilities
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature is recording in the Control Room, as it allows me to chose what I want to have recorded, ensuring that I get the right thing on time."
    • "Replacing the list of search options with voice commands for each item would be great."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use has been to automate a few mundane tasks in the organization, which really helped us in this COVID situation. As most of the people are WFH and we were not able to connect to each and every individual, it helped to ease everyone's tasks and ensure they were completed on time and without errors.

    Because of this, our customers are happy and our vendors were able to help us in terms of meeting our customer satisfaction and not compromising on anything. This has become the new normal for us and we have started adapting to it.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Human hours are saved and are utilized in other tasks. Since we all are in a critical situation, our office was shut down temporarily and functioning over the cloud. Employees were facing several problems like network issues and we couldn't arrange things for them, so we ended up taking their tasks and start automating them.

    This ensures that they were utilized in customer satisfaction roles and that the issues were not left unattended.

    A few reports and emails were automated to communicate with customers because our US server was offline.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is recording in the Control Room, as it allows me to chose what I want to have recorded, ensuring that I get the right thing on time.

    All of the options are available in the control room and with the search capability, even a person who is not from a computer background can easily create bots.

    What needs improvement?

    Certain areas of the user interface require improvement. Most of the time, it's pretty easy to drag and drop the required field but it would much better if we had voice commands so that I save time instead of using my mouse and keypad.

    It would be better if it were digitally designed so that users can feel the live experience as if looking at the exact interface, rather than the logo.

    Replacing the list of search options with voice commands for each item would be great.

    I would like like to see changes made to the appearance of the control room. Although we all love the brownish dark mode, it would be better designed with white and orange instead of the dark brown colour on the left side of the panel.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using Automation Anywhere for two years.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1445445 - PeerSpot reviewer
    RPA Consultant at Infogain
    Real User
    Feature-rich, with good PDF data extraction to automate invoice processing
    Pros and Cons
    • "This product is easy to use, and it helps business users to more easily understand RPA."
    • "It would be useful to have some updates for the control room in terms of analytics."

    What is our primary use case?

    Automation Anywhere is an RPA package for basic Automation to Complex Automation. It also has analytics and cognitive capability.

    I have used Automation Anywhere in many use cases from PDF integration to Excel reconciliation. The best use case was invoice processing using IQ Bot. In this process, we download PDFs from an application and pass it to IQ Bot for the extraction of invoice data.

    This helps in extracting data from PDF documents and use it to post the invoices. This is something that we had done in a single dev environment, where Automation Anywhere was on-premises and secured in terms of sharing details for data extraction.

    I have also explored other products from Automation Anywhere including IQ Bot and Bot Analytics. In addition, I have provided POCs to customers with Attended Automation 2.0 and the Automation Productivity Pack.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Our organization is a COE for RPA and a partner with Automation Anywhere. We have implemented RPA in many of our clients' projects. Not only this, but we have updated the way that we work by adding internal bots to increase our productivity.

    We have increased our productivity internally by using RPA with our employees who are completing the same tasks every day. These include jobs like claim management, documentation, etc.

    This helps our organization by increasing productivity, and also helps us to understand more use cases that can be applied to our clients' organizations.

    What is most valuable?

    Automation Anywhere is a package of many features. There is no single feature that will get more value because each feature is important on its own.

    I like the software updates because I see new things being added all the time.

    The jump From AA v11.3 to A2019 was a great start to help explore RPA and provide more options to developers who are implementing RPA using Java Packages.

    This product is easy to use, and it helps business users to more easily understand RPA.

    What needs improvement?

    I believe Automation Anywhere is working perfectly and it is the best in the market. However, some points based on a development perspective I would like to add are:

    1. Universal search.
    2. Creating a variable from anywhere, including from the properties/attributes of commands.
    3. I would like to have the ability to delete multiple variables.
    4. It should be possible to delete multiple parameters for the API.
    5. I would like to have commands to link with the respective knowledge base.
    6. Having a refractor in the code would be an improvement.
    7. A predefined framework for Bot Development that includes an audit log and error handling would be helpful.
    8. It would be useful to have some updates for the control room in terms of analytics.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Automation Anywhere for the past three-plus years. I have quite a good understanding of the older versions from 10.5 to 11.3, as well as the latest web version A2019.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Stability-wise, this is a good product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is good.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Our experience with technical support has been good. The support does screen sharing to solve issues and explain what they are doing.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Prior to working with this RPA solution, I used programming languages for automation. These included VBScript and Python.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward.

    What about the implementation team?

    Our in-house team deployed this product with the assistance of experts.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    If it is saving FTE and Generating a good ROI then it is Worth Investing.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Before choosing Automation Anywhere, I looked at options like free online tools

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Google
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    RPA Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Enhances business processes to improve time to market, but there are cross-platform issues that need to be resolved
    Pros and Cons
    • "By using this solution for RPA, we can automate a lot of business processes, which helps achieve less time to market."
    • "The user interface should be enhanced to make things simpler for the user."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use case for the development of business processes. For example, finance is using it to develop a lot of business processes.

    We use it on a lot of things.

    We are using an on-premise deployment model.

    We only use unattended bots.

    How has it helped my organization?

    There are a lot of business processes that take time to do. By using this solution for RPA, we can automate a lot of business processes, which helps achieve less time to market.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of this solution is that it runs anywhere. You can build for a single platform and then have it run anywhere. This is the biggest advantage of this solution.

    Developers can customize flows.

    What needs improvement?

    It takes a lot of time to deploy, and sometimes it fails after a timeout.

    You cannot learn it quickly.

    Sometimes you build on one platform, but when you switch to another platform it doesn't deploy properly and it fails.

    The user interface should be enhanced to make things simpler for the user. It is important because while the RPA consultants have the relevant knowledge, not all of the individuals who use the tool will. Having a better dashboard for this would help.

    The solution should also be simplified.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using it for one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    With respect to stability, sometimes the process times out when you move to another platform, which is something that needs to be fixed. For example, if you build in Windows and then deploy in Linux then it should take the same length of time. 

    We use this solution on a daily basis.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This is a scalable solution. Cross-platform is the only problem.

    We have no plans to increase our usage at the moment.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Technical support is ok. They have fixed our problems when they come up. But, the problem returns, so the tool needs to be enhanced.

    How was the initial setup?

    I did not perform the initial setup of this solution, but I have been responsible for one of the upgrades. It was ok. They gave us support and gave us the manuals to do it. I found that it wasn't a problem.

    It took us two months to scale from PoC to our current number of bots. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We used RPA consultants to assist us with our implementation. You educate them and they are able to use the solution. We have had no problem with them.

    What was our ROI?

    We have seen a return of investment because it takes less time to market in our current process. I would estimate a times savings between 20 to 30 percent.

    We have seen about a 10 percent monetary savings.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We evaluated one or two other solutions, but I can't disclose who they are.

    What other advice do I have?

    Use all the features. The enhancements that they have developed on the tooling side, and the other new features that they have provided, are good. 

    This is a great tool that I recommend, and cross-platform is the only problem. The solution should recognize the platform and deploy the tools properly.

    I have taken one course with Automation Anywhere University. That course needs to be updated.

    We can sometimes integrate it with other applications.

    I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Business Technology Analyst at a consultancy with 5,001-10,000 employees
    Real User
    Helps us by automating the QC part of our processes. We would like more community manuals for debugging on our own.
    Pros and Cons
    • "All the data that comes in has to be QC'd. Automation Anywhere helps us by automating the QC part."
    • "The version that we are using has been difficult for us to code. As changes are very frequent, we have to make sure the code can be updated automatically so we don't have to make a change every time a user makes a change. Then, the user doesn't have to update us and we don't have to push a change to production. We have found a workaround with the help of the Automation Anywhere support people for this."

    What is our primary use case?

    From all the client data that we obtain, we have to provide reports and analysis along with field reporting. This is what we try to automate.

    How has it helped my organization?

    All the data that comes in has to be QC'd. Automation Anywhere helps us by automating the QC part.

    What is most valuable?

    Excel automation is the most relevant feature for us.

    What needs improvement?

    The version that we are using has been difficult for us to code. As changes are very frequent, we have to make sure the code can be updated automatically so we don't have to make a change every time a user makes a change. Then, the user doesn't have to update us and we don't have to push a change to production. We have found a workaround with the help of the Automation Anywhere support people for this. 

    Automation Anywhere is launching a new UI where you can add your own liabilities. That is a very good feature that is coming up.

    I would like some proper user manual guides where we can debug the problems on our own because the community feels stranded at the moment. You can't go and just find a solution. The solutions for the community are pretty small for now.

    We need it to be intelligent on its own, and that is not possible with an RPA solution.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is quite stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable. We try to build something on one system then repeat it on a client system.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The technical support is good. The only issues that I've come across are technology for our environment is very specific and their support doesn't know much about it. We have to take the time to explain it to them, so they can manage and handle the issue from there.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is a little difficult in the beginning to develop an entire infrastructure that the IT will support, but as you grow, you find a way to develop the whole architecture.

    What about the implementation team?

    We installed it ourselves.

    What other advice do I have?

    The process is simple. Go for Automation Anywhere.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Automation Anywhere (AA) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: May 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Automation Anywhere (AA) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.