Automation Anywhere (AA) Reviews

We are the implementer and sales partner of Automation Anywhere. We have implemented hundreds of business processes for clients in the banking, insurance, and manufacturing sectors. We use Automation Anywhere to help our clients automate routine tasks.

Automation Anywhere can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises based on the client's requirements.

Programmers with good logical thinking will find the learning curve of Automation Anywhere to be relatively easy. Non-programmers can also learn to automate parameter configurations with relative ease, but they may find it more difficult to automate tasks that require customization or workflows.

Automation Anywhere has helped our clients' organizations during the lockdown period in the last two years, from 2020 to 2021. Our clients who were using automation were very happy because the bots could run while the people were away. We were able to control the bots remotely and scale their businesses. In fact, there are several use cases where we implemented solutions solely for scaling purposes. Our clients used to receive millions of records that needed to be processed within a defined time frame, which was not possible manually. This is where the RPA solution using Automation Anywhere came in. It allowed them to scale up their businesses. One particular use case that I still remember is the insurance for farmers' crops. Farmers need to be issued crop insurance policies within a given time frame, as the crop cycle is typically three to six months. This needs to be done well in advance, and India is a large agricultural industry with millions of partners. The scale of this process is huge. There were some complications involved in this process. For example, we had to connect to bank accounts to verify whether payments had been received, and then connect to the insurance system to issue the policies. Even though I am simplifying it, there were many complexities involved.

It can provide our clients with scalable automation to a certain extent. However, as the processes become larger, the optimization decreases and the performance suffers. This is because of the scaling and the processing that needs to be done. To address this, we also use open-source programming to do the processing outside of the RPA tool and then call those libraries from within Automation Anywhere.

It has many connectors, so we can easily integrate with other applications.

Automation Anywhere has helped our clients increase their automation consumption. For one of our banking clients, we automated 85 percent of their processes, significantly reducing the amount of human involvement and only requiring human interaction in the approval process.

Automation Anywhere is fully configurable. It has several commands that can be used to configure the parameters, and it is easy to use.

Novice users are able to automate basic applications using Automation Anywhere. Business processes are more complex and require experts to be brought in to automate. The automation process can be made more user-friendly.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for eight years.

I give the stability of Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten.

I give the scalability of Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten.

The technical support is good. They stay within their SLAs.

Positive

We have used Automation Anywhere and UiPath, and in one place, we have also used Power Automate. We find Automation Anywhere and UiPath to be very easy to implement. Both products have a lot of features and are configurable. We can connect to any specific data source, such as Oracle Finance or Salesforce, through an API, or we can do desktop automation using either tool. Power Automate also allows us to connect to various data sources for automation. However, it is mostly cloud-based, which is not ideal for our banking and insurance clients. They prefer on-premise solutions. Power Automate does offer an on-premise solution, but it only supports desktop automation. For workflows, we need to use the cloud-based solution. This is a limitation of Power Automate. In terms of cost, Power Automate is much cheaper than Automation Anywhere and UiPath.

Assuming that the infrastructure is in place, the deployment of the Automation Anywhere components, which include the controller, parts, and studios, can be completed within a maximum of five days.

Automation Anywhere is generally more expensive than Power Automate, but they may offer a better price for large volume consumption. 

On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most expensive, I rate the price of Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten.

I would rate Automation Anywhere ten out of ten.

API integration is a good thing. However, it takes longer to implement than RPA. Once implemented, API integration can execute tasks faster. The cost of API automation is higher than RPA because it requires specific programming by experts.

Automation Anywhere itself does not require maintenance. Only the processes need to be maintained, as they may need to be updated to reflect changes in compliance requirements, government regulations, or the underlying systems. Additionally, patches to the Automation Anywhere software may sometimes cause changes to the processes, which may require maintenance. We currently have 150 processes, and two experts are able to maintain all of them.

We use Automation Anywhere in our HR department for onboarding and attendance verification. We also utilize it in our Finance department for bank transaction reconciliation, and in our assets department for multiple data entry of assets in the system.

Automation Anywhere has helped us integrate different data entry systems.

It has a low learning curve and can be utilized for traditional automation with minimal training.

Automation Anywhere has saved hundreds of working hours per year for our organization.

It is capable of providing automation on a large scale. The technology is remarkable.

In the latest release of Automation Anywhere, version 360, new features have been included to facilitate connectivity with APIs, RPA bots, business applications, and documents. Additionally, users can now leverage their own language and Python for enhanced functionality.

Automation Anywhere has helped our organization increase the consumption of automation.

The most valuable aspect of Automation Anywhere is its ease of use.

The optical character recognition of various documents and templates, particularly when using the Arabic language, has room for improvement.

The technical support has room for improvement.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for three years.

With the new release, Automation Anywhere is extremely stable.

Automation Anywhere is scalable and capable of adapting to any new requirements and technologies.

The initial setup requires some expertise. We formed a team to handle the preparation, installation, and configuration of the platform internally.

The implementation was completed in-house.

The pricing for Automation Anywhere is reasonable.

I would rate Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten. I appreciate their solution, as they continuously improve by addressing the gaps.

I am using Automation Anywhere to automate tasks with desktop applications. There are SAP applications, ERP applications, and browser-based applications. The business is related to the airline.

Automation Anywhere helps a lot. It saves time. Recently, we automated a process that used to take 5 minutes for an application, and there were 500 applications. It used to take a lot of time. Now, it takes only 1 minute for an application. The time savings vary based on the process. For some processes, it saves 70% of the time, and for others, it saves up to 50% of the time.

It frees up people from manual and repetitive tasks. They can do other interesting tasks.

Automation Anywhere is very stable. At run time, Automation Anywhere can let you know which line of code the bot is running and what it is doing. It is very clear. It is also easy to debug. When you have some change requests or you have to update the new version of the code to fix something, Automation Anywhere can help you to do the code review. Similar to GitHub, you can see the difference between the two versions. It is very good for that purpose.

When working with Excel, unlike other tools such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere does not have the standard variables for .Net data types. It does not support data tables and many of the data types supported by Microsoft and the .Net technology. When designing automation, you need to use only the few data types that Automation Anywhere supports. For example, when you work with Excel, you need to do many tasks with the data tables, cells, and rows, but that is more difficult with Automation Anywhere than with other platforms.

It is not flexible for custom activities. With UiPath, you can use C#. You can use VB.NET directly. With Automation Anywhere, customization is more complicated than UiPath.

There are a lot of resources available on the Internet to learn Automation Anywhere. They have Automation Anywhere University, but the difficult thing is that it does not have a specific path for a beginner. When I was learning it initially, I had to choose randomly. I could not work out where to start. It is probably better now.

A good thing about Automation Anywhere is that when the bot is running, it displays which line of the code is running, but we also want those logs to be displayed on the web. When we implement an automation process, currently, we have to write the code to archive the logs. That is the thing they need to improve.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for almost 3 years. I am using Automation 360. It is web-based. 

It is stable.

I have worked with UiPath, Power Automate, and a few local automation tools available in our country.

UiPath is easier to use for business users than Automation Anywhere. Automation Anywhere is also not as good as UiPath for custom activities. It takes a month to train a non-technical user on Automation Anywhere. You also cannot directly use C# and VB.NET. If it starts to support all data types in the platform, that would make it easier to learn and use.

We have used Google or Microsoft OCR for document understanding. We have also used the API of a third party to translate the document and email it.

At this time, I prefer open-source solutions because of the cost.

It is deployed on-premises, and its deployment is straightforward.

The deployment of a bot used to take about three days. There were some steps for approval, and we used to manually deploy, but now, my company has CI/CD integration. We run the pipeline to automatically deploy. It is very fast now. It just takes an hour. We just need some approvals and we need to review the package. It is straightforward. One person is enough for deployment.

It is also easy to upgrade Automation Anywhere. It is not difficult. In terms of maintenance, one or two people are enough to maintain the bots. If there is any issue with the bot, we can resolve that within 5 days.

It is not too expensive, but there are many tools available in the market that can provide the same functionality at a cheaper price.

I have done some research on the automation market, and I see that there are many automation platforms. There are also open-source ones. Every organization wants to reduce the costs. Organizations are now considering cheaper platforms such as Microsoft Power Automate. Even my current organization is considering migrating to an open-source solution.

I tried the AI capability, but it did not help me much in reality. I did not find it stable. It will probably get stable in the future. 

We are using APIs for integration. It is a perfect way to integrate.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a 9 out of 10. 

We are a partner of Automation Anywhere, and we utilize their software in the manufacturing industry for procurement and administration purposes.

Most of our customers deploy the solution on the public cloud, with some opting for private cloud deployment, and a small percentage choosing on-premises deployment. The majority of our customers are extremely price-conscious.

We deploy Automation Anywhere for our cost-effective customers. These customers prioritize automation for fee optimization rather than productivity improvement. 

Business users without technical skills can still utilize Automation Anywhere with some training. The solution is user-friendly, however, we provide training for individuals before they come on board. Therefore, there is support available in that regard.

On average it takes two months to train someone without technical skills to use Automation Anywhere.

Automation Anywhere aids our customers in enhancing productivity and optimizing workforce size. Typically, we achieve a 25 to 30 percent reduction in time, although the exact results may vary depending on the specific case.

Although Automation Anywhere may not match Blue Prism's scale of automation due to budget constraints, our current clients can still have their requirements met by Automation Anywhere.

Automation Anywhere's most valuable feature is its seamless integration into procurement software, allowing for the automation of purchase orders, billing, employee travel details, and other tasks.

Integrating RPA bots, APIs, business applications, and documents in Automation Anywhere is a challenging task. We have come across a type of YAML application that we use with the APIs, enabling us to get a holistic picture. However, direct integration has always been problematic. For instance, when attempting to integrate with SAP, we encounter certain gaps. As a solution, we can either input the data into the call sheet or create a YAML application for the integration process. Unfortunately, it is not a seamless process where we can transfer everything directly into an SAP system. This presents a double issue for us. I would like Automation Anywhere to work with SAP and improve their interfaces.

The technical support needs improvement. They take a long time to respond, and they are not very knowledgeable.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for six years.

Automation Anywhere is stable.

Automation Anywhere can scale, but it requires significant intervention from the technical team to achieve.

Technical support is difficult to reach and obtain a resolution.

Neutral

We used to use Blue Prism for our customers, which offered better integration and more features. However, we had to switch to Automation Anywhere due to the high initial license fee associated with Blue Prism. Automation Anywhere is more cost-effective.

The initial setup is straightforward. The complexity lies within the interfaces. Our development team handles the internal implementation for our customers.

We implement the solution for our customers.

Our clients definitely see a return on investment because that's how we gain business.

I would rate Automation Anywhere's cost a six out of ten, with ten being the most expensive.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a six out of ten. When compared to other options, Automation Anywhere remains a more cost-effective solution. However, it has integration issues and is not directly compatible with many ERP systems, which forces us to find numerous workarounds.

In recent years, there have been many cheaper solutions that have become available. To a certain extent, I believe these solutions need to meet the current requirements. We began using Automation Anywhere years ago, but with new clients, there is a bit of a challenge to convince them to adopt the solution due to the availability of other options in the market.

With the variety of solutions available in the market today, people are seeking the most cost-effective option. RPA was a viable choice a few years ago when we began in 2017. However, attitudes have since changed, leading people to consider more affordable tools. Additionally, individuals are reluctant to bear substantial license charges, as we faced with Automation Anywhere, where we had to pay significant fees annually.

Automation Anywhere is more commonly deployed across various departments and less frequently in multiple locations. Due to its typical usage, we are employing it as a standalone model for each functional department.

Automation Anywhere requires maintenance due to changes we handle from the client center, as well as the configuration of the solution according to all client requirements. We need more than five people for the maintenance.

We spend one to two months maintaining bots.

For an organization that has a technical team and wants to deploy a cost-effective solution, I recommend Automation Anywhere.

Automation Anywhere is used by our customers for automation support.

Developers can easily utilize Automation Anywhere. For individuals with no prior knowledge, there is a university website available for training, and I also provide assistance in training my customers.

Automation Anywhere has a short learning curve. It takes five days to train new users.

We have seen the benefits of Automation Anywhere right from the start.

Automation Anywhere ability to provide automation at scale is good.

Automation Anywhere can quickly and easily integrate with RPA bots, APIs, and business applications.

It has helped our organization increase automation consumption.

The dashboards are excellent.

The regional distribution in Turkey can be improved.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for six years.

We have two customers who use Automation Anywhere on the cloud and two customers who use it on-premises.

Automation Anywhere is highly stable.

Scaling Automation Anywhere on-premises is difficult, but in the cloud, it becomes easier.

The technical support team is extremely responsive.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment can be completed by one person within an hour.

The implementation is completed in-house.

The cost of Automation Anywhere is high in Turkey due to the weak economy.

I rate Automation Anywhere a ten out of ten. I recommend Automation Anywhere to others.

APIs are easy to connect, and I highly recommend integrating APIs over robot process automation.

Automation Anywhere is easy to maintain and update.

We maintain 50 bots, and each of them requires five minutes to install.

We are currently using Automation Anywhere for a Master Card customer complaint bot that will log tickets on our top priority websites. When customers complain it can be logged directly or the agent logs it on one of our databases. The bot goes to the database and can pick up the ticket that was logged on a top priority website. It then becomes a role ID number to us for verification that has been locked properly. Third parties can take notes, then once locked, they can give the ticket to us.

We did this procedure manually before the use of Automation Anywhere.

Automation Anywhere is very simple to use. The features are very simple and the application light. Overall I love it.

I have been using Automation Anywhere(AA) for approximately five months.

Automation Anywhere is a very stable solution.

The scalability of Automation Anywhere is perfect.

I am the only one using the solution. However, I am going to create a team that can use it optimally.

The challenge we face is the response time of the Automation Anywhere support teams. They could be quicker to give support. However, the problem could be because of the time difference. When we do get in contact with the support their knowledge is very good.

I have used other BPM solutions previously, such as Optimus.

We decided to take processes away from Optimus and we now are using Automation Anywhere.

The initial implementation of Automation Anywhere regarding the elastic search and database set connection can be a little difficult. However, I am skilled enough to get through it. There were some balancing issues that my other team members had to manage. They are having difficulty in balancing when I checked the architecture properly. We determined later that there was no need for a load balance to be done on the servers. We didn't do any load balancing and then the elastic search was not done.

The first time we did the implementation took us some time because we had to set up the server based on the minimum server requirements that were sent to us. Then we had some load balancing issues which took some days because we did not have all the knowledge.

If we had all the information we would have been able to do it faster. When we were applying the certification to the servers it was a different approach because it's a Java-based solution. In the first instance, we had a challenge doing the implementation. After the initial problems were resolved I did not have any problems implementing Automation Anywhere. It took approximately two hours to get it all done.

The deployments only need approximately five to ten people.

We don't have a lot of processes. If we want to expand we can change the license to allow it. Currently our license, we can only have 10,000 bots, on all processes. If we have approximately 10,000 bot processes on the control we'll be able to manage the processes in the control room. Five and ten people should be able to manage 10,000 bots.

There is an annual license to use the solution.

I would recommend this solution to any organization or individual.

I rate Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten.

We use Automation Anywhere for product SLAs on the finance team. We are also using it for a difficult automation project. 

We have automated a lot of processes, e.g., claim processing and payments.

It is currently deployed on-premise.

We are helping to automate some of the manual tasks and help to achieve the SLA.

We have some products, like Clubcard, which is a shopper's card that we're using in the Star Market. We are using Automation Anywhere for that validation, raising requests, tracking the Clubcard, and when users get new Clubcards. All these things are done through Automation Anywhere. We use the API to get the status of card numbers. 

IQ Bot is great. We recently implemented two IQ Bots in our finance sector. Manually, we had one person doing a task that took five minutes minimum. With IQ Bot, we are able to do that one particular task in one and a half minutes. That is a huge time savings.

We have done some Citrix automation with MetaBots for claim processing. We use it for validation. It is working well.

We have a credential manager. We have the ability to store in an encrypted way. Whenever we create any bots, we also have bot IDs. Without the bot ID, we are not going to deploy in production. We have the option for the support team only to get access and share their screen with users. If there is a critical password, the user will only put down the password. If we have the bot ID and password, then our support team can directly get that from the application IT team. That support center of excellence team will put in the ID password and credential and see the bot ID and password.

The API feature is the most valuable feature for some process, especially for the Clubcard. It helps us with validation of databases.

We are able to do a lot of things with MetaBots.

The management works well.

One of the great things about Automation Anywhere is that it is a developer friendly. If someone doesn't know the technology, but is logically strong, they can easily learn the tool. This is very good for us. We can train anyone in a short amount of time. 

If someone is not technical, they can also easily learn the tool. You do not have to write in syntax.

We have a situation where the system is not capturing data properly. It is clicking on the UI but it is not able to expand.

We have trouble with large volumes of data in Excel and are not getting good results. I want all the functionalities that they have in the Excel added to our existing version or an upcoming version of the product, e.g., Macros and VLOOKUP.

We have had connectivity issues, such as the reporting of a bad gateway.

We have integrated Automation Anywhere with our SQL database. I heard in version A2019 that we can easily integrate Python too, which is great news. Up until now, I have not been able to implement Python in our Automation Anywhere task bots. Though, we can integrate with other applications, like artificial intelligence, and this is better.

We have not implemented this tool with our AI. We have AI and IBM Watson. We would like to get information (or services) from the Automation Anywhere team on how to connect and implement the AI, as this is a great thing in the market. I'm looking for what to do.

Sometimes, we are facing issue in unattended. If unattended mode is not working, sometimes it will work in attended mode. However, I don't want anything in attended mode. The process is rule-based and logic-based. We just have to schedule, then if the user wants to run from the Control Room, they can. To run attended mode, we have to login into the VM to start it and human activity is required.

The version we started with is not as stable as the current version. We are trying to move to version 11. We are also in touch with our CSM regarding the A2019 version, which Automation Anywhere should release in the next year

We have 50 bots live in our organization.

We have three environments: staging, pilot, and production. In staging, the developer creates and tests their bot for internal testing. After that, we deploy into the pilot environment. That is hypercare which is for User Acceptance Testing (UAT). It is there that we run the bot in unattended mode for one and a half weeks at least with huge volumes. If we have no issues nor errors, then we create a ticket to deploy into production, our center of excellence. This is what our support team does. They will deploy into the production environments. We keep an eye out for at least 10 to 12 days as hypercare. At 12 days in hypercare mode, if we are not getting errors, then we run it in unattended mode as much as we can.

We are using Automation Anywhere in our business units. We have plans to increase the level of the tool's use.

We are planning to move onto the cloud, but first, we have to see if it will work with our business SLAs. If it is good, we will move over. We need to do a test first to determine whether the bots work well or not, which will take about three to six months. Then, we will make a decision on whether to move over to the cloud, the A2019 version. My team is excited for this version.

We would move over to Microsoft Azure because our company is already using it.

The technical support team is supporting us well.

We needed a support guide from Automation Anywhere for the initial setup because we had standalone and a lot of clusters. We needed help from a support guy during our setup to determine whether to go with a standalone or cluster setup.

For the bot creation process, we first check the requirement. Then, we check with each application, whether it is applicable through the Automation Anywhere tool or not. Some applications, like Oracle, do not work correctly. We make a feasibility report and advise the developer to use certain commands only. We provide a process map, e.g., how to create the bot according to Automation Anywhere guidance and what are the coding standards provided. We deliver everything. Then, the developer will start building our bot.

In our organization, we are focusing on continuous improvement through this tool. We are improving day by day, but not focusing on the elimination of any employees. We are just focusing in our improvements and accuracy in our SLAs. Therefore, there are three things that we are focusing on:

1. Implementing our SLAs on time. 
2. Focusing on accuracy.
3. Focusing on our continuous improvement.

Automation Anywhere is profitable for us. As volumes increase and we have a lot of data, this takes time to complete manually. Bots can complete the work without impacting the business. 

We are saving time. Some processes that have taken 24 hours for our guys to do, now take seven to eight hours for our bots. That's our achievement. It also brings accuracy.

We save money indirectly. We are also improving the accuracy of our SLAs. 

I am using that Automation Anywhere Master Certification for version 11. Recently, this has been updated in Automation Anywhere University. Until this month, it's free to use. There are no charges. That's why I would like to complete it this month.

We are waiting for them to release version A2019 version of Automation Anywhere University.

Use the standard guideline that Automation Anywhere provided. Build a dry model for each bot. This will be useful for debugging. I give these diagrams to my developers.

When automating Citrix, we can install on the client. It can easily access objects, we can click anywhere and it can take data from anywhere.

We have a scenario where one process is working, but in another case, it is not able to capture everything.

This is a good product. This platform is great, but there are a lot of issues to resolve, including the Excel features.

My advice for anybody who is implementing this solution is to follow the instructions and the standards that are specified.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We use it for automating manual processes that are done by people now, data-entry type tasks.

We're using it to process line items in invoices. We get the invoices via Excel and we have to validate the accuracy of the line item charges. We get them once every two weeks and there are about 30,000 to 40,000 line items, and each one has to be validated. With a person doing it, it would cost more money than it would save to catch the defects. But to have a bot do it is much better because a person can only sample a certain amount. Now, we can have the bot check all of them.

There are a lot of valuable features. It's a very complex piece of software. One of the most valuable features is the different possibilities it gives you to manipulate the interface screens that you're working with. It's helpful to have a certain solution already baked into the environment. 

You really need a four-hour conversation about specific features because there are a million moving parts inside of the software. It's not that one feature is so helpful, and that I decided to purchase it over something else because of that.

Having some more pre-mapping and pre-setup analysis of what you're going to be doing with it would be helpful.

The stability is good. The only issues we've had with the product have been responded to pretty quickly. We've also had some infrastructure issues on our side. But on the Automation Anywhere side, it's been pretty good.

So far, it's scalable.

We have four developers doing the developing in Automation Anywhere. We set it up so that things are triggered automatically by somebody putting a file in a folder. Right now, we have seven bots in production for seven departments.

The four developers handle deployment and maintenance of the solution.

We're looking to increase usage of the solution. We're doing a workshop in a few weeks to bring a lot of our managers in to get them thinking about things that exist in their areas that can be automated.

Technical support, so far, has been pretty good. We haven't had any major issues and the ones we did have were answered pretty quickly.

This is a brand-new implementation. We didn't have a previous solution.

The setup was a pretty complex undertaking. We're a global company. We have our virtual IT management done in Switzerland, while our hardware is in New Jersey. So to get the different stakeholders of Automation Anywhere within our company working together to iron out the Control Room stuff and the virtual side of things, as well as the on-prem software side of things - to have it all connecting properly - was a pretty complex implementation.

The setup of just the developer environment and the actual Bot Runners took about three weeks. As far as building the bots goes, we haven't scaled as far as we can, yet.

We didn't really have a deployment strategy, per se. We just followed the action items that we were given to do by Automation Anywhere. We're still working on how to implement it across our organization. We have Automation Anywhere coming in with some Professional Services people in a few weeks. We still have to work on getting things moving with the managers, teaching them what are good processes to automate, etc.

We deployed ourselves. We own a technology company, so we had that benefit.

So far, we haven't seen return on investment, but I think we're getting there.

Yearly, our licensing costs are about $90,000 to $100,000. There will be additional licensing costs when we add more Bot Runners to our infrastructure.

We evaluated UiPath. We went with Automation Anywhere primarily because of the bot analytics, called Bot Insight. The analytics capability was a big one. UiPath didn't have the kind of functionality we were looking for in analytics.

Definitely do a very thorough infrastructure assessment first and make sure you're all set up there. Do some testing of the solution on any proprietary software that only exists inside of your company. Have a good understanding of what you're looking to automate. Don't just take a manager's word for it, but really look at it yourself to make sure that the process doesn't have any decisions that have to be made by a person or that there aren't some small things there that might stop you from automating.

I would rate Automation Anywhere at eight out of ten. It would have been good if they had helped us be a little bit more realistic about feasibility. If they had asked us for some examples of processes that we're looking at automating and had pre-tested some of those, it would have been helpful. The expectations of what we thought was possible, versus what appears to be possible, were a little bit off. They should investigate, early on, exactly what you're trying to do to make sure it's a good fit and set expectations.