Automation Anywhere Reviews

Our main use cases when using Automation Anywhere involve a lot of end-to-end processing with a human in the loop. With the GenAI features and capabilities, we are now exploring and extending or expanding our use cases further.

We haven't done anything with AI agents just yet. We've just tapped into the GenAI aspect. We're excited to explore AI agents and how they can impact our existing and new processes. We have ideas, but we haven't delved down that path just yet.

The biggest challenge for our company is getting the correct information from an end-user regarding what they're trying to accomplish. Getting that information from one point to another is our biggest challenge. We're excited about the generative aspect of it because we know that it can listen to the end-user, pull relevant information or regenerate what it needs to, and provide it back to them as an assistant. We're excited for this capability.

We haven't tapped into AI agents, but everything else with the platform has absolutely helped, such as its basic RPA capabilities, Co-pilot, and human in the loop. It's definitely made our work jobs a lot easier because of those capabilities, and the same thing is with our end-users.

Automation Anywhere has helped us to achieve our automation goals. It's made our lives significantly easier to be able to tap into that environment with the ease of development and the ease of use. It's made things much simpler, much quicker to develop, and scale up.

We utilize Document Automation in our current processes. That was one of our biggest draws to Automation Anywhere when we first invested. We looked at a bunch of different IDP tools initially before Document Automation. Automation Anywhere had the IQ Bot tool. That's what we first invested in, and then we were excited when they did the upgrade to Document Automation. The capabilities there are a lot easier to use out of the box. It's a lot easier to scale, and there are AI benefits to it.

Document Automation has absolutely impacted our efficiency and productivity. We had one process specifically that drew us to this use case and then expanded it much further out, where we're essentially inputting invoices that don't go through our normal procurement system. It used to go through our AP team for manual input. It used to take a full person's time a year to do that. We're saving essentially a full FTE through Document Automation. That was our first use case with it, and we have a couple of others in various other accounting operations and tax bases that save significant hours. We also have some hard dollar savings along with it. It has had a huge impact so far, and we see it being a huge impact going forward.

We've used a couple of different tools, and it just has the best end-user experience. Among everything we've tried, it's the easiest one to pick up from the product perspective. They're doing everything right.

What I appreciate the most about Automation Anywhere is that the end-user experience is superior to any of the other tools on the market that we've looked at. We've shifted platforms a couple of times, and Automation Anywhere is the one that stuck based on end-user experience, the ease of development, and trainability with the tool.

Automation Anywhere has definitely made a significant impact in terms of hours saved to scale up. We've had to re-platform a couple of processes from other tools to Automation Anywhere. We are doing the exact same process, but the hours saved have been more because of the end-user experience and ease of development. The time it takes to get it up to scale has been a lot quicker than everything else. It has made a significant improvement for new and existing processes that we've shifted over.

I don't have an example of how Automation Anywhere can be improved. This definitely isn't a negative. One thing I loved about Automation Anywhere compared to some of the other tools out on the market is that there are constant improvements and constant updates, and they're letting us know of those. Anytime we see a challenge and bring it to the attention of the team, they always let us know that it is on the roadmap for future releases. A lot of the issues that we've had, we've been able to wait a little bit of time, and whatever problem they're trying to fix has been deployed in future releases.

We've had some technical difficulties connecting, but that's more on our environment and how we have the machines and everything set up. It's not specific to Automation Anywhere. However, it's pricier than some of the other tools. 

We are coming up to year four.

We were using one of their competitors. We started our automation journey about seven years ago with a consulting partner that helped us pick the right tool for us. At the time, Automation Anywhere was still on the market, but they weren't one of the leaders that they are now. Over time, that solution has been very helpful for us, but it never progressed the way Automation Anywhere has. There wasn't a leap and bounds progress in terms of investments in the tool and the new capabilities and features. That's what drew us to the Document Automation or IQ Bot. The other tool we were using did not have the same success rate, ease of development, and user experience. We looked at Automation Anywhere, amongst two or three others. Automation Anywhere was by far the best of those tools. While we were using that, we explored the RPA and other features. RE before it became Co-pilot and other functionalities drew us to it. We started investing more heavily in Automation Anywhere, and now it's our primary automation tool.

Our team has specifically only used Automation Anywhere and one other tool. Other businesses may have used it, but they don't have the same structure set up that we do now. We are the automation team within our organization, so we're the ones who are doing it on a consistent basis. If any other team has done it, it hasn't been problematic.

For the most part, it's been fairly seamless. The biggest struggle on our end seemed to be with just the technical connections. It's just how we have the infrastructure set up. We're housing an on-prem solution. We're exploring the cloud and shifting there because I know it'll be easier management from our side. There'll be fewer technical issues. It will be a lot easier to get newer updates from the tool itself. That's one thing that we're looking into now.

It's unique compared to certain other tools that we've used. It's somewhat pricier than some of the other tools that we've used, and the breakout between the different applications is also somewhat costly. If they can make it a little more cost-effective or bundle packages a little bit more, that would be beneficial.

AI governance is very important in my company and in general. Before we even tapped into the AI infrastructure, that was one thing we made sure was set up beforehand. We have a whole AI governance policy and a committee. Anytime there's an AI project, it needs to go through that committee. They need to understand all the data that's going to be processed through it, what tools we're going to be using, and what the project is as a whole. It needs to get approval before we can build it out.

We had an AI committee and a governance structure in place before we delved into the AI space. All of our data is in a secure cloud. We can't have anything touching the public environment, just based on the sensitivity of the data that we have. It's very secure and strong as a governance structure.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten. I don't think anything is a perfect ten. There's always room for improvement. Out of everything that we explored and learned, and used previously, it's made a huge impact. We're excited for what's to come, and we're definitely going to be using it for a long time.

I have been running Automation Anywhere since 2017 at Experian. The main use cases for it primarily focus on citizen development. Back then, Power Automate was not mature, and Microsoft did not offer the features that Automation Anywhere provided. We aimed for self-service automation for business units, unlocking citizen development across various company areas, like HR, finance, auto, and health. We implemented it as part of our continuous improvement mindset, akin to our Six Sigma, called the empowered program. When exploring improvement opportunities, automation naturally fits in. We use it for our mailing processes to assist those familiar with macros or scripting. Automation Anywhere has become the preferred tool for seasoned developers, enabling them to build their automation. I report to the Smart Automation CoE, the intelligent automation program at Experian. We govern the technology and train citizens to build their automations.

Nowadays, the tool is unique as it offers various automation capabilities in one platform, which once required different vendors. Even with Automation Anywhere's acquisitions, like FortressIQ, users can directly access features for document automation, process discovery, or RPA. From a technical standpoint and an end-user perspective, the platform is user-friendly and doesn't require complex setups like IDEs, unlike Power Platform. I've also observed changes in processes, as people are now more familiar with interacting with bots. This familiarity changes the way they do business.

As a customer, not just a user, I desire a better understanding of translating traditional RPA into newer features like Copilot and Majentik, leveraging API tasks. We've been running the program for eight years, with team members having their own frameworks. Helping them transition to advanced features is crucial. With over four hundred bots live in Experian, requiring recoding for Copilot involvement would lead to pushback. Automation Anywhere could assist in this transition.

I have been running Automation Anywhere since 2017 in Experian.

It is pretty stable. Especially with SaaS, it is always available and up and running. I can't think of any disruptions in the environment.

My impression links back to the initial point about integrating agentic AI and process automation features. I'm eager for the upcoming summit to see advancements towards scaling the product. Currently, Power Platform already offers seamless GenAI integration. I look forward to Automation Anywhere achieving similar seamless integration for broader-scale automation.

I think that customer service is a question because we didn't have the Orange plan previously. Last year, we gained access to this tier, simplifying case resolution. Previously, resolving issues required navigating through various layers before reaching an architect or expert. Now, support quickly assigns technical resources, improving the experience.

Positive

Thank you for that. You mentioned experience with other RPA solutions like Power Automate. We don't own the Power Platform program at Experian, but it's accessible to all employees under the Office 365 licensing. This includes Power Automate flows and Power Apps. It's common for Copilot agents to be utilized, providing full capability and access to these features.

I would say setup is straightforward as long as full access to prerequisites and features is available. We don't have access to spin up databases or servers, relying on different teams, which delays deployment or upgrades. For companies where the COE has full control, setup is straightforward.

Usually, our team involves one or two people as the process is straightforward. We plan maintenance outside business hours and coordinate with groups owning the database or servers. This organizational structure may differ for other companies.

Absolutely, we classify ROI as time saved. It doesn't generate revenue directly, but focuses on unlocking productivity, allowing businesses to concentrate on value-adding activities. Automation Anywhere aids in handling repetitive tasks, contributing to productivity and enhancing customer service, especially when combined with methodologies like Six Sigma.

I don't have visibility on setup costs, but renewal discussions are underway. Currently, costs involve paying a fixed amount for licenses rather than a consumption-based model. This contrasts with other providers like Microsoft, which uses a subscription model.

For instance, Microsoft already has Microsoft Copilot Studio, making them key players in this realm. If someone wants an RP bot connected to CoPilot or GPT, Automation Anywhere requires setup and authentication. In contrast, Microsoft offers seamless connectivity, integrating RPA to GenAI with minimal effort.

Good things aside, on the other hand, what would I like to see improved or enhanced in Automation Anywhere apart from the AI functionality that we discussed previously? I'll give it a seven as they are among the top competitors. Their offering of diverse automation capabilities in one platform is notable, but there are still areas for improvement.

I work for a healthcare company in the pharmacovigilance sector, where we are automating business processes. One key process is case processing, which involves identifying adverse events from drugs, vaccines, or medical devices. These adverse events are reported through various channels like call centers and emails. Currently, data from these sources is manually entered into a drug safety database. We are automating this data entry and the subsequent quality and medical reviews. This automation aims to reduce the workforce from approximately 5,000 to 1,000 employees, primarily by streamlining these processes using Automation Anywhere software.

To reduce maintenance and streamline operations, we have transitioned to a cloud-based subscription model. We are utilizing Automation 360, a subscription-based automation solution, and have also adopted RPA as a service, leveraging pre-built bots offered by Automation Anywhere, some of which are free while others require payment.

Implementing Automation Anywhere has brought significant improvements by automating repetitive processes previously handled by a large team. This automation has reduced the workforce requirement and allowed for attended and unattended bot implementation. Consequently, human errors have decreased, the quality of deliverables has improved, and timelines have been accelerated. Previously, delays in task completion resulted in penalties for the company, but this issue has been resolved. Automation Anywhere has enabled faster processing of cases, marking a significant positive change in the company's operations.

AI is being used to automate the case intake process, which involves analyzing structured and unstructured documents like emails, articles, and scientific papers. Previously, this task was time-consuming, requiring staff to manually search documents for key information. The process has been significantly accelerated by implementing Automation Anywhere's IQ Bot, with its cognitive automation, AI integration, and natural language processing capabilities. The software automatically highlights crucial details like patient information, product specifics, and adverse events, enabling reviewers to assess document relevance quickly. This automation has reduced review time from 30 minutes per document to five to ten seconds, allowing a greater volume of literature to be processed. Furthermore, the NLP feature automatically identifies and justifies the presence of specific criteria within the documents. By integrating Automation Anywhere into their internal tool, the organization has reduced the workforce needed for this process from over 100 people to 12-15, resulting in increased efficiency, faster turnaround times, and a more manageable workload.

Automation Anywhere offers a user-friendly platform with a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for business users with limited technical skills to implement RPA solutions. The platform provides a complete suite of tools, including task automation, cognitive automation using IQ Bot, and bot insights and analytics. While embedded with AI capabilities, the platform remains accessible to users without deep technical knowledge. Users should familiarize themselves with the available features, including built-in AI capabilities for handling various document types, and explore the Bot Store marketplace for pre-built bots that can accelerate development. Automation Anywhere enables rapid scaling with cloud-hosted architecture and prioritizes security with GDPR compliance, audit trails, and role-based access.

Initially, integrating Automation Copilot with our daily applications proved challenging. However, subsequent updates have simplified the process. While it previously functioned with attended bots but not unattended ones, expanded API capabilities now allow for greater compatibility with third-party applications. This enhanced functionality enables us to emulate various tasks and seamlessly integrate with systems like Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. We have successfully implemented Automation Copilot for data entry, updates, and, most significantly, report generation, resulting in improved efficiency and productivity.

Automation Copilot has significantly increased our productivity. Integrating our systems will allow for seamless data transfer, eliminating the need for manual intervention and preventing quality issues. Tasks will be completed automatically and in real-time, increasing productivity and reducing the time spent on manual work. This eliminates the need for batch processing and ensures that everything happens instantly.

Over time, we have integrated numerous products with Automation Anywhere, leveraging their REST API for seamless data flow. This has enabled successful integrations with Salesforce, SAP, Oracle's Argus, and five of our seven internal products, particularly with Automation Anywhere's cognitive automation capabilities. As long as Automation Anywhere provides the REST API, we can integrate any application or third-party service, facilitating effortless data transfer between various tools.

The time savings are valuable.

The learning curve for Automation Anywhere is steep, especially for advanced features like IQ Bot and API automation, which require technical expertise. While basic automation is relatively easy, the platform's documentation and training materials are not comprehensive, making it challenging to master the more complex functionalities. Compared to UiPath, which offers extensive resources and support, Automation Anywhere's limited resources contribute to a steeper learning curve for those seeking to utilize its advanced capabilities.

From a business perspective, Automation Anywhere is expensive compared to other tools like UiPath, making it unsuitable for small or medium-sized businesses. It requires robust systems to run efficiently and previously had limitations integrating with legacy systems, though they are improving this with REST API support. Additionally, community support is slow and unhelpful for critical issues. While they offer IQ Bot for unstructured data, it can only automate around 50 percent of such processes, requiring manual intervention. Although Automation Anywhere supports customization, it is limited. These are key areas where Automation Anywhere could improve.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for four years.

Despite Automation Anywhere being resource-intensive, in my four years of experience using it, I have found it to be a highly stable system that has never crashed.

Automation Anywhere offers impressive automation capabilities at scale. From a product standpoint, it is highly effective and achieves its purpose well. Automation Anywhere is a strong choice for enterprise applications due to its robust functionality and cloud-based version. While the portal could be improved, the product itself is excellent and, if chosen strategically, can streamline numerous processes.

Technical support response times are slow. While we can escalate critical issues, their carelessness with other matters, especially those impacting business priorities, is a concern. Their slow pace and occasional irresponsibility demonstrate a lack of respect for our time.

Neutral

As a UiPath certified architect and business analyst with extensive experience in UiPath and Automation Anywhere, I find UiPath to be the superior solution for most companies. While both offer cloud-native capabilities, UiPath boasts a more user-friendly interface, requiring less coding knowledge. Its AI Fabric platform provides extensive machine learning capabilities, surpassing Automation Anywhere's limited AI integration. UiPath also excels in bot management and orchestration, offering a user-friendly approach and robust capabilities. Furthermore, UiPath provides stronger security and compliance features, superior third-party integration, and greater pricing flexibility, making it accessible to companies of all sizes, unlike Automation Anywhere, which is often only affordable for mid to large companies. Although Automation Anywhere offers decent cognitive automation, UiPath's ease of use, AI capabilities, and flexible pricing make it the more versatile and comprehensive choice.

The initial deployment was complex, requiring determining the bot type, attended or unattended and bundle handling strategies for multiple bot deployments. This process, driven mainly by configuration and orchestration, can be time-consuming for those without a technical background. Familiarity with the system streamlines deployment, while newcomers or those with limited technical expertise may find it more challenging.

Automation Anywhere is expensive, making it more suitable for enterprise organizations.

I would rate Automation Anywhere eight out of ten.

The benefits of Automation Anywhere projects aren't immediate. Building and implementing a successful automation system involves several stages: proof of concept, pilot process, and finally, production rollout. This process typically takes two to three months due to the necessary development, testing, and refinement. However, once automation is in production, the improvements will be significant and immediately apparent.

In a highly regulated industry with over 10,000 employees, traditional RPA faced strong resistance due to concerns about headcount reduction. To overcome this, we adopted a cognitive automation approach, integrating machine learning capabilities from Automation Anywhere into existing applications. This minimized disruption and ensured a smoother transition. By embedding cognitive automation within familiar and validated systems, we achieved production with minimal resistance. This strategy also allows the system to learn user input through reinforcement learning, adapting to expectations based on feedback and a reward/penalty system. Therefore, we prioritize cognitive automation integrated within our existing products rather than relying solely on a separate RPA suite, especially given the challenges of implementing RPA in a large organization within a highly regulated industry.

Because we use Automation Anywhere in the cloud, they manage all upgrades and provide a defined schedule. We receive regular emails about upcoming upgrades, including the specific date and time. We can communicate any concerns about potential business impacts, and they provide clarity and assurance that upgrades will not disrupt deployed bots. This ensures our work remains unaffected during the upgrade process, which they handle very efficiently.

The bots require maintenance on our end to ensure smooth operation. This includes monitoring their uptime, examining audit trails for failures, and periodically checking their performance. While Automation Anywhere handles regular software updates and maintenance, we are responsible for maintaining the business processes the bots support. This involves ongoing support and ensuring the bots function correctly. If a bot fails, we are responsible for investigating the cause and restoring it to functionality, as we understand the critical role each bot plays in our operations.

To successfully implement Automation Anywhere, prioritize hiring an experienced consultant to provide initial training and guidance. This expert can efficiently onboard other team members, ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing the software's potential. Their expertise will be invaluable in identifying suitable bots from the bot store, even if they require some customization to align with the company's unique processes. This approach saves time and resources compared to developing bots from scratch and leverages existing solutions for faster and more effective automation.

The use cases for Automation Anywhere are industry-agnostic and sector-agnostic, allowing for automation of processes that involve human interaction, mundane tasks, and large volumes. With the help of AI, we can now automate a lot of unstructured data, which wasn't possible before, so it's not limited to any specific sector or process. Whether it's HR, marketing, sales, operations, or engineering design, any of those can be considered for automation.

The main benefits of Automation Anywhere include improved operational efficiency, enhanced productivity savings, increased cost savings, new revenue streams, and a reduction in regulatory human errors. These are some of the major benefits it provides. For example, if a human takes one hour to perform a transaction that involves navigating through multiple systems and inputting data, Automation Anywhere can reduce that time significantly. The bot can complete the task in about 20 minutes, saving roughly 40 minutes per transaction, which translates to a 60%-66% time saving, enhancing overall productivity and cost efficiency.

They have introduced numerous AI-related enhancements in their product, making them the first among their competitors to develop a reasoning engine. Their PRE reasoning engine is particularly noteworthy, and they have quickly integrated Generative AI into their document automation product. Additionally, they offer a variety of other AI features and have designed the platform to be cloud-native. The AI features they have implemented stand out; they are indeed leading the pack. This strategy is impressive and effectively empowers their product with a wide range of AI capabilities, which are increasingly important in today’s tech landscape, especially with the rise of AI, Generative AI, and Agentic AI.

Automation Anywhere also provides Agentic AI-related APIs and is currently testing Agentic process automation in its early stages. In terms of product capabilities and AI integration, I would definitely rate them a ten out of ten. They are the fastest to reach this level of advancement compared to others, who seem to be lagging behind. For example, Blue Prism is progressing quite slowly, and while Power Automate has some AI features, they do not match the scale that Automation Anywhere has achieved.

Its pricing definitely needs to be more competitive. When licensing costs are high, we cannot use this tool for automation. Instead, we might opt for a lower-cost tool like Power Automate which is 50% less expensive.

Power Automate offers very seamless integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, including Azure cloud services and other Microsoft products. In contrast, Automation Anywhere has to rely on external LLMs for integrations. If Automation Anywhere can improve the ease of these integrations and provide them natively within the platform, it would greatly enhance its appeal.

I have been working with Automation Anywhere for over the last eight years, although not extensively in my current role. In previous journeys, I have used it for around three to four years. Currently, we use Automation Anywhere, but not extensively.

At this moment, I'm not sure about the stability of Automation Anywhere, but in previous experiences, I faced challenges with stability, which required ticket submissions for support. We encountered several challenges related to platform and technical issues. For instance, sessions would occasionally get disconnected unexpectedly. In those cases, we would raise a ticket with the vendor to get support. However, since we haven't been using the system extensively, we haven't faced many issues.

All these automation platforms, including Automation Anywhere, are highly scalable; depending on volume, you can adjust the number of bots, scaling instantaneously in the cloud. For on-prem solutions, one must ensure they have the necessary infrastructure ready for scaling.

While it is easy to scale with Automation Anywhere, I have not experienced extensive scaling in my previous encounters. The maximum number of bots we had was around 20.

I haven't raised many tickets recently to evaluate their technical support, but I know they have a dedicated partner manager. It has been good in my previous experience.

Positive

We are also using UiPath, Blue Prism, Power Automate, and the Microsoft stack. Mainly, the license costs of UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism are high, so we use Power Automate and Power Platform heavily.

It is generally easy to deploy. We use Automation Anywhere with both AWS and Azure.

Maintenance is indeed required for Automation Anywhere; you have to follow the vendor's product patches and version upgrades to keep it maintained.

Upgrading Automation Anywhere follows a standard process that they provide detailed instructions for, and we adhere to those guidelines. The upgrade process feels similar to any other software platform; I don't find anything particularly complex or different about it.

There is a separate team for bot maintenance, and if the bots are stable, maintenance needs tend to be low. However, if issues arise, maintenance efforts can significantly increase.

The return on investment from Automation Anywhere varies based on the business case and the benefits versus costs involved; for simpler RPA use cases, ROI can typically be achieved within a year.

Pricing needs to be more competitive, both in terms of licenses and overall expenses. This is crucial because many use cases cannot be automated if it isn't cost-effective.

We have not extensively tried Automation Anywhere with business users because they have added a lot of AI features that are difficult for them to understand. We also do not want to encourage business users to create automations that do not comply with regulations, compliance, and best practices, which presents a risk. Therefore, we've only utilized it within the CoE team for now. 

For existing developers, the learning curve for Automation Anywhere is easy to pick up. However, for business users, it might take some time, especially if they lack a programming background.

I have heard about the Automation Co-Pilot, and it sounds very powerful and useful. The Co-Pilot can generate code based on a natural language prompt, which is a substantial feature as it can reduce development time by 30%-40%, allowing faster shipment of code to production. 

In terms of integration, Automation Anywhere acts as a tool used to develop automation that connects to various systems, such as SAP, Excel, Outlook, and web applications. It doesn't integrate with other solutions directly but helps in automating processes that involve multiple systems. The platform provides capabilities for building various integrations, and that is part of what they sell. Automation Anywhere is fundamentally an automation platform that enables performance across workflows, APIs, business applications, and documents. API integration is possible with Automation Anywhere, but if specific APIs do not already exist, there is no way to create a new API directly within the platform. For that, one needs to create a new API using languages such as Java, Python, or C# before integrating it with Automation Anywhere.

Our organization places high priority on automation and AI. We are using the Microsoft ecosystem for many of our use cases.

For organizations considering Automation Anywhere, I advise that if you are focusing on AI features such as Generative AI or agentic process automation, it's a great choice as they are front runners in incorporating these functionalities early on. However, if licensing costs are a concern, the Microsoft stack would be more beneficial.

I would rate Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten.

We have a lot of use cases for Automation Anywhere. We have some use cases at the customer experience department, we have some for the HR team, and we have more than a few for our billing department. We have quite a few across our different business units.

We have not yet used Agentic AI. One of the main reasons I wanted to come to AA Imagine was to see the demo. What has been stopping us from choosing AI is our company's governance aspect and getting the approvals.

AI governance is quite important for my company in general because I work for a government contracting company. That is one of the challenges that we would need to solve before we integrate any AI capabilities.

What I appreciate the most about Automation Anywhere is how easy it is to use. One thing I noticed in the beginning when we first started using Automation Anywhere was how quickly we were able to learn it. It is very simple and straightforward to use, which is probably the main advantage.

The simplicity of Automation Anywhere has benefited us as we have been able to train our internal employees. It has been very easy to train someone internally versus hiring someone outside of the company.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with Automation Anywhere. The UI is pretty straightforward. However, the customer service could be improved.

I have been using Automation Anywhere in my company for two and a half years.

It can be improved. When we have issues or problems with the software, which is not common, that is one area that could be better. We have had issues in the past where we have had problems with the application, and it has taken a while for someone to get back to us. Overall, we are pretty happy with the application.

Neutral

We were not using another solution prior to Automation Anywhere. This was the first automation tool that we integrated at our company.

My experience with the bot deployment is pretty straightforward. I have an RPA admin who takes care of the deployment. While I cannot speak on his behalf, I would say that the deployment process, from what I know, is pretty straightforward. It is not anything too complicated or complex.

The main challenge we were trying to solve by bringing Automation Anywhere was automating different processes and manual tasks that our employees do. We wanted to help the company save money, and we have been able to do that.

It's justified because we have saved quite a bit of money at the company and many manual hours. Overall, it justifies the cost.

When I joined, my company had already decided on Automation Anywhere. I do not know what other tool they had in mind, but this was the only one.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten. I am happy with the company and my Automation Anywhere journey. There have not been any major issues or problems since we started using it about two and a half years ago. Our leadership at the company is very happy. Our RPA team always gets recognized, and it is because of this tool. This tool has helped us significantly.

I am from the Mechanical Department at a college of engineering. We utilize Automation Anywhere with our students in the mechanical block. I am using it for educational purposes, and we are providing hands-on experiences.

Automation Anywhere is very useful. With Automation Anywhere, we can do any task in the easiest way. If there is any repeated task, then we can replace it with Automation Anywhere to the same work in a short period of time. It helps minimize the work. 

Automation Anywhere is very helpful and interesting to learn for students. It is very user-friendly, so they can easily learn it.

Automation Anywhere is very easy to learn for people who do not have any technical skills. It is very user-friendly. There is no learning difficulty. We can easily drag and drop the required components and make the model we want. We can automate and deploy a function. After one or two attempts, it becomes very clear. It does not take a long time to understand it. We can understand a simple process within thirty minutes, whereas a complex process can take two to four hours.

Automation Co-Pilot is an advanced feature that helps with finding out the next step. It also provides information about more efficient usage. Both Automation Anywhere and Co-Pilot improve productivity. 

Automation Anywhere saves time. The attendance automation that we have saves about two hours each day. We are also able to easily scrape data from structured and unstructured files and write it in the CSV format. IQ Bot does this very well. 

The AI collaboration is the most impressive feature of Automation Anywhere. We can use IQ Bot to extract data from structured and unstructured sources into a CSV file. It is very useful, and my university uses it for the attendance system. With AI integration, we can easily take attendance. 

Other features include easy deployment and automation of repetitive tasks. If we want to automate any repetitive task, we can record it, which is very useful.

It is secure and user-friendly. Automation Anywhere minimizes human effort and time, facilitates learning, and supports automated tasks efficiently.

There are areas of improvement needed, such as complex decision-making skills. When updates are made, the IQ Bot's actions can be affected, leading to decision-making failures. If it had the ability to make decisions in complex situations, the bot would perform more smoothly. More advanced decision-making skills are needed for improvement.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for more than two years.

Automation Anywhere is very stable. I would rate it a ten out of ten for stability.

Its scalability is very good. I would rate it a ten out of ten for scalability.

In the mechanical department, we have more than 130 students. On average, there are 700 users. 

Technical support is easy to access with various communication channels, including emails and personal calls. However, the community forum is sometimes unresponsive. Despite this, personal calls and quick fixes are very useful, providing good technical support.

Neutral

I have experience with Blue Prism from four years ago. Initially, I used both Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere, but Blue Prism required coding, making it challenging. Automation Anywhere's no-code environment made it easier, and I preferred it. My students also favor it for its user-friendliness and affordability compared to Blue Prism. Automation Anywhere allows for easy drag-and-drop actions and is cost-effective for medium and large-scale enterprises.

The cost is high for small-scale businesses but it is fine for medium and large enterprises. Its high licensing cost may affect small-scale businesses. Reducing licensing costs would benefit many users.

Learning Automation Anywhere prepares our students for a better future because the future belongs to RPA Automation. It helps build their automation skills, and we also provide certification to them after learning Automation Anywhere. 

It involves understanding the structure, and once two or three models are deployed, it becomes easier. Using Automation Anywhere is more straightforward than other RPA tools. Bot deployment typically takes three to four hours depending on the process. A simple process can take about thirty minutes and complex ones take two to four hours. There is no time wasted during deployment.

Bots require updates only if there are any changes. Generally, five to ten minutes are enough to maintain the bots. It does not take a lot of time.

I would recommend Automation Anywhere to others. I actively create awareness about it in our classes and recommend it to other institutions for future RPA developers. 

I would rate Automation Anywhere a ten out of ten.

I use Automation Anywhere for a range of automation tasks, including desktop, web, and SAP automation, as well as handling PDF exceptions and facilitating application-to-application automation. Additionally, I establish database connections to perform database automation.

Automation Anywhere is easy to learn and use, even for individuals without technical skills, due to its user-friendly interface.

The learning curve for non-technical users of Automation Anywhere is relatively gentle, allowing them to grasp the basic functionalities and build simple automation quickly.  

Our goal is to reduce manual labor by 200,000 to 300,000 hours over the next five years. We are currently saving approximately 20,000 hours each year through automation, which will result in a total of 100,000 hours saved over five years. The benefits of using Automation Anywhere can be observed within two weeks of implementation.

Generative AI is used in some of our automation processes to eliminate paperwork within a three-hour timeframe.

I have integrated Automation Anywhere with various applications, including SAP, MySQL, and numerous desktop and web-based applications. My experience spans desktop applications, web-based applications like SAP Ariba and other portals, and automation of buying processes. I am confident that I have worked with the full spectrum of applications available in the current market, from desktop-based to cloud-based solutions.

Automation Anywhere can be easily integrated into our automation workflows.

Automation Anywhere saved directors five to seven hours of manual work daily and, from a business structure perspective, more than five times the savings.

Automation Anywhere is easy to use and user-friendly due to its intuitive interface and straightforward implementation architecture, making it accessible even for those without a technical background. Its community edition and clear process workflow make it easier to learn and develop on compared to UiPath or Power Automate, requiring less technical knowledge overall.

The AISense recorder in Automation Anywhere needs improvement in resilience and OCR capabilities, particularly in comparison to UiPath's superior OCR functionality. Furthermore, expanding the Automation Anywhere packages to include a wider range of desktop-based applications would enhance its utility.

Automation Anywhere needs to expand its reach across more industries by strengthening its sales team and increasing its market presence in India and globally. This broader approach will allow them to capture diverse sectors, increasing demand and creating more job opportunities within the company. This expansion is crucial, especially since the current client base utilizing Automation Anywhere remains limited.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for approximately five years.

Automation Anywhere is highly stable, and I rate its stability a ten out of ten.

Automation Anywhere allows for automation at scale, and I rate its scalability as a nine out of ten.

Automation Anywhere has good support features.

Positive

Before using Automation Anywhere, manual methods were used.

The initial setup was easy and took about a week. Two to three people were involved in the deployment.

The deployment was handled by the IT department which involved two to three people.

Automation Anywhere offers competitive and affordable pricing. However, a slight adjustment to align more closely with Power Automate's pricing structure could help them capture a larger share of the market.

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

Other solutions evaluated include UiPath and Power Automate. UiPath provides better OCR and capture capabilities.

I would rate Automation Anywhere nine out of ten.

When I first became interested in the automation market, Automation Anywhere held a significant presence, especially during its expansion into India. While they continue to grow in the Indian market, they need to increase their market share compared to UiPath. From a developer's perspective, UiPath offers far more job opportunities. To be more competitive, Automation Anywhere should proactively expand its presence in industries like healthcare, telecom, and energy. This would lead to increased adoption of their product and create more job opportunities within the Automation Anywhere sector, ultimately benefiting the entire automation industry.

We have over 25 users of Automation Anywhere in our company.

The maintenance is done automatically by Automation Anywhere.

I would recommend using Automation Anywhere to others. It is a user-friendly tool, and developers can learn it quickly. Implementing automation often requires proof of concept, and Automation Anywhere is a viable option.

It can simply reduce the time taken for various tasks. People get tired of doing the same mundane and repetitive work. They also end up working beyond work hours. With a product like Automation Anywhere, you can develop automation that can work after office hours and assist you 24/7. It provides ease to a company.

When it comes to integration, Automation Anywhere and all other RPA tools majorly work through the user interface. I have used Automation Anywhere with some Microsoft products, cloud-based products, and desktop-based applications, so I have used it in all the fields. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to roll it out to the whole organization. However, I have done RPA implementation for many organizations, and I have been working for more than eight years in this field. The basic structure of all the RPA tools is the same, so I know that this tool can be used in production for all types of applications, such as ERP applications like Oracle EBS or Fusion, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and other Microsoft tools, and, lastly, the desktop applications or terminals. I have done the training of Automation Anywhere. I am certified in Automation Anywhere, and I have experience working with all applications and tools using Automation Anywhere. The integration is very simple. One should only know which feature of Automation Anywhere is to be used to integrate with any of these applications. With the help of the training, one can automate any document or application process using Automation Anywhere.

For me, the best feature of Automation Anywhere is that it is totally cloud-based. We do not need to set up anything in VMs or other machines. It can directly work on the cloud. The orchestration and the control room are well-defined. For development, it provides drag-and-drop activities and automated workflow. In a nutshell, two things that are very helpful in Automation Anywhere are the control room and drag-and-drop activities.

If someone honestly and sincerely completes the basic training available on the portal of Automation Anywhere, one can be a good RPA developer, architect, or engineer. The training available on Automation Anywhere's portal is very helpful for getting someone started with it quickly. One can start using it within one week of dedicated learning.

A standardized improvement area for any RPA tool is making it more user-friendly. This can be done by allowing users to give instructions in their language. For example, one should be able to say in his or her language to automate the login page of the XYZ application. It should be able to create a flow based on the information or screenshots that the user provides. This is the next step that Automation Anywhere should be able to achieve. Based on the information given by a user in the dialog box, the tool should be smart enough to prepare a workflow that the user can simply play and test. It is more related to AI than RPA.

Its stability can also be better.

I started using it eight to nine years ago. 

I would rate it a seven out of ten for stability. Sometimes, things are not updated in real-time.

I know companies that are using Automation Anywhere in a global environment across different countries. It is a very good product in that aspect.

In our organization, there are 10 to 15 people working with Automation Anywhere. For maintenance, there are around three people, but they are also doing the development. There are weekly meetings to manage the bots and target applications.

I did not get a chance to work in the production environment, but for my personal grooming, I requested help a couple of times, and I got a good response from them.

Neutral

I have experience with other products such as UiPath, Blue Prism, and Power Automate.

Previously, Automation Anywhere was not very user-friendly in comparison to UiPath, but now, it is totally cloud-based. It has all the drag-and-drop features, and any nontechnical person can work with Automation Anywhere. However, at that time, this was not the case. We had a team from the fields of IT, accounting, and business consultants. We wanted a product that could be used by everyone instead of just a technical person. That was why we selected UiPath, whereas now, Automation Anywhere has improved a lot. It has all the features and functionalities of other RPA programs, and it is quite easy to use. At the time, Automation Anywhere required a bit of query writing, whereas UiPath was simply drag and drop. Now, Automation Anywhere is a good product, and it has all the features that other RPA products have.

Among all these three products, UiPath is the most stable and has the least number of bugs. Automation Anywhere is at the second number. It has the same functionalities and features as UiPath, and it can do all the things in the same way as UiPath. Automation Anywhere and UiPath are almost on the same page.

I am not sure about the cost of Automation Anywhere, but UiPath starts from $420 per month. I believe Automation Anywhere is more expensive than UiPath, so UiPath has an edge over Automation Anywhere.

Microsoft Power Automate has almost all the RPA features. It can automate semi-complex robots, but it is not suitable for more complex processes. However, its cost is not even a quarter of other products. It has a cost of $15 per month. It is the best tool. If a company wants to buy a product with the lowest cost, I would always recommend Microsoft Power Automate. As the head of automation, I handle the automation strategy. I do a comparative analysis of all the products. I also inform customers or vendors about what they can achieve from the RPA technology.

The deployment is straightforward. 

Process Automation takes from one week to six weeks depending upon the complexities of the process to be automated. In terms of maintenance, whenever the interface of any product or website changes, it is a nightmare for the developer. When you automate your tasks, there should be a maintenance activity at least every month so that no complaints come from the business users.

I first used it to do a PoC. I had to do a comparative analysis of the leading RPA products such as Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, and UiPath. At that time, I decided to go with UiPath. UiPath was cost-effective compared to Blue Prism. Automation Anywhere was a bit lower in cost than UiPath, but UiPath was more user-friendly, so we decided to have UiPath in our organization.

We first explored the functionalities and features of the product instead of doing some kind of use cases. Later on, when we selected the product, we developed the use cases in different areas, such as in the area of master data management for the recording of transaction authorizations in the ERP system. We tested Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, and UiPath. The use case was related to master data. At that time, in 2016 or 2017, Automation Anywhere was not that user-friendly in comparison to UiPath. Since then, I have seen a lot of improvement in Automation Anywhere. In some aspects, I feel it is far better than UiPath.

If you are starting with RPA without any prior knowledge, you should focus on the training available on Automation Anywhere's portal. Previously, UiPath's training material was the best, whereas now, Automation Anywhere's training material is the best. It is like spoon-feeding a baby. Anyone who is new in the field of RPA can easily learn from the Automation Anywhere website. It would take you a dedicated one week to learn Automation Anywhere.

I have not used the Automation Co-pilot feature. I believe that the future of any RPA or AI product is where a business user can give requirements in his words or language, such as English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, German, or Norwegian, and the product is smart enough to develop the code for the user. The user can simply use that code. I see this feature in some of the RPA products, but they are not very good at it now. They can understand some of the things, but the output is not very good and impressive.

I would recommend other RPA solutions because of the stability part. It sometimes does not update itself in real time. Sometimes, there is also a factor of cost. I would then recommend Microsoft Power Automate.

Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere a seven out of ten.

I am working specifically in the finance sector of every single business. Currently, I am collaborating with the finance department of a company to automate their reconciliation and other processes. It works well with ERP automation and similar tasks.

Before Automation Anywhere, we had Python automation packages. The challenging part about that was it required a lot of coding and error handling. That becomes very complicated, whereas in Automation Anywhere, we already have the framework. We just need to put the logic and all the error handling is done by the Automation Anywhere framework. It is quite good. The availability of frameworks for error handling allowing users to insert logic without additional handling is valuable.

They have an AI platform with GenAI implemented to help us generate anything that is necessary for automation.

Co-Pilot is an interface between a human and a bot. It helps us to give basic instructions or human-related intelligence to a particular bot to complete certain processes. It is quite an important part of automation when we need a human to decide what to do.

It definitely increases productivity. If a human takes six to seven hours to complete a process, a bot can do it within two to three hours with the help of a human if we include Co-Pilot.

When it comes to integration, I have integrated Automation Anywhere with Microsoft Dynamics, Excel, SAP, and Salesforce. All business and enterprise applications are pretty compatible with Automation Anywhere.

The benefits of Automation Anywhere can be seen immediately.

Automation Anywhere has a drag-and-drop feature eliminating the need for extensive coding.

It has a large supportive community. They support you at every single step. Their Apeople community is similar to the GitHub community. They are immensely helpful in developing automation bots.

One area requiring improvement is the debugging process. When I use a multi-structure with conditions to switch from one bot to another, successful debugging of the entire process is not feasible. Each bot has to be debugged individually.

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

The stability of the automation depends on the applications being automated. For very old or legacy applications, there may be crashes. However, with the latest applications, there are no significant issues like freezing or crashing.

It is quite flexible. For cloud-based applications, there is the option of APIs. For Windows-based applications, it provides UI interface automation, which enhances its scalability.

Technical support is quite good, offering silver, gold, and diamond levels depending on the license. I have had instances of contacting support for compatibility issues, and they provide solutions such as patches. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the support as eight.

Positive

I have used Microsoft's Power Automate, which is excellent for automation processes within Microsoft-related products. However, it lacks efficacy with other applications such as SAP, Salesforce, and others.

The setup varies with the deployment type. Cloud deployment is straightforward with only a few steps. Dealing with on-premises can be more complex due to customization for specific organizational needs.

The upgrades are quite easy. You just need to select the appropriate version suitable for your business. You need to contact Automation Anywhere, and they will do it for you. There are no hidden charges.

It requires maintenance. If you update your basic application, you also need to update Automation Anywhere to that level. If your application is old or not compatible with Automation Anywhere, they can create some sort of patch to link those applications together.

A single person can manage the deployment if they are purchasing the correct license with support. Alternatively, without direct support, an organization might need at least one professional and one developer.

For business users, there is a separate dashboard and UI to help automate their process. If you are very new to Automation Anywhere but have a basic knowledge of your processes, you can directly automate with Automation Anywhere. If you have basic knowledge of any programming language, it is easy. You can also go to Automation Anywhere University and go through some basic videos. A new person can get started with it within 15 days.

I would rate Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten overall.

As a financial institution, a lot of collections activity processing, invoices, and billing related to our collections activities is my primary use case for Automation Anywhere. That's really where I've been focused for these past few weeks. We're expanding into very ground-level things, consolidating reports from multiple systems, doing these basic use cases to start.

The features of Automation Anywhere improve my company by making deployment and maintenance of our automations a smoother process overall. We can make changes much quicker when we need to and it's definitely simpler for other affiliated people in the company to understand, including those who might not be working in the systems daily. It's put together efficiently enough that it's user-friendly for non-professional developers to handle.

The thing I appreciate most about Automation Anywhere is how integrated the aspects of it are. I also worked with another platform in a different company for two years and it wasn't nearly as integrated, and it required a lot of effort and time trying to get everything to communicate together, from version controlling and deployment. The simple act of engaging was more complex. 

Regarding the development environment, I'm really pleased with Automation Anywhere and enjoy using it. One place I find regular struggles is with basic documentation, including details about different commands or applications that are natively in the system. I tend to have to do test development on my own to find answers that should probably be in the documentation. That does slow things down, but once I get the information I need, it's really great to use overall.

To make it a ten, I would suggest more access to basic information, maybe more distributed use of it on the web. I don't find a lot outside of the internal community forum. It doesn't get much attention or use on Stack Overflow or other public community platforms. The responsiveness and amount of community engagement needs improvement. When I post questions, I seldom get answers fast.  When I do, I am usually just directed to the standard documentation, which I have already reviewed and found to be lacking the answers to my questions.

I've been using the solution for two years at my current role, and a total of about four years altogether.

The deployment has been pretty smooth. We haven't had an issue with anything. Mostly, it's getting all of our internal security and things like that locked in so that we can go through.

I don't have any specifics about the pricing. It's not in my area.

We are not using Automation Anywhere AI feature set at the moment. We just took the training courses in the past few weeks and are learning about it, and I'm hoping to get hands-on sessions to get experience using the tools.  Right now, we're looking forward to developing some use cases that we can start engaging.

The biggest challenges for me and my company in the age of AI stem from being a financial institution and credit union, which creates a particularly conservative environment. This takes more evangelism to get adopted, as financial institutions tend to have more regulatory compliance issues that we must be very conscientious of, so we have to proceed slower on that front.

AI governance is definitely getting attention and discussion in my company. Everyone has accepted that it's going to be a huge part of the landscape in the very near future, so it's important to ensure we have everything managed and planned within compliance for protecting private, personal information.

With our department structure, I personally don't utilize the Automation Anywhere COE, or Center of Excellence manager. I believe our managers and business analysts do, but that's not something as a developer I get involved with.

We haven't deployed any document automation in our current processes. We've done extensive exploration and have paid contracts for a certain number of documents, but we haven't had a beneficial, deployable use case yet. We know they're there, but we have easier tasks to tackle first.

Overall, I'd give Automation Anywhere probably an eight on a scale from one to ten.