Automation Anywhere Reviews

I was working for an airline client that had their processes in the mainframe. The application Sabre that they had was all terminal-based. It was very difficult to navigate and capture everything. We automated a lot of tasks related to validation. For example, when someone booked a flight ticket and tried to cancel it, they needed to give some reason. We had rule-based validation, so we had to validate the reasons and assess them. Previously, it was all manual and terminal-based, and then we used Automation Anywhere to automate.

We also used Automation Anywhere to do a lot of PO manipulation. It was done in an application called Coupa. We used to do that automation with APIs. API automation was very easy with Automation Anywhere. We used it to automate such tasks.

Automation Anywhere was introduced as an RPA tool to facilitate the digital transformation journey of the client organization. They wanted to eliminate a lot of manual tasks and provide quality work for their employees rather than them doing manual activities. They also wanted to make sure that a process was in place. They wanted a very low code or no code automation so that even business people could upscale themselves and automate. They wanted to free up their employees from such manual tasks and have a lot of bandwidth to do some other research.

In the use case related to the cancellation of a ticket, a lot of things have to be handled. When you cancel a ticket, the airline has to make an update at a lot of places. Only then you would get the refund. It involves a lot of processes. They could be related to the meal or something else. Even if you have not subscribed to any add-ons, all the checkboxes have to be ticked, and only after everything is cleared, you get your refund. Before automation, the refund process was very tedious. When they were doing it manually, any mistake could lead to incorrect transactions. For example, they might end up transferring a different amount. It was a very tedious process, and it was handled with the Sabre application, which was not very user-friendly. It was mostly a terminal-based mainframe application. It had a user interface, but a person with good experience was required for it. A fresher or somebody less experienced could not do it. You needed to know where exactly to go, and there were a lot of things that you had to learn to do this process. It was always done by an experienced engineer, and it was very manual involving navigating different screens. During COVID-19 times, there was a shortage of employees, and the airline was handling a lot of regulations, so this manual process became more problematic. At that time, we introduced Automation Anywhere. We were targeting only 50% automation, but we were able to automate 80% to 90%. It significantly improved the time to process a request and reduced the dependency on a senior engineer for the process. The robot could handle the process. We had programmed the robot. It was a very good experience. It helped the client navigate through tough times.

When you decide to automate a process, you try to understand the process in and out. You try to understand the exception scenarios and how to solve them. You prepare a process discovery document. While doing this documentation, you try to streamline the process because Automation Anywhere, as a tool, needs to be configured to automate that process. It forces us to ask a lot of questions, such as what if the file to be downloaded is not there. You come across all such things at the initial phase. That helps a person to restructure the process and fine-tune it more strategically. It saves a lot of time. It has plenty of features to do Excel operations. It has a lot of capability for querying. You can read data from Excel and process it using a query. You do not have to do Excel operations one by one. It is very quick. If a person is taking 30 minutes to do the operation, it takes only seconds or minutes to finish it. It provides a lot of efficiency.

You also have a lot of traceability. You have a lot of logs. You can see what happened after a process. When you have an audit, you have some traceability. A person doing a task does not always document each and every step. He or she would just do the task and finish it off. When you automate the process with Automation Anywhere, because the robot is doing the tasks, you get a lot of logs and a lot of traceability for auditing.

At the initial stages of automation, you also redefine and optimize a process. Instead of downloading 4 Excel files at different places, you try to standardize it. You give a standard name and a standard path. Everything is standardized, and a lot of focus is put on security and data privacy. We are very conscious of not saving it at any location that is accessible to anybody else. Subconsciously, we do all these checks. It improves the security and data privacy aspects. It also leads to process optimization. Like any RPA tool, it saves a lot of time, and it is efficient, and then logs are there as a good source of tracking.

Automation Anywhere is easy. It takes one to two weeks to introduce a non-technical person to this solution. They already have good domain knowledge, and they just need to know how to work with the tool. In about a week, we will be able to train them in basics. We can show them the interface. We can show them what goes where, but they will not be able to develop full automation or know about full RPA coding. They can get the basic knowledge in one to two weeks. Full training will require building a use case. It could be a small use case. If a developer would take four weeks, which includes development, testing, and other things, a non-technical person would require eight weeks. Only then a person will be able to learn completely and become a very good developer.

In terms of integration, there was SAP integration and Sabre integration. There was one more application. I worked only with these applications. If there is a component available, the integration goes smoothly. When you want to go for something customized and you try to build an integration, it is very challenging, but that is common with all the tools. When you try an out-of-the-box integration, it is very easy because they would have already tested that it is working. When you try to build something or customize it, that is when the challenges come. I have seen plenty of challenges with Automation Anywhere when you go for something that is not there in the package. You need a lot of support from the team and a lot of effort. The security restrictions from the organization were also stopping the integration. It was not happening. A lot of errors came, and we had to reach out to the network team and the security team. There were networking and security issues that had to be resolved.

Automation Anywhere has saved time and costs, but I do not have the metrics.

I have not used the recent versions, but it provides a great way to automate. Excel automation is quite valuable. Initially, it was only there in Automation Anywhere. It was not very popular with other automation tools. Excel automation is a very good feature. A lot of back-office activities happen in Excel. It is a very needed feature that Automation Anywhere provides.

In 2021, Automation Anywhere switched from on-premises to cloud. They renamed it as A360. They brought the required changes with this version. Before that, they used to have a line-by-line code view. They did not have a flowchart diagram, but it was very much needed. Because it was low code, a pictorial representation of the code was something that was missing in Automation Anywhere. It was there in UiPath and Power Automate at the time. Automation Anywhere then introduced two views. That gave people the option to use the view that they were comfortable with. That was a very brilliant move. Having two options made it very accessible.

It is very user-friendly. The AI capability that nowadays I am seeing in Automation Anywhere is very good. They have plug-and-play AI solutions. You do not need to know a lot about coding or AI to implement AI in your automation. You can just use their plug-and-play solutions. That is where its real strength is.

Automation Anywhere is easy, but the Automation Anywhere courses are not so easy. All RPA tools have their own academy where business users can go and learn the solution and do things themselves. Automation Anywhere courses are a little bit complex to understand. You need a little bit more time, and accessibility is also a little bit of an issue. They should focus a bit more on the academy and learning materials on their portal. The content should be easy to understand. It is not easy to grasp for a non-technical person. It should be easy for citizen developers. Also, their certification is very costly.

There should be more visibility as an RPA product. Every organization is trying to stick with certain tools. I like Automation Anywhere, and I would like to work with it, but I am not getting an opportunity. Automation Anywhere is not promoting itself to other organizations. Organizations are moving towards Power Automate and UiPath. It could be because Automation Anywhere is not reaching out to companies.

Their community events are also less. There are not many developer events in the cities where IT is there. In Bangalore, India, most of the IT companies are there, so we get to go to a lot of conferences. We get to hear a lot from other vendors, but Automation Anywhere's events are very limited. They should take care of their presence in the community and companies.

They should introduce videos for the new features. They should promote new features. They should be known to people. They should be accessible to people. Only then developers or companies will know about it. Only then, it will get used. There are probably plenty of good features, but they are not known or explored.

I worked with Automation Anywhere for 2 years.

It is a stable product. I would rate it a 7 out of 10 for stability. It is not a perfect product, but it is improving every day.

It is not very scalable. I would rate it a 6 out of 10. After you have built your robot, if you want to make some changes, you can do that, but if you built a robot and you want to make it an AI-enabled robot, it is quite a challenging task.

There were many users of this solution. I was a part of the Center of Excellence. The finance team and HR team were also trying to use it. There were more than 50 people for this solution.

I was getting good support from them. I would rate them a 9 out of 10. They were always very helpful to me. My colleagues have had a bit of a bad experience, but I did not. I have raised a few tickets, and every time, the person was attentive and helped me out. They were very patient. They were straight to the point. They knew the technology.

I am working with UiPath and Power Automate. Automation Anywhere has got its own benefits and its own strong points, and the same is applicable to other vendors. It is just about which one your organization is aligned with and which one your organization has chosen to go forward with. However, other vendors are better in terms of reach. Even if I am not working on Power Automate for six to seven months, I get to learn about it. I see a lot of things on LinkedIn. There are communities where I can go to learn and keep myself updated, whereas, about Automation Anywhere, I do not see much information. I have to exclusively go and spend a lot of time to find the information. That is where I see the difference.

It was on-prem before, and then we migrated to A360. It was already deployed when I joined, so I do not know about it, but migration took 4 to 5 months.

There were 4 people mainly focusing on migration. It was a bit complex because it was new, and there was not a lot of material available online. It was a little complex, but later, it became smooth. We reported a lot of bugs, and other people also reported them. It was very smooth.

It is cost-efficient in terms of licensing. I found their support good when I was working for the airline client. However, I hear from my managers here that the support price for Tier 3 or premium is a little higher. That is why we are not going for Automation Anywhere. Its price was okay for our client, but for us, it seems expensive.

Automation Anywhere was a tool that was decided by our client. They were very much satisfied with how work was progressing. It gave them faster results, and it helped them navigate through the Covid-19 situation.

I would recommend Automation Anywhere. It is a very solid product. I have always vouched for it. I see a lot of potential because it is very easy and it was a stable product when I was working with it. They were very careful about their releases. They were not releasing a lot of things, which is something I see in other products. With Automation Anywhere, each release is very carefully tested.

They introduce new features, but I have noticed that in India, the market for Automation Anywhere is not very big. I am not getting to work on Automation Anywhere because companies are moving to Power Automate and UiPath, so I am not able to learn it more. It is difficult to get hold of this solution.

In terms of our organization’s perspective when it comes to automation and AI, specifically Generative AI (GenAI), we want about 50% of the income coming from IT and services. Automation and AI are placed at the top of the strategy. We are moving towards RPA plus AI and ML. It is almost like hyperautomation or intelligent automation. This is one focus area, and another one is Pure Generative AI and data. The data part is handled by a different organization. We are looking into how to drive insights from data analytics and how to leverage the GenAI technology outside and derive value from it. These are highly focused areas.

I would rate Automation Anywhere an 8 out of 10. I liked working with it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for almost ten years.

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.

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.

We use Automation Anywhere most of the time to automate Excel and the SAP system. I used to work for Bajaj Electricals. We are the vendor of Bajaj Electrical India Private Limited. There, most of the data are being pushed into SAP. We are getting data from SAP and manipulating it, and we are preparing reports every day.

The most valued feature of Automation Anywhere is its Excel functionality. Earlier in my career, I used Process Studio as my RPA tool. There was no flexibility of retrieving single cells. We used to fetch the total Excel and we used to apply the filters to get those cells. Automation Anywhere has the flexibility to extract data from Excel.

For non-technical users, some technical knowledge is needed in Automation Anywhere, so they cannot use it as flexibly as developers can. In my earlier career, when using a data table in Automation Anywhere and wanting to merge columns, there was a plugin called Group By. In Automation Anywhere, we have to create variables and append the data to a single variable one by one to get that flexibility. Having an activity for grouping columns would be great. For reading data from Excel, providing a single button to fetch all data columns would make it more flexible for developers. For filtering purposes in Automation Anywhere, we have to apply if conditions and additional conditions to get the appropriate data. Introducing filter activities would change the perspective of developing.

I have been using Automation Anywhere in my career for two months.

In terms of crashing, I have seen some crashes, but they were from other software such as SAP, WinSCP, and Outlook. There were no issues from Automation Anywhere.

The bots in Automation Anywhere are totally scalable. If the developer builds robust robots in parts, then we can use those parts for other processes by integrating them. I have built bots in many parts, such as SAP login. After performing applications, we close all applications. We have built those bots, and we call them once our process is done, so it will close all applications and erase the caches.

I would rate technical support for Automation Anywhere a six.

I have used Process Studio as an alternative to Automation Anywhere. I prefer Process Studio more than Automation Anywhere. Process Studio was launched around 2017 and managed to get into the IDFC First Bank headquarters. According to IDFC use cases, Process Studio was trained and built with more flexibility for business use cases. Automation Anywhere is not as flexible as Process Studio. In Automation Anywhere, performing activities such as downloading, fetching, and data manipulation requires 20 to 30 lines of code. Process Studio gives multiple windows in a single activity, making data manipulation easier. For reading Excel, XLSV, XLSB, XLS files, there was a single plugin. Process Studio's plugins are more flexible than Automation Anywhere.

Having used Process Studio, the initial deployment for Automation Anywhere was not difficult for me. I referred to YouTube videos for guidance. The only challenge was figuring out how to input my device name, which took one to two days until colleagues helped. If some data could populate automatically after installation, it would be beneficial.

For a beginner, Automation Anywhere is a great tool. I have learned UiPath also, which comes with complexities but has frameworks for smooth business flow. Automation Anywhere comes with a beginner-friendly interface. The tool can be learned within five to ten days of training. We haven't used the Automation Co-pilot yet. Once a developer knows all the activities in Automation Anywhere, upgrades become less necessary. Integration with WhatsApp business use cases to send messages would be beneficial. Integration with additional systems beyond SAP, WinSCP, and PDF would make it more flexible in business scenarios. Automation Anywhere can contact me in the future regarding questions about this review. I rate this solution 9 out of 10.

Our company uses Automation Anywhere for enterprise automation of various finance tasks, focusing on accounting. This includes processing accounts payable invoices, managing oil and gas revenue, extracting data from text, and downloading files from our ERP system. These automated processes, some of which are business-critical and complex, enhance efficiency and accuracy within our finance operations.

Automation Anywhere has helped to address process bottlenecks and departmental inefficiency. It is used as an attempt to streamline operations.

It simplifies the management of complex workloads.

Automation Anywhere has a significant learning curve, but it is understandable and reasonable. Having a support team makes the process easier compared to learning it independently.

The training for non-technical users takes one to two months.

We've integrated numerous tools with Automation Anywhere, most notably our accounting system, which is interfaced via SQL and terminal. Additionally, we utilize RPA to interact with various systems employed by other departments.

One of the strengths of Automation Anywhere is its user-friendly interface, which makes it accessible even to those without a development background. As someone who began with no coding knowledge, I found it a great entry point into the world of automation. This accessibility, compared to tools like UiPath, stems from its intuitive design. Furthermore, the capacity to deploy RPA solutions across various virtual devices, a common feature in RPA, is invaluable for streamlining and scaling automation efforts.

Automation Anywhere's API feature is a fantastic offering, providing the valuable ability to call or execute tasks.

As a developer, I find Automation Anywhere's bot editor riddled with minor workflow issues that hinder productivity. For instance, the broken bot package versioning system prevents copying and pasting code between bots with different package versions, a stark contrast to the flexibility of Python. This inconvenience arises even when transferring code between bots within the same process, significantly disrupting workflow. While there are other minor improvements I could suggest, Automation Anywhere has been, albeit slowly, addressing our concerns.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for five years.

The stability of Automation Anywhere is quite good, with few outages from the platform itself.

Automation Anywhere is a very scalable product capable of handling large-scale automation operations.

In my experience, Automation Anywhere's technical support has been lacking. Many of their representatives don't understand the product enough to offer effective assistance. As a developer, it's frustrating to encounter issues and try to communicate them to support staff who seem unfamiliar with the underlying technology. This lack of product knowledge hinders effective troubleshooting and resolution.

Our current support plan is the most basic, so I don't anticipate a quick resolution. However, they generally respond within the expected timeframe for this level of support.

Neutral

Although I wasn't involved in deploying Automation Anywhere, I recall the process being straightforward and immediately successful for the company.

The implementation included a team of four to five individuals supported by a contractor.

We evaluated UiPath and another product that I cannot recall.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten.

My experience upgrading Automation Anywhere from an on-premise solution to the cloud was challenging despite some helpful features. While a tool was provided to convert version 11 tasks to 360, it introduced unnecessary code during migration. This inefficiency may be specific to Automation Anywhere or a common issue with automation upgrades. Regardless, the process was lengthy and tedious.

Automation Anywhere requires considerable maintenance due to a combination of factors. Our automation of an older Java-based accounting solution causes some challenges. Additionally, automating browser-based tasks in large oil and gas SaaS companies leads to frequent breakage of bots when the underlying HTML or code changes. Consequently, ongoing maintenance is necessary and will be a permanent responsibility for our maintenance team, which includes our project leader and a group of developers.

Establish consistent policies and procedures before doing anything. This aligns with the Center of Excellence framework. Having clear, consistent policies is important before building bots and implementing solutions.

I utilize Automation Anywhere for automation purposes. Recently, I completed a project for a client in the telecom sector. The project involved automating their monthly bill review system for customers. Previously, this system required on-site employees to check millions of invoices each month manually. A dedicated department then verified these invoices, sent them to customers, and verified payment status after payment. This process was time-consuming. We used Automation Anywhere's RPA and OCR capabilities and the AI document processing module to analyze document structures and verify tabs. We then automated various steps like accessing the portal, applying checks, and sending invoices via email. Now, the entire process is automated, triggered by a robot each month.

The main challenge which organizations want to address through any implemented RPA solution is the repetitive nature of their tasks. Instead of having ten employees perform the same monotonous task from nine to five every day, a single RPA robot can handle the workload, freeing those employees to focus on tasks that require human intervention. Automation is ideal for repetitive tasks, such as processing millions of invoices monthly, which can now be managed by a few RPA robots working around the clock. This allows employees to explore new opportunities, which is the primary goal of automation and the main reason for using RPA or any automation technology. Most automation technologies have features that enable this shift. However, automation is not suitable for all tasks; tasks requiring approvals or human judgment cannot be automated.

The deployment model varies depending on the client. In Pakistan, I worked with several clients using ABL who opted for cloud deployment. However, clients dealing with highly confidential and sensitive data, such as banks and telecommunications companies, prefer on-premises solutions. In contrast, clients in sectors like healthcare might be more open to utilizing cloud infrastructure.

Automation Anywhere has enabled repetitive tasks previously done manually to be automated.

Regarding RPA, ever since generative AI was introduced, we have ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The advent of these generative AI models has shifted the automation landscape. Automation has moved from Robotic Process Automation towards Intelligent Process Automation. The difference between RPA and IPA lies in their ability to handle changes. For example, if a website form changes its layout, a traditional RPA bot might fail because it can't identify the fields or buttons in their new positions. However, with IPA, the bot is intelligent enough to understand the fields' requests and can still process the data regardless of UI changes. Besides this, numerous other IPA use cases leverage Large Language Models and generative AI. For instance, a company could have a trained dataset monitored by an RPA bot, which then uses generative AI to create and send daily reports to top management, analyzing current numbers concerning past performance. This is a fascinating area that I've been exploring and working on lately.

For business users without technical skills, automation is achievable depending on the complexity of the task. Simple processes like sending custom emails from an Excel list can be easily automated with basic tutorials. While time and practice are necessary for mastery, basic automation can be initiated with just a few introductory videos.

We recently started using Automation Anywhere Copilot, so we haven't had the opportunity to integrate it with many of our automations. However, we have integrated it with SAP, where the bot reviews SAP data and provides the user with the required information at runtime. I have utilized this feature, and it's quite interesting. They also offer integrations with many other software, so the integration level is relatively high. Regardless of the type of features the business uses, whether they are using Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, or even AWS, integrations are available. They provide custom APIs that can be used for integration.

Automation Copilot helped increase our productivity by 60 percent.

Copilot has enabled staff to focus on other tasks by automating processes. For instance, the business department aimed to automate 350 processes this year, but by September, they had already surpassed that goal with 370 automations. Similarly, last year's target of 250 automations was exceeded, reaching 300. This increased efficiency has significantly improved workflows.

Our primary application of Generative AI for our telecom client is to detect service outages, such as when an area experiences a loss of service. We've been strategically planning our Generative AI approach for this year and the next, focusing on utilizing RPA to identify potential solutions and valuable insights within our data. For instance, in the context of outages, we aim to pinpoint the areas with the highest outage frequency, understand the reasons behind those outages, and correlate that information with customer complaint data. By analyzing metrics like complaint resolution times and outage resolution times, we can create a benchmark that helps us identify areas where we can enhance our customer service.

The amount of time Automation Anywhere helps save is dependent on the automated task. For example, the bill review task we automated helped save 10,000 hours per month.

We have several custom ERPs used internally but primarily rely on Microsoft Dynamics. We have a BCRM portal built on the Dynamics portal, hosting both our BCRM business-facing and CRM customer-facing systems. We also utilize Excel with VBA macros and other platforms, including Kofax for OCR. Kofax's Arabic language detection capabilities are crucial for processing UAE ID cards containing Arabic text. Kofax is our organization-wide OCR solution, integrated with Automation Anywhere. Overall, we have integrated Automation Anywhere with various software solutions.

Integrating Automation Anywhere into our workflows, APIs, and business automation is simple. RPA functions like a digital employee, and we can instruct them to perform tasks. Any activity currently done by a human employee can be done via RPA. However, the crucial question is whether it should be automated. If a task is performed infrequently, such as once every six months, creating an automation is inefficient. The time spent developing the automation could be better used to complete the task manually. Automation is ideal for repetitive tasks performed frequently. If a task isn't repetitive, automating it might not be beneficial. Regarding the capabilities of automation, nearly any work an employee performs on an organization's system has the potential to be automated.

Automation Anywhere has a persistent click-related issue that can make automation difficult, particularly in unattended environments. Even the Automation Anywhere team is aware of this problem, which has existed for several years. When automating tasks on a website, clicks may not work as expected in an unattended environment despite functioning correctly otherwise. The Automation Anywhere team has had numerous meetings to address this issue, but a solution remains elusive.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for almost four years.

Automation Anywhere's ability to provide automation at scales is dependent on how well it can integrate with every platform. I would rate the scalability seven out of ten.

I compare all other RPA tools to UiPath, which has excellent support—I'd rate it ten out of ten. In contrast, I'd rate Automation Anywhere's support six out of ten.

Neutral

In addition to Automation Anywhere, we also use UiPath, and Power Automate.

It ultimately depends on the client's preference for an RPA solution. In my opinion, UiPath remains the leading option in the market, unmatched by any competitor. Automation Anywhere currently holds the second position, but I anticipate Power Automate surpassing it in the future. However, UiPath is considerably ahead of the competition, leaving Automation Anywhere as a distant second. While Automation Anywhere is a suitable alternative, UiPath's high pricing can be a factor in the decision-making process. A lot of our clients choose Automation Anywhere because it is cheaper than UiPath to implement. Power Automate is the solution often chosen by businesses that already have other Microsoft solutions integrated into their environment.

The primary distinction among these RPA tools lies in the connectors and capabilities offered by Power Automate. Many businesses already utilize Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics, with most BI-related software relying on Tableau or Power BI. While some smaller-scale operations may still use Excel for dashboards, it's becoming increasingly uncommon. Power Automate's built-in custom connectors for Microsoft products provide a significant advantage. Overall, Power Automate has proven to be a game-changer, exceeding expectations with its features, custom connections, and level of support. While not currently the case, it's conceivable that with further enhancements, Power Automate could eventually surpass Automation Anywhere in the market.

While I wasn't involved in the initial deployment, I contributed to the migration from version A11 to A360. This was a major undertaking, spanning six months and presenting numerous challenges. Despite encountering various issues, we ultimately achieved a successful migration.

Cloud deployment is straightforward, while on-premises setup requiring server configuration can be challenging. A cloud deployment typically takes no more than one business day.

We have two teams: the operations team and the development team. The operations team handles deployment and typically consists of one or two people. The development team's size varies depending on the number of processes requiring automation. For fewer processes, one developer may suffice; however, we may engage five or even six developers for numerous processes.

Automation Anywhere provides good cost savings.

Automation Anywhere's price is considerably better than UiPath's.

I evaluated Robocorp from a POC point of view.

I rate Automation Anywhere eight out of ten.

Challenges in implementing Automation Anywhere depend on the process being automated. For instance, if your organization adopts Automation Anywhere, infrastructure won't be the primary concern as their cloud setup is straightforward. The real challenges lie in the processes themselves. RPA automates processes, so if, for example, in bill review, some invoices are unclear due to being scanned images, the robot might struggle to process them correctly. This is a process-related challenge, not an RPA implementation issue. To address this, instead of incorrect automation, we set a confidence threshold, say 80 percent, below which invoices are flagged for manual review. Thus, RPA implementation focuses on the process itself. Businesses have numerous processes across operations, products, clients, and consultations. The key is to identify these processes and determine suitable solutions. RPA involves instructing the robot on the required steps, which it follows diligently. However, even if ten employees perform the same task, each might have their own approach. Therefore, understanding the process from the user's perspective is crucial to identifying the optimal workflow. This ideal process is then programmed into the robot, ensuring consistent execution. It's important to remember that RPA, including Automation Anywhere, has limitations and cannot deviate from its instructions or make independent decisions.

Automating more complex processes requires a deeper understanding of coding concepts like loops, regardless of the automation scale. I teach UiPath Studio X, which is designed for business users without a coding background. It is a good starting point. Training in Studio X includes teaching basic coding concepts, emphasizing their connection to familiar Excel functions. This approach helps users understand the logic behind automation and bridge the gap between their existing skills and new concepts.

The learning curve for RPA automation, depending on your desired level of mastery, is manageable. It is key to understand all the features and how they work, including the AI-powered ones. Basic RPA automation can be learned in about four to five months, allowing someone to start working as an RPA developer. However, working on an actual project for a year or a year and a half is recommended to become a true expert. This provides ample time to learn the ins and outs of Automation Anywhere, understand the challenges, and develop solutions.

Upgrading Automation Anywhere to a newer version on the same platform is straightforward, but our migration from the obsolete on-premise A11 to the cloud-based A360 required moving every single business process, which was time-consuming. Apart from that specific migration, version upgrades are generally not complex.

Bots running on a cloud platform require continuous maintenance. While the cloud platform can monitor the bots, human oversight is essential to identify and troubleshoot issues like crashes. Large clients may necessitate a dedicated maintenance team working shifts to provide 24/7 monitoring and support. These teams typically monitor the bots' control room on a separate screen while performing other tasks. In the event of a crash, they investigate the cause and, if unable to resolve it, escalate the issue to the development team for further assistance.

Vale is one of the largest mining companies in the world and Automation Anywhere is our primary process automation tool. We're using it globally across several branches and locations. There are multiple processes involved in mining, transporting, and shipping iron ore that benefit from process automation. We can also automate our corporate use cases, such as finance, HR, and back office processes. Automation Anywhere is integrated with our core company systems, including SAP solutions and some in-house applications we've built. 

Automation Anywhere enables us to standardize and replicate operations and processes. We have a lot of repetitive processes that are time-consuming to perform manually. We aim to increase productivity and save time for our business users. Over five years, we've saved about 68,000 hours. Automation Anywhere integrates well with our workflows and business applications. We haven't had any issues.

We see some cost savings, but we also tend to think of cost avoidance. We have some compliance and regulatory processes that need to be completed in a timely fashion to avoid fines and taxation on top of that. Our CoE is responsible for a critical portion of the automation. In addition to thinking of how we can automate existing processes, we create new processes. When you automate something that isn't optimized, the results aren't as good. 

We like Automation Anywhere's Citizen Developer program. We've been doing this for a while now. It helps to expand platform adoption within our company and encourage more people to use it. It has been good to see the engagement. We've done some events and hackathons and hope to do another one in November.  We like having an easy tool to share with our business users. 

It isn't hard for business users without technical skills to use Automation Anywhere. We've received positive feedback from them, saying it was an easy tool to learn, especially with the latest version. We set up a training program, and new developers can learn the basics in around a week and start programming bots in three weeks to a month. 

We are currently doing some PoCs for generative AI and trying to see if it fits, but we're also concerned about the safety of our users and information security, so our approach is always conservative. We don't want to do anything that creates unnecessary risk for the company. 

Our users would like more online community forums where they can exchange information. I would also like a better way to monitor and manage all the automations we have running within our systems because our CoE governance must be robust so we are always aware of what's happening.  

We have used Automation Anywhere since 2018.

There have been some changes in personnel over the years, but they have always been great people who provide excellent service and solve problems quickly.

We previously used Microsoft Power Automate.

The platform was not hard to deploy, but each company has its own security protocols to deal with. Once we worked through all the security requirements, it was straightforward. Automation Anywhere requires some maintenance. 

In the first year, we needed to adjust the size of the machines and optimize the bots. However, it hasn't required much maintenance since then. We developed some better processes in CoE governance to develop and track the bots, so it's much easier now. We set up alerts that send us messages when the bots have errors. 

In 2018, we looked at some other products on the market, but Automation Anywhere was a perfect fit. We didn't have any issues that Automation Anywhere couldn't solve. The critical factor for us was its ease of use. We liked the drag-and-drop interface and the low-code capabilities.

I rate Automation Anywhere eight out of 10. 

Our use case involves reconciliation in a security company where money is collected from different locations and is reconciled at the end of the day. Other use cases include IT service management automation and HR processes, labeled HR two point zero. This involves payment processing in the HR space and fulfillment receiver.

Prior to implementing Automation Anywhere, the HR department faced challenges with payment scheduling, resulting in significant delays and monthly penalties. By automating this process, the department has eliminated these penalties and reduced the turnaround time for payment processing from two weeks to one day. This automation has not only improved efficiency but also generated substantial cost savings, as each transaction previously incurred a penalty of four rands.

Automation Anywhere offers good learning materials that are free to access. However, some background in RPA or an understanding of workflows is recommended to effectively utilize the platform and its resources. While the materials are comprehensive, a basic understanding of automation concepts will make the learning process smoother.

The learning curve for Automation Anywhere is relatively short, with non-technical users able to start developing within a week. This rapid learning process allows beginners to learn on the go and immediately apply new knowledge. With dedicated practice, approximately 40 hours, or a week's effort, can result in significant developer readiness.

Automation Anywhere has significantly improved our turnaround time, transforming our operations from lagging to leading. We are now ahead of our transactions and able to proactively meet metrics, cutting costs and avoiding penalties. This proactive approach has resulted in substantial cost savings and the elimination of losses due to penalties, marking a significant achievement for our organization.

We have integrated Automation Anywhere with an SAP application, encompassing processes that involve Excel and other mainframe applications.

The integration was challenging, but our experience with RPA technology proved beneficial. We collaborated with application owners to identify suitable APIs and address concerns regarding sensitive data and test environments. Leveraging Automation Anywhere's integration tools, including IQ Bot and cognitive capabilities, we successfully accessed necessary materials and automated sensitive processes. We also incorporated our existing workflows and adhered to standard screening procedures throughout the integration.

Automation Anywhere automated 90 percent of the process, with the remaining reserved for quality assurance to ensure complete processing.

The most valuable features of Automation Anywhere are the document processing and queue management.

The workflow has a complex drag-and-drop interface that is not user-friendly and requires a good technical understanding, which can be challenging for users. Additionally, the IQ Bot configuration is complex and requires significant effort to interpret unstructured data effectively. Simplifying these aspects would be beneficial.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for over four(4) years.

Automation Anywhere is stable, and I would rate it nine out of ten.

Automation Anywhere is reasonably scalable, and I rate it as eight out of ten.

The customer service is straightforward, and the support process is efficient. Issues are addressed through logged tickets, making it quite good.

Used automation solutions such as Blue-Prism, UiPath and OpenRPA

The switch came when there was a need for document understand technology i can leverage within the demand of our use-case and that time automation anywhere was a leading capability and very easy to adapt to. 

The initial setup of Automation Anywhere was straightforward and completed within a day, primarily due to our accreditations and existing understanding of other technology tools.

We reduced the number of full-time equivalent employees from five to one through automation.

Automation Anywhere is thought to be quite expensive, especially for smaller organizations. The pricing model, which varies based on the number of bots and level of support, can become costly. For corporate environments, it is manageable but still on the higher side.

Other solution such as Blue Prism, are strictly tired to organisational governance rather hybrid when it comes to cloud integration tools.

I would rate Automation Anywhere eight out of ten.

We use Document Automation and intelligent automation to identify fraudulent transactions and false claims. Automation Anywhere was instrumental in this process, helping to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. This has been a significant achievement in combating fraud.

We utilize Automation Anywhere across multiple environments, including quality assurance, user acceptance testing, and production, within various regions.

Automated bots monitor the active solutions and restart machines as needed to prevent downtime and reduce the need for manual maintenance.

Weekly maintenance of the bots, including any necessary manual tasks, requires one to two hours.

There are specific use cases where I would recommend Automation Anywhere, such as finance and accounting, human resources, customer service, and IT operations. It’s essential to consider the specific needs of an organization to determine if it’s the right fit.

I have been using Automation Anywhere since last year. I have used Automation Anywhere in several automations. For one of my precious clients, we had to trigger the bot when a mail arrived with PDFs, and there was a web portal where we needed to store the data from PDF. I use many Excel automations with Automation Anywhere and web automation majorly, and sometimes I use it with API integration as well.

Document automation is really helpful, even for a developer who is using the tool. I have used Automation Anywhere in several automations.

In Automation Anywhere, they could improve certain aspects. I also used Microsoft Power Automate where we have one initialization of variable that can be used anywhere in any subflow. If there are 10 subflows, we can use one variable everywhere without creating a new one. However, in Automation Anywhere, if you have created a flow, subflow, or subtask, you will create one variable STR name. Every time you have to use input-output scope for that variable to use in other subtasks as well. Automation Anywhere should implement this feature. They should also decrease their cost. Automation Anywhere is good, but Microsoft Power Automate offers unattended machines at a very competitive cost.

I have been using Automation Anywhere since last year.

I have never come across any lagging, crashing, downtime, or any sort of instability with Automation Anywhere.

Regarding scalability, I have used Automation Anywhere for many small clients as well as complex bots. It is scalable as we can work for small and complex bots, and we can run attended and unattended processes.

Support for Automation Anywhere is wonderful. I had an issue related to Chrome not working with the latest update. Automation Anywhere released a patch or updated version. When Chrome was not working properly, I contacted support and they were really good. They helped me extensively and even came on call to support me.

When comparing Automation Anywhere with Power Automate, it is sometimes a client need or developer choice which tool is used because both tools have their own pros and cons for a particular project. I appreciate both tools as they provide similar capabilities.

For the initial deployment of Automation Anywhere, it was a new thing to learn. For about a month, I found it difficult because I did not know about the various actions available in Automation Anywhere or other RPA tools. Now most things are clear. Whether using Power Automate or Automation Anywhere, I know which actions to use for specific tasks.

Automation Anywhere does not require any maintenance on my end.

I do not know the exact numbers regarding the pricing of Automation Anywhere, but through discussions with leads and higher management, I learned there is a vast difference in pricing.

Automation Anywhere is good, but Microsoft Power Automate offers unattended machines at a very competitive cost.

When developing automation or software bots, it is sometimes a client need or developer choice which tool is used because both tools have their own pros and cons for a particular project. Both tools provide similar capabilities.

I started my professional career in the RPA field using Automation Anywhere. When I entered this field, I was completely new and came across various RPA tools, with Automation Anywhere being one of them. When developing automation or software bots, the choice between tools often depends on client needs or developer preferences, as each tool has its own advantages for specific projects. I rate Automation Anywhere 9 out of 10.

There are many use cases. It is simple to automate tasks or processes related to the active cycle for invoices and similar tasks. It is useful for automating processes in industries like manufacturing and banking. The use cases are correlated with the needs of the customers.

By implementing Automation Anywhere, customers are simply trying to have a more standardized process. For example, there is a better quality of data for manual inputs in various applications. They have more rapid processes, and they can free people from repetitive tasks. These are the most common situations that we solve with this technology.

We have not had any big problems with the technology. We have achieved the results that the customer expected. We are usually able to achieve the expected ROI with the processes of the project.

Automation Co-Pilot helped increase productivity. For employees, it was quite good. I did face some problems with the user interface that we had to build to interact with the user. There were some blocks in this interface that were hard to understand. From a business user's perspective, it is quite easy to use. From a technical perspective, it is a little bit harder to build a bot using the Co-Pilot features.

It helped to free up staff to work on other projects. Every time we automate a task, we are freeing user time. They have more time to focus on more complex tasks. They can achieve better results in terms of compliance of the data that they are inputting into the systems. The data is accurate and reliable, and they can do more in less time. They can easily meet timelines for various processes.

In terms of integration, we could integrate the pretty old type of browser web applications without many problems. We usually use various ERPs, such as SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite. We sometimes integrate by using APIs. We have Google Drive or Microsoft Teams folders, SharePoint, and so on. We integrate pretty much everything with Automation Anywhere. For some technologies, there are some libraries for integration, such as for Salesforce or ServiceNow, and for some other platforms, you have to build it yourself.

It is easy to understand how to use the tool. For a developer, it is very easy to understand the opportunities and how to use and learn these features. It is very business-oriented. It is very easy to understand the capabilities and the features that you can use. You should have a technical overview and a technical understanding, but it is easy to understand. A non-technical person can learn it in a month. However, this person must be involved with a technical team. A person cannot understand the implications of using this technology and its architecture on his own. A business person can learn to develop some features but to move to the next level, a business person would need some help from IT.

The main problem that I have with Automation Anywhere is the support. When I have problems that I cannot solve by myself, it is hard to achieve a good result with support. Language is another issue. From a technological perspective, I have not had many issues with Automation Anywhere, but the support is somewhat lacking compared to other technologies I use.

There are times when I have some problems with the cloud. I sometimes experience errors with the Co-Pilot feature that make me feel the system is not 100% stable.

It is able to provide automation at scale. This is one of the best features of Automation Anywhere, but if you want to scale, you need technical support.

Its usage depends on the customers. We have different types of models, but usually, it is used at an enterprise level.

It is hard to achieve a good result with their support team. The support in Europe seems to be receiving less investment, so I usually cannot have support in my language. For some customers, this can be a problem. Some customers speak Italian rather than English. 

Neutral

We have more customers on the cloud than on-premises. I am personally not involved in the deployment, but the initial setup is straightforward. It is not complex. Upgrading Automation Anywhere is easy.

The number of people required for maintenance depends on the number of automated processes. For 20 automated processes, you might need one person full-time per month. This can vary a lot on the type of process that you have automated.

You have to work at least a year on that technology, but obviously, it depends on the effort you make. If you have one developer or five, it makes a difference.

It is reasonable, but it can always be a little bit cheaper.

Those who want to use Automation Anywhere should have at least one expert on their team. This can significantly speed up the implementation process and the understanding of the problems. It can be a game changer. 

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

There are two main use cases. We are working to complement their RPA capabilities. They have quite a strong position in the RPA market. Instead of trying to face them on the RPA market, we complete what they do. They are especially not good in the attended space. They are good in unattended but not in the attended space, so we kind of complement them.

The second thing we are working on with them is FortressIQ. Automation Anywhere has a task mining solution. We have a process mining solution, so it is a good completion. We have a product that is doing all the process mining stuff. When we need to investigate further into one precise process, dive a little bit into the details, and understand the number of clicks, the number of screens, and basically all the details of the process, we need a task-mining solution. That is where we have integrated with FortressIQ from Automation Anywhere.

The benefits include a reduction in tedious tasks and manual handling of tasks and time savings. This transition moves processes from several hours to a few minutes or even seconds, ensuring that money is saved. Furthermore, it secures the process, facilitates better execution, eliminates errors, and establishes a standard process, which is much more than just saving money.

The ease of use depends on what you want to do. What we do is quite simple because we are mainly using it from an unattended perspective, so we do not have any human interaction. With humans, you need to do a lot of error management. Automation is precise and simple. If the use case is A, B, and C, and you know how to treat A, B, and C, it will always be that, which is simple. If it is not A, B, or C, then you park it aside and do error handling. In the end, 98% of what you have done is good, and the remaining 2% will be manually handled. You still save about 98% of the time. It is quite easy to use as long as we stay in the unattended space. 

We mainly integrated it with non-SAP applications. It is not difficult to integrate Automation Anywhere in the workflow.

It is quite strong in the unattended space. 

I never use Automation Anywhere in the attended space because they are bad at that, at least compared to other players like us or UiPath.

I have been working with them for about four years.

I have not contacted them, so I cannot judge them.

Neutral

We are working with UiPath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, and Power Automate. These are the four ones we are working with.

Automation Anywhere and Blue Prism are very close in terms of market perception, and they are very unattended-oriented. They are quite strong in the unattended space and are more IT-oriented than others, especially UiPath. They are strong in terms of integration.

In terms of ease of use, it is probably one of the best because they are doing a lot of screen scraping. It is more based on the screens and less on APIs, which makes sense from an unattended perspective. However, when you want to have human interaction, it could become a bit more difficult. It is a more techie product than others but also deeper in terms of what you can do with it in terms of integration, etc.

I do not think a perfect RPA tool exists. Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere as a six out of ten. I would rate UiPath higher.