What is our primary use case?
Our main use cases for Automation Anywhere are anything that's end-to-end automations. We initially used to do finance and HR only, however, eventually graduated to different verticals and departments. Our use cases have been predominantly high-value, high ROI, and anything that can be repeatable, algorithmic, and automated.
How has it helped my organization?
The challenges we look to solve with AARI are those tasks we were unable to automate in the past. When we relied solely on human intervention for certain tasks, it led to exceptions that required human handling. With AARI, we want to build role-based, persona-based agents capable of near human-like decision-making with human oversight to increase the throughput provided by API-driven automation.
The benefits we have realized from using Automation Anywhere can be broken down into two parts: first, the basics of automation without the AI component, enabling us to orchestrate end-to-end processes such as finance or HR, providing significant ROI; and the second part pertains to AI orchestration, where we have successfully used Automation Anywhere to manage multiple AI use cases.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Automation Anywhere right now is its low-code, no-code framework, which allows us to build a lot of templates that are both repeatable and reusable over time. Additionally, being a cloud solution, it provides an intuitive development experience for developers and has been very helpful for citizen developers as well.
In the age of AARI, the biggest challenges our organization faces stem from rapid evolution and the emergence of different vendors with their products. We have effectively partnered with Automation Anywhere, utilizing the new features they continue to roll out and developing proof of concepts to navigate these advancements.
In terms of processing large data sets of documents, Document Automation has introduced many new features compared to the predecessor versions of IQ Bot, which we have used in the past; the improvements have been significant, especially with the Generative AI features that help in finding and identifying fields.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvements for Automation Anywhere, I would prefer to see more options in packages and pricing, including a breakdown of different features and products, which would allow us to select certain products while potentially skipping others as needed. The product features and functionalities have been phenomenal with minimal issues, along with great enterprise support.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Automation Anywhere for over ten years. I play different roles in consulting, being within the product, and trying to be the implementer, leading to multiple implementations.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would assess the stability and availability of Automation Anywhere and its bots on a scale of one to ten at a nine, as we have not encountered significant downtime since we began using the cloud platform, which I consider one of the best enterprise platforms available.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have expanded our usage of Automation Anywhere to meet the growing business needs, planning for additional creators and runners and assessing our needs year over year. The process to add licenses has been very straightforward and seamless.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate Automation Anywhere support a seven out of ten. Enhancing the support tiers might be beneficial, and pricing has been a primary challenge, with a need for cheaper options and more tiered support.
We do not have premium support. While we possess a basic support package that has been really good, we are considering premium support packages for the future, however, we have received ample assistance from Automation Anywhere for critical issues we've faced.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
What stood out about Automation Anywhere during our selection process was the seamless experience in developing and deploying. We did proofs of concept when transitioning from A2019 to A360, where we noticed significant improvements in connectors and overall developer experience compared to previous versions.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing and setup costs with Automation Anywhere was very seamless, as our vendor management team collaborated with the partner who worked directly with Automation Anywhere. We have been using the licenses for six years without issues, and the setup in our cloud-hosted environment has been taken care of by Automation Anywhere.
What about the implementation team?
In terms of deployment, we conduct our standard SDLC lifecycle for automations. It has been seamless, and though we do not usually receive support from Automation Anywhere, our self-contained team is very self-sufficient in managing these deployments.
What was our ROI?
The benefits we have realized from using Automation Anywhere can be broken down into two parts: first, the basics of automation without the AI component, enabling us to orchestrate end-to-end processes such as finance or HR, providing significant ROI; and the second part pertains to AI orchestration, where we have successfully used Automation Anywhere to manage multiple AI use cases.
I cannot share any specific data points regarding percentage increases in efficiency or hours saved.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing and setup costs with Automation Anywhere was very seamless, as our vendor management team collaborated with the partner who worked directly with Automation Anywhere. We have been using the licenses for six years without issues, and the setup in our cloud-hosted environment has been taken care of by Automation Anywhere.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Regarding Document Automation, we have been utilizing it as a proof of concept to compare results with other vendors, as our team is vendor agnostic and evaluates all problem statements first. Document Automation has been instrumental for us in conducting several proofs of concept.
What other advice do I have?
We are not currently utilizing AI Agent Studio in our automation processes, however, we do plan to explore and conduct some proofs of concept regarding that.
In terms of achieving our automation goals with APA, we are on that journey right now, with successful use cases in AI orchestration using Generative AI and advanced techniques. With AARI, our aim is to deploy more autonomous, self-assisted agents across different departments within our company.
Regarding IQ Bot, we have been evaluating it; however, we have not deployed or implemented it within our environment yet, as we are actively working on proof of concepts with Automation Anywhere.
In terms of feedback for IQ Bot, it is still early for us to determine its learning capacity from feedback to improve automation quality over time; however, the results have been great so far, and we are actively working with the product team, providing continuous feedback and wishlist items for improvements over time as new versions are released.
We do not use Automation Anywhere CoE.
My advice for anyone considering Automation Anywhere is to collaborate closely with the engineering and sales teams during engagement, strongly recommend trying out POCs, and ensure that the tool accommodates your specific use case needs throughout the vetting process.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.