Senior project manager (APAC region) at FreeBalance
Real User
Top 10
Saves time and is easy to use
Pros and Cons
  • "Being able to implement automation is valuable. We take the business logic and provide a solution to the client. Defining the intelligence pipeline is the most interesting and challenging aspect for me."
  • "The approval process needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

My business Analysis team describes the cases, and my architect team works based on that. I look into how this architect team is working to fulfill the requirements of my client.

Our use cases mainly are for the financial domain. We are working for an international organization. The automation that we are building is going to be utilized in various projects for tracking the expenditures of projects, managing the budget, and maintaining the planning. The information is then returned to the core finance providers. 

How has it helped my organization?

We have integrated it with TMX and the public finance model. Government Resource Planning or GRP is integrated. We have implemented a lot of triggers to give all the information to various points.

We have our own architecture. It is able to take the information from the core engine, API engine, or triggers from databases or data pipelines and execute the process based on the defined logic. It is able to give information to various process owners using the workflow.

In most places, the processes are scheduled automatically, so it saves time because we are not executing any process manually. For example, we are able to get information about the utilization of the funds given to a particular country for a specific purpose. It triggers an alert if the funds are being spent in a particular area that is not allowed based on the business logic.

What is most valuable?

Being able to implement automation is valuable. We take the business logic and provide a solution to the client. Defining the intelligence pipeline is the most interesting and challenging aspect for me.

For us, nothing is complicated. It is quite easy. We have a competency and learning team that gives training to clients. It does not seem very difficult for them.

What needs improvement?

The approval process needs improvement.

Buyer's Guide
Automation Anywhere (AA)
March 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for approximately one and a half years. I do not directly use it, but my team uses it.

How was the initial setup?

It is a private server farm where we have implemented AWS because the governments do not allow hosting on the cloud in most countries. This is a restriction from the government side.

We have two teams. One is the technical team, which is involved in network security and the server side. I am from the functional team where we are involved in all the services, all the applications, and all the databases. The technical team takes care of the software installation, maintenance, patches, and upgrades. We are only working on the application side.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did not evaluate any other solution. I got the instructions from my company to use it.

What other advice do I have?

We have a full-fledged deployment of automation in our organization, and we have a number of projects in the pipeline. There are definitely a lot of possibilities inside the organization, not only for me but also for my team members.

The main challenge currently is that we do not have proper resources, and the requirement of the client is very specific. Apart from that, I have not felt any problem with my team in deploying any of the solutions at the client site, so at this point in time, I cannot say that a specific technology is the best technology or that Automation Anywhere is the best. We are facing some challenges, and we are working on that. We are getting references of some of the other solutions, and we are working. We are doing the research every day and providing the solution to the client. Every day, it is a new challenge, and we are implementing the solution on the client site and understanding how to overcome those challenges.

At the moment, a person like me who is only working on one particular technology cannot compare it with other available alternatives in the market.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
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Ganesh Somasundaram - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at CTD Techs
Video Review
Real User
User-friendly, seamlessly integrates, and uses a drag-and-drop GUI
Pros and Cons
  • "Co-Pilot is a valuable feature."
  • "Automation Anywhere needs to have more testing tools to improve the testing portion of the solution."

What is our primary use case?

We have many use cases for Automation Anywhere including HR and finance processes, and for the code in our production.

Before implementing Automation Anywhere we had complex data that was huge. For example, with the insurance, banking, and health sector domains. We were able to solve this problem with Automation Anywhere.

How has it helped my organization?

As a partner and system integrator, we have access to a vast database of applications. However, there is no direct connection between the upstream and downstream systems, resulting in scattered data across these applications. Automation Anywhere is effectively connecting all the applications, providing a seamless end-to-end workflow that has helped us.

Moving forward we see opportunities to operationalize AI within our organization. We support 15-plus industries and almost 182 clients across the globe. We have different use cases. One of which is for a client for criminal verification automation. This process is complex because we need to get the information from various systems to authenticate the staff. Another is in the healthcare sector where HIPAA compliance is present. So we ensure that we are not touching the customer data. We are using Automation Co-Pilot to solve some of the problems.

We are talking about a powerful tool in Automation Anywhere. They have been in the industry for 20 years and have learning systems such as IQ Bot, Document Automation, and CoE Manager. We are using this powerful tool and getting the best out of the generative AI. We have used the generative AI to solve complex problems for our clients. In one instance, a project that would have typically taken over a year to complete was successfully delivered within just three days using Automation Anywhere and generative AI. We can also extract data faster including clinical data and audio-enabled data for our clients. Our clients want everything as a package and immediately. Before Automation Anywhere and generative AI this was not possible. Now we can provide a solution to our clients within four to eight hours.

Automation Anywhere uses a GUI which is drag and drop. This means even a nontechnical person can use it. There is no need for a developer. With a subject matter expert, in a logistics or health care process, Automation Anywhere can perform miracles. Automation Anywhere is user-friendly and that has enabled us as a partner to help more customers with their digital transformation. A nontechnical person can be trained to use Automation Anywhere in just five days as long as they have an aptitude to learn.

We have used Co-Pilot to enable the digital gate for one of our banking clients with over 30,000 users.

We have used CoE Manager for one of our large clients which easily provides them with a ROI and allows them to see how the BOT is performing. The CEOs, CFOs, and CROs are all able to see how it is impacting their business much easier. CFOs and CROs are now recommending automation to their organizations for the ROI and the scalability it can offer.

Integrating Co-Pilot is a no-brainer. If we are talking about the day-to-day operations, the digital workforce, having a competitive advantage, and scalability, then we have to implement Co-Pilot. It is mandatory and not optional.

Automation Co-Pilot has saved our clients a lot of time. For example, one of our use cases involved a client with 20,000 users where they used to spend 20 to 30 minutes addressing each user's query. With Automation Co-Pilot that time is now fractions of a second. Having to put customers on hold to check information in multiple systems or not responding to emails can result in unnecessary escalation. With the implementation of Automation Co-Pilot the people that used to work on those things are now happy and no longer stressed out because they can now focus on more meaningful work. Automation Co-Pilot improves the employee and customer experience as well as the overall company benefits from it.

Automation Anywhere product catalog has APIs. The API can integrate with any system in the world. It can be SAP, Oracle, Workday, or any complex core banking application. In the cases where Automation Anywhere is deployed on-premises because the organization is regulated, we can go with Automation Co-Pilot which helps connect internal systems without compromising other aspects of data or privacy. The usage of Automation Anywhere is based on each client's needs and the nature of their business.

What is most valuable?

I have been an Automation Anywhere partner since 2018 and they are always surprising me. Automation Anywhere is customer-centric and on top of the market demand. Automation Anywhere's document automation solution has a 90 percent accuracy rate with handwritten documents. This is a challenge that no other solution has been able to effectively address.

Co-Pilot is a valuable feature. We have a large client with over 30,000 users. A project that size would normally take two to three years but with Co-Pilot we can solve it in two weeks. Not only is it unbelievable to us as a system integrator but also to our clients. 

Automation Anywhere is a powerful tool. The generative AI, hyper scaler with Google and Amazon gives us the power to solve complex problems.

We have learned a lot about how to leverage more of Automation Anywhere on the NLM side.

What needs improvement?

Automation Anywhere needs to have more testing tools to improve the testing portion of the solution. That would help us do a lot of testing and move on.

The Process Discovery, CoE Manager, and Data Analytics are only available on the enterprise edition. They should be made available for general use and the community edition as well.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Automation Anywhere for almost ten years.

How are customer service and support?

We have not required the use of technical support for Automation Anywhere yet. When we use new products such as Automation Co-Pilot, CoE Manager, and Process Discovery we use the support. They have a good concept of Orange and Gold support for the enterprise clients. We can get support in two hours with good response times. We can also find a lot of support from the Automation Anywhere Community.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Automation Anywhere nine out of ten. As a heavy consumer of Automation Anywhere, I highly recommend the solution to many of our clients. The product catalog is simple and the technology upgrades are frequent.

Automation Anywhere is customer-centric and partner-friendly. As a system integrator, we have a hundred-plus resources across the globe to support almost 182 clients. We prefer Automation Anywhere because of what we get from their partner team,  pre-sales team, and customer support manager team. When we are stuck on something and give them a call, they immediately respond to us. This is why we promote Automation Anywhere the most. Automation Anywhere is coming out with new products every six months that are needed in the market. This also challenges us when we meet our clients to tell them we have something new and ask them to test it. Compared to the old version, the performance has phenomenally improved. Automation Anywhere is also helping with year-over-year return on investment. Product wise it is not overwhelming and it has tools such as Automation Co-Pilot, CoE Manager, and Document Automation. Those are the only tools we need and it is easy to understand, utilize, and integrate with any LLMs. With a click of a button, we can integrate with any tool that is available like ChatGPT, Google, or Azure.

Regarding maintenance, for instance, we automated the statutory complaints process for one of the largest organizations in India, which had 65,000 employees in 2020. They have not required any maintenance since then, except for when the government changed their portal and that process only took us three hours to complete. This is because the process we developed is still functioning effectively. The product is stable, so unless enhancements to the existing portal are necessary, there is no need for maintenance.

When upgrading from V11 to A360 we faced some hiccups initially, and after that, we never encountered any problems. We migrated almost 5,000 bots from V11 to A360. We initially estimated six months to complete the migration but we did it in two months. 99 percent of our clients are using A360 which helps us move faster. We initially had pushback from the clients not to migrate because they were happy with what they were doing. After we demonstrated the benefits of cloud-native architecture, including a 15-fold increase in performance, and conducted a successful proof-of-concept, they were happy to migrate to the cloud.

Migrating from other OEMs to Automation Anywhere is seamless. Two of our clients wanted to migrate from their OEMs to Automation Anywhere and we were able to migrate 1,500 bots in two weeks.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
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Buyer's Guide
Automation Anywhere (AA)
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Automation Anywhere (AA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Bharath Kumar. - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Data Engineering and Automation at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Helps eliminate our daily manual tasks, saves time, and integrates well
Pros and Cons
  • "The code automation platform is the most valuable feature."
  • "The process discovery side needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use Automation Anywhere to automate all back-office manual tasks, including service case management, support cases, and financial reconciliations between multiple spreadsheets and source systems.

We faced challenges because we were running the on-premises version. It was too demanding on our physical system architecture. Last year, we moved to the cloud, which has improved our landscape. It's better now, but it was tough before. Anyone new to Automation Anywhere will find it much better now.

How has it helped my organization?

Before we implemented Automation Anywhere, all of our tasks were manual. Automating them has saved us a lot of time and eliminated a lot of risk. As of now, our run rate is around 15,000 manual hours saved per year.

Automation Anywhere helps eliminate our daily manual tasks, allowing our staff to focus on more valuable tasks.

We have integrated AA with Salesforce, our homegrown platform, ServiceNow, and PeopleSoft.

Our workflows, APIs, business applications, and document automation integration with AA are well-integrated and efficient.

AA has helped us save time.

What is most valuable?

The code automation platform is the most valuable feature.

What needs improvement?

Recently, Automation Anywhere acquired FortressIQ, a company that specializes in discovery automation. Discovery automation is the process of sitting down with businesses and documenting their processes and all related information. It is a very human-intensive process. Automation Anywhere acquired FortressIQ to do this work, but the two platforms are not yet seamlessly integrated. This is a pain point that we are currently working on.

I hope that Automation Anywhere can improve its capabilities in the areas of sophisticated unstructured data parsing, contextual routing, and long-running process orchestration. These are areas where AI can be especially helpful. For example, AA could use AI to suggest the next best action in a process and to configure everything in one shot. It should also be smart enough to adjust and move on.

The process discovery side needs improvement. Before we can automate, we must document the current process map and create a process design document. This is a time-consuming and painful process. We have to go to the line-of-business people who perform the operations, sometimes multiple times, to get an understanding of the problem. Automation Anywhere is improving in this area, but it's still not perfect. So, we're relying more on other reliable platforms. The platforms they acquired are not yet fully integrated into the core RPA design platform. This is a big gap. If they can close the gap between discovery and bot development, it would eliminate many manual hours of discovery, allowing the automation team, or COA team, to scale faster.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Automation Anywhere for four and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

At first, we had issues with the stability, but it has significantly improved in the last six months after we migrated to the 360 version.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Automation Anywhere can scale vertically, but not horizontally. This means that it can add more resources to a single machine to handle increased load, but it cannot distribute the workload across multiple machines. This is a limitation for long-running, complex processes that require state maintenance. However, Automation Anywhere has a roadmap item to release a horizontal scaling solution in 2024.

In other words, Automation Anywhere can scale up, but not out. We can add as many small bots as we want to a single machine, but we cannot distribute the workload across multiple machines.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is decent. We were previously on a lower level of service support but realized we needed better support and were upgraded to top-level service. It's been better since then. We have a dedicated account customer success manager and architect assigned to us, so we can ping them anytime and they'll chase it for us internally.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment was straightforward. It took six months to deploy ten bots.

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

The pricing of AA is similar to UiPath.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated UiPath but AA is more resource friendly and has a shorter learning curve.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Automation Anywhere eight out of ten.

Our organization's approach and strategy will be to accelerate cross-cutting capability across all technology solutions, including automation. We expect vendors like Automation Anywhere to step up their game to compete. If they cannot compete in the United States, they will not be able to compete in the rest of the world and will be left behind.

We tried to get business users to build bots. We have reports of business users who have built bots. It is easy to get them started, but it is very difficult to get them to build production-quality bots. I am sure that this is a common challenge with any tool or platform. All the solution developers and concepts are theoretical. In reality, they do not work. Business users can build whatever they want, but their bots will not withstand the production infrastructure. Therefore, we need to step in and do the job properly. I do not believe in the concept of business users building bots. It just creates more problems down the line.

The learning curve is around two weeks.

We are starting a POC for Co-Pilot which was formally ARI. At the time when it was ARI, it was not a good feature.

Runners in our local landscape require maintenance.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Aishwarya  Khanna - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Helped our organization increase its automation consumption
Pros and Cons
  • "It's easy to use for business users. Everything is good. It's a nice product."
  • "The integration in UiPath is much better. Automation Anywhere's latest version has improved. It's fine but not as good as UiPath."

How has it helped my organization?

We could automate BPO processes, and people were shifted to other tasks because we could automate the manual tasks.

It has helped our organization increase its automation consumption. 

What is most valuable?

It's easy to use for business users. Everything is good. It's a nice product. 

What needs improvement?

The integration in UiPath is much better. Automation Anywhere's latest version has improved. It's fine but not as good as UiPath.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for two to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable, but it also depends on how the development is done.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. We have plans to increase the number of users in the future.

How are customer service and support?

Their support is good. They take a day to get back. It also depends on the severity. I'd rate them a seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

I haven't used any other solution. I am comfortable with Automation Anywhere. I know about Blue Prism and UiPath, but I haven't worked with them. UiPath also has many features. The new version of Automation Anywhere is similar to UiPath.

Every tool is good. Every tool has its advantages and disadvantages. There are benefits to using any automation tool, such as Automation Anywhere, UiPath, or Blue Prism. It depends on which tool you are the most comfortable with.

How was the initial setup?

It's very easy. They have changed it in the latest update. The latest update does not need any kind of preparation. There are just basic requirements of RAM that should be met. You just need to log in on the web browser, and it gets installed. It isn't an issue.

What about the implementation team?

It was deployed by our team because Automation Anywhere doesn't help for the latest version. It can be deployed by one person.

In terms of maintenance, you do require a support team because the bot sometimes stops. It isn't error-free. Sometimes, the site is down, so you need maintenance. You need a support team for it. Every RPA tool requires some support. The number of people required for maintenance depends on how many bots you have. If you've deployed 100 bots, you would need five to ten people. The maintenance time also depends on the issue.

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

Based on what I've heard, it's costly, but I don't know much about its pricing or licensing. I'm not a part of that.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend this solution to others. 

It's easy to use for business users and it's easy to learn. 

It's easy to learn for non-technical employees, but you should approach it with a logical mindset. Only then can you learn it. The tool is easy to use, but for applying rules and other aspects, you should address it logically.

It takes a while to realize its benefits because you need to train people. It takes four to five months to see the actual results.

Overall, I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Senior RPA Developer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
The UI is user-friendly and easy to use. You just have to drag and drop.
Pros and Cons
  • "The best part about Automation Anywhere is the easy to use UI. It's very user-friendly. You have everything that you want in front of your eyes. You just have to drag and drop, then build your logic accordingly."
  • "The older versions, like version 8 and 9, were not very stable."

What is our primary use case?

I have had an opportunity to work on Automation Anywhere a lot. I have worked from version 8 of Automation Anywhere through versions 9, 10, now 11, and they are going to launch a new platform A2019. I have also worked on other modules of Automation Anywhere, like IQ Bots, MetaBots, Bot Insights. 

How has it helped my organization?

There was a process that we built as a reusable process that can be reused. It was a use case used by multiple companies, which can be used by multiple companies. We built it to be reusable so it can be just plugged and played. If you are a vendor or want to purchase that product from us, we can configure that product very quickly and give it to you. That was the use case which started a big change. It was a finance and accounting process.

This helped my organization, because if I want to build that solution from scratch, it would take almost ten to twelve weeks for the development. But if I have a reusable solution for that part and a company needs it, I can just customize it and give to that company within two weeks time. So, I save ten weeks of development time. It only requires customization of two weeks so my company gets good profit and the end customer is satisfied with the work that we have given them. It's a win-win situation for both of us.

What is most valuable?

The best part about Automation Anywhere is the easy to use UI. It's very user-friendly. You have everything that you want in front of your eyes. You just have to drag and drop, then build your logic accordingly. That's the biggest changing factor compared to other tools.

What needs improvement?

I would like to have reading from a handwritten text, which they are bringing in the next version. That will be a good thing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been in the IT industry for around five years. In these five years, I have been working on Automation Anywhere for four to four and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The older versions, like version 8 and 9, were not very stable. With the changes that they have brought into the picture, it's now a very good tool and much stabler.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is easy with Automation Anywhere if you are on a cloud platform. 

They have a built-in feature for queuing so you can scale your product. It's a workload management feature so if you have fewer volumes than you can run on one or two bots. If you have a larger volume, then you can scale up to any number of bots. Scaling up or down works in real-time.

How are customer service and technical support?

Their support team is very good.

How was the initial setup?

It depends on how professional you are. If you are good, pro user, it will be easy for you. Even if you are a new user, there is an express version of installation that you can use and install it very quickly. If you are a pro user, you can always go with the custom mode and the installation is still very easy.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have worked on other tools as well. I have worked on UiPath, Blue Prism, and Pega Robotic Process Automation.

What other advice do I have?

I would like to give a nine (out of 10) to Automation Anywhere.

They are doing a great job. I don't think there is an area where they need to improve because they are doing a great job and improving themselves.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
RohitShetty - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Owner at BHP
Real User
Top 20
Turnaround time for building bots is quick but the upgrade process needs revision as it is too costly
Pros and Cons
  • "The turnaround time of building bots is quick. We are deploying around four bots per month. The turnaround time to get a design, build, and deploy is very fast. This is very good for us. It has helped us out when scaling up in a better manner."
  • "The biggest challenge that I have with Automation Anywhere is the pace of upgrades that they do. We are not an IT company, we are a mining company. We are very conservative in doing our upgrades and moving from one platform to another. Upgrades are one of the challenges we are having with Automation Anywhere."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is for our shared service center that is located in Kuala Lumpur and Manila. These are our key target areas.

How has it helped my organization?

For a finance process, we are able to initially do it at segment level. We handle one section, then automate that section. We will then move onto the payroll side and automate that part of it. At a higher level, we are able to merge both processes. Now, we are able to do end-to-end automation: 

  1. From creating a quotation.
  2. To creating a purchase order.
  3. To doing a payment to the vendor.
  4. To payment to our employees. 

We are able to visualize the areas of automation as well as do the automation in a fast manner. That's one of the immediate contributions that we are having.

What is most valuable?

The turnaround time of building bots is quick. We are deploying around four bots per month. The turnaround time to get a design, build, and deploy is very fast. This is very good for us. It has helped us out when scaling up in a better manner.

What needs improvement?

We want them to have a clear roadmap on what they want to do and follow it. If they are moving to version 11, we want them to stay with that version. Now, I hear that they have a new version out there. I have to plan out every upgrade or movement from one landscape to another. This is a cost for us. I have to get buy-in from my leadership. That becomes a challenge for me. I need assurances that wherever you are going, you are clear on what you want to do. You don't end up with doing multiple upgrades every now and then. It's not a sustainable solution for us.

One of the things that I see in the forums is they are planning to build an ML platform on it soon, whereby we can use RPA as a starting point and have leverage on all the machine learning services available across multiple vendors: Azure, Google, and Amazon. I'm really interested to see how that works because we are already using those entities but in a different manner. We want to see how all of them work together as a platform. That's one of the requirements we are looking for.

I would like them to have more collaboration with SAP and Oracle, as those are our key products. This would provide more value for us.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been with Automation Anywhere for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The biggest challenge that I have with Automation Anywhere is the pace of upgrades that they do. We are not an IT company, we are a mining company. We are very conservative in doing our upgrades and moving from one platform to another. Upgrades are one of the challenges we are having with Automation Anywhere.

Stop upgrading, it's a pain for me. Or, make it easy. I would like a plan for it. Every time they upgrade, I have to upgrade my systems. I have to make sure that all the test bots are working fine, and this is a cost for us.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are now scaling it up on the operations side for people literally sitting in the mines. They want to use Automation Anywhere for their day-to-day operations. That's the next scalable area that we're looking at.

We have developed a competency within the team as well as with our partners but we are at a juncture where we want to scale up. We are figuring out how we want to do it. One of the discussions that happened in today's forum was the different operating models we can have: a COE, business unit, or federated model. Today, I'm having calls with couple of Automation Anywhere guys to understand the best fit for us. That's how we will decide how we can scale up. We have the potential but we need to do it in a manner that can be sustainable over a period of time. 

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is really good. The response time is good from the support team. When we reach out to them, it is only when we have a problem. Most of our team is a bit on the aggressive side if they feel the bots are not working well, but the language and communication that the operations team uses when dealing with us is very smooth. It helps us calm down and come to realistic expectations because we can't expect every problem to be solved in the first day. Their communication and interaction are really smooth. 

Our customer success manager has been really good at her job.

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

This was our first RPA solution.

How was the initial setup?

When we started out initially out, we were told that the infrastructure we had would be supported by RPA. We were going to use Amazon as one of our platforms, but it did not happen, so we had an initial challenge. We were behind our schedule by around seven months because of this mistake. Both of us learnt from our mistakes. We now have a sustainable RPA. But, at the start, this was one of the big challenges, selecting the right infrastructure.

What was our ROI?

We have already seen ROI. We show ROI in terms of productivity. We are already clocking in around 7000 hours of savings per month

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

IQ Bots are very costly. It's not a sustainable bot for us as of now. We will look for better, alternate options for that.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We had two options: UiPath and Automation Anywhere. UiPath was the cheaper option for us but the cyber security standards of Automation Anywhere were better compared to UiPath. UiPath got rejected because of that. Automation Anywhere has passed our cybersecurity standards, and that is why it was our preferred option.

SAP is also launching its own RPA tool. Therefore, it will be tough to convince my management why I should stick with Automation Anywhere until they provide the intelligence part. Though, I think they are on the right track.

What other advice do I have?

Learn from our mistakes. Choose the right RPA product and partner. The initial mistake that we did was that we wanted to do it on our own. If you are not an IT company, don't get into that. Learn from partners and use them. Use the right partner and learn from Automation Anywhere too, as they have done their own mistakes. Learn from them. Instead of assuming that you know everything and getting into the RPA world. That's the wrong choice.

Automation Anywhere is doing well compared to the market.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Suresh Polisetty - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
It saves us time by replicating manual processes so our users can focus on other areas and perform meaningful work
Pros and Cons
  • "I like Automation Anywhere's document automation. It can distill or scan documents and convert the information into a structured format."
  • "Automation Anywhere's stability could improve. It isn't completely stable, but it's getting better daily."

What is our primary use case?

I use Automation Anywhere for SAP, email, Excel, and web automation. We first try to understand the process and check whether it can be automated. Some processes require human intelligence and a human touch. If it's a completely goal-based process, you can consider it as a potential use case. After that, we conduct a complete analysis, based on which we set up the modules and proceed to development. 

How has it helped my organization?

Automation Anywhere helps us save time by replicating manual processes so our users can focus on other areas and perform meaningful work. It helps us automate repetitive tasks. We started with version 11. After that, they upgraded to 2019, and now there is Automation 360. Clients were frustrated with version 11, but 360 has a lot of good features. When 360 came out, the clients needed to spend money on the migration because they had to do some testing. 

It has saved the clients time. I would say reduces the time spent on these processes by about 30 percent. I can't say how much they save because I'm a developer and not involved in the business side of things. I don't even know what the license costs.

In one of our client's use cases, the user needed to log in at 6 a.m. because there is a trigger in Salesforce that happens around 9 a.m. Before 9, they have to do all the manipulations and place the files into a particular location. She had to start early in the morning to get all this work done. Now, with Automation Anywhere the bot handles all of this. Her job is so much easier.

What is most valuable?

I like Automation Anywhere's document automation. It can distill or scan documents and convert the information into a structured format. The solution doesn't require much of a technical background. I'm from a mechanical engineering background and don't have any prior experience with coding. I only know the basics of SQL. Even a business user who is willing to put in some hard work can learn and do some small things. The learning curve depends on the complexity of what you're trying to do. For me, one month was enough to understand the solution. 

We have begun exploring Automation Anywhere's AI features, but we have some limitations. We need to adopt rule-based automation, and there are still some use cases we cannot do. With AI, we can do some more use cases. We have done some POCs, but haven't done any projects where we integrated ChatGPT because we cannot put some of the things as a rule. 

It's easy to integrate automation into workflows and APIs. We just need to know where to pass the parameters or the details. If you have that knowledge, it will be easy.

What needs improvement?

Automation Anywhere's stability could improve. It isn't completely stable, but it's getting better daily. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Automation Anywhere for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate Automation Anywhere seven out of 10 for stability. 

How are customer service and support?

I rate Automation Anywhere support nine out of 10. I have raised multiple tickets with Automation Anywhere, and they usually respond within hours.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I previously worked with AutoIQ and Blue Prism, but it was a while ago. 

How was the initial setup?

The deployment time depends on the process. If the processes don't have any dependencies, we just need to move the code to public and schedule it with the necessary configuration. The configuration is related to the process, not to automation anywhere. The processes require some maintenance after deployment. The number necessary to maintain them depends on the client. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Automation Anywhere nine out of 10. It only requires scripting for complicated jobs, but non-technical users can handle simple processes or those that are moderately difficult. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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RPA Technical Lead at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
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Real User
Document automation simplifies extracting and putting data into different ERP systems
Pros and Cons
  • "UI and document automation are two features I like. Document automation is helpful because it simplifies extracting and putting data into different ERP systems. I have three or four use cases for document automation. I also like the recorder objects feature, which was called object learning in the previous version, and screen scraping."
  • "When we need to upgrade the bot version for various applications like SAP, the compatibility issues could be easier to resolve. The financial team is using version 5 or 6, but the automation engineer recommends only version 6 because it is more compatible. I think Automation Anywhere could handle these compatibility issues better."

What is our primary use case?

When I started working with Automation Anywhere, I automated mutual fund statements. Later, I switched to a financial services company, so that involved a lot of monotonous rule-based work that we had to automate. Then, I started working for this oil and gas company. We focus on finance, procurement, IT, legal, and refining processes. 

How has it helped my organization?

I've seen business users doing this kind of repetitive work for 20 years, and they feel that there is a better use of their labor, so I wanted to automate things for them. For example, in the oil and gas industry, we need to extract information from purchase orders that we must pay out on invoices to various contractors. It's possible to improve efficiency by as much as 20 to 30 percent by automating those processes. We can do even better by asking the right questions to the business stakeholders. There's potential to automate and improve on things they've done manually in the past. 

We see opportunities to operationalize AI for HR use cases. For example, we need to gather documentation for work travel, including a visa if an employee plans to travel abroad. Instead of having an employee ask HR folks about the process, we can set up something with generative AI. AI would also be helpful in some finance use cases. We still need to do some PoCs for generative AI before moving forward. Our data science team is working with something similar, but I haven't used it yet, so we need to try some smaller PoCs before trying it at a larger scale. 

Automation Anywhere saves money. At my previous employer, we achieved $1.3 million in cost avoidance over two years. I expect to realize that much savings in my current role, but we are still in the enabling phase of our CoE. Next year, we'll complete large-scale automation. That's our goal.

What is most valuable?

UI and document automation are two features I like. Document automation is helpful because it simplifies extracting and putting data into different ERP systems. I have three or four use cases for document automation. I also like the recorder objects feature, which was called object learning in the previous version, and screen scraping. 

It's easier for business users to work with Automation Anywhere A360. My previous employer used Automation Anywhere version 11, which was sometimes a little difficult. A360 is much more interactive. We have several users in our organization who have a business background, so it takes some time with some of the use cases. A business user might take two months to build more challenging use cases, whereas a developer could do it in three or four weeks. Though it takes longer, we want them to learn and implement Automation Anywhere. 

Automation Anywhere is interactive, and my experience with my coworkers has been positive so far. I'm on the CoE team, and we've been working to enable various functions involving the HR, IT, finance, and refining teams. They are using it. On average, it takes a month or so to train them, build their use cases, and put them into production. 

The solution is currently integrated with PeopleSoft, ServiceNow, and SAP. The document integration gives us about 70-80 percent accuracy. We're mostly working on purchase orders, but I want to implement it for financial use cases, too. I'm trying to determine what the most efficient one is. 

What needs improvement?

When we need to upgrade the bot version for various applications like SAP, the compatibility issues could be easier to resolve. The financial team is using version 5 or 6, but the automation engineer recommends only version 6 because it is more compatible. I think Automation Anywhere could handle these compatibility issues better. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Automation Anywhere for nearly seven years now.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Automation Anywhere is scalable, but it depends on what you do during the design phase. You must consider the opportunities for scaling up while you're planning. It's easy to scale if done correctly. 

How are customer service and support?

I rate Automation Anywhere support nine out of 10. It's excellent. We have premium support. Our account manager is very nice. If we raise an issue, it will be resolved the next day. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We also have Power Automate, but we do not use it at the enterprise level. We only use Power Automate for two use cases. A different team uses Power Automate, but they are not associated with the CoE. They are only using it for personal automation. 

How was the initial setup?

Deployment is easy, but the testing takes time. It also takes some effort to migrate the bots from version to version, like v11 to the cloud version of A360.   We learned it the hard way, but once we moved to A360, that took care of many of the infrastructure issues we faced with the on-prem version. It was mostly some technical challenges, not infrastructure-related changes. The cloud version is much better than the on-prem. 

Automation Anywhere requires maintenance, but how you develop the processes also matters. We try to implement best practices, like using wildcards instead of URL names. That's why we try to find ways to make API calls instead and get the data from there. We are currently doing a PoC that involves retrieving the data from third-party websites, and they told us that they could build an API that would make it easier to maintain. The APIs work better than redirects. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I tried UiPath, but I didn't like it as much for our current use case. Automation Anywhere is a better fit, but I have used UiPath at three organizations as a contractor, consultant, and full-time employee. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Automation Anywhere 10 out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
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Updated: March 2024
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Download our free Automation Anywhere (AA) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.