Blue Prism Reviews

Our primary use case is automating data entry-intensive tasks interacting with in-house applications.

This solution has allowed us to free up time for more "value add" tasks, increased quality through a reduction in data entry errors, and has benefitted us with shorter turnaround times for some processes.

The most valuable feature is the ability to do surface automation, allowing interaction with legacy systems where terminal emulation is still in use.

I would like to see the vendor improve the efficiency of Blue Prism interaction with applications. There are instances where the human user can complete the process faster than the "bot". It does not support (at least not well) scenarios where attended automation (back and forth hand-off between human and bot) is required.  

This solution has increased the speed, accuracy, and happiness of staff involved in the activities for which RPA has been deployed. 

The most valuable features are the exception handling and versatility with interfacing to existing systems.

We would like to see intelligent process automation that integrates RPA and machine learning. 

We use this solution in all area of our business. The most common use case is related to our financial sector and loan applications.

The most valuable improvement in utilizing process automation is the cost savings, but we have also had cases where the customer experience is enhanced.

The most valuable feature for us is that our developers find it quite simple to develop processes, and they like to use this solution.

The licensing models for this product need improvement. Compared to other tools on the market, it is one of the most expensive.

We understand that they will be launching an OCR tool, and we are looking forward to this.

We would like to see some desktop automation, although we have been told that the product is not going to be taken in that direction. Rather, they will continue to focus on product automation and we will have to incorporate other solutions.

We have had some problems in the Blue Prism environment. For the tasks our robots are doing, our success rate is between ninety-two and ninety-eight percent. So, there are some things that are not being successfully created.

We have managed to scale it up quite well, so scalability is ok.

There are approximately twelve thousand people who benefit from this solution. We have around twenty developers, and there are between one and two hundred people who have a direct connection to the RPA deployments.

We have had problems with the solution, but between our vendor and the Blue Prism technical support, we have managed to solve them.

This was the first tool that we started to utilize when it comes to RPA deployments.

I found this initial setup to be complex.

Our implementation was done using both our in-house experts and some external manpower.

My advice for anybody who is implementing this solution is to have some expertise in-house, and not rely solely on the vendor. Similarly, I don't think that it is a good idea to develop and manage your infrastructure based entirely on advice or direction from the vendor.

This is the first RPA tool that we have implemented, and we do not have a lot of experience with other tools. We are satisfied, but there is room for improvement. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Our primary use for this solution is to automate and run our mundane operational processes.

This solution has helped us become more efficient, as we have been able to automate certain processes, up to 85% of the work in some claims processing areas. We've been able to use it to very successfully transform data from one system to another. We have also used it for underwriting new client take-ons.

The most valuable feature is the design studio and its ease of use. The security and control room features are also very good.

I would like to see it better integrated with, or layered over, Java-based systems.

A feature that I would like to see in the next release is the ability to easily call on the robots to fulfill part of the process, and be run by the users in the business, where the robot can simply be activated rather than running mass processes from a control room. Essentially, I think that keeping the human in the loop is important. Blue Prism does have some vendors that partner to accomplish this, but it would be nice to have it built-in, rather than have a separate vendor with a separate license contract.

We don't have problems with stability. It is one's own IT infrastructure that lets you down, whether it is networking or otherwise. The system itself hasn't been a problem.

We're only in the process of scaling so it is difficult to say. One of the things that the developers have said is that it's quite slow, and quite cumbersome when layered over Java-based solutions. Whether it is scalable in that space, or not, is to be determined.

We have fifteen robots running.

We have had to contact technical support from time to time, and they are responsive. We've always received feedback from them. Typically, the only time that we've needed them is when our own IT support has had problems in the Blue Prism space. Sometimes, after we've contacted them, they pointed us in the right direction and actually found that the problem was on our end. These are some of the types of problems that they have helped us to solve.

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

The initial setup was relatively straightforward. The system itself is not overly complex. Rather, it's more of how you get your own internal IT infrastructure geared to be able to handle the new technology.

Deployment can take between four and six weeks per process.

Our implementation strategy has been to first focus on those processes that are going to deliver the greatest return on investment to ourselves and our clients. Typically, it's a small team that is supported by a vendor. Over time, they take over the development of the robots and they manage the control room.

The number of staff required for deployment and maintenance depends on the number of robots that you have running. Our entire team is six people, including business analysts, an engineer, a control room operator, and two developers. One of the developers is a senior developer who is able to validate and sign off on what is developed.

We used a consultant for the deployment.

We did not evaluate other solutions. We chose this one based on recommendations from the consultants that we had.

For anybody who is implementing this solution, it is important that you do not implement a process that is inherently flawed. Especially for more complex processes, you have to figure out how to solve those and re-engineer them. You want to enhance the processes.

Secondly, ensure that your design team is allowed to complete the design and move onto the next process. You do not want to have them repeatedly called back to enhance the process, because that slows down your rollout strategy.

You need to get buy-in from the business around what you're going to automate, and how you're going to do it. That is how you're going to leverage it going forward. If you don't have that then you can automate and put bots out there, but if the business doesn't support them or doesn't adopt them as co-workers then you're going to be battling against scaling. Anybody who sets out on this journey should be looking to use them on a large scale, and not just as a point solution.

I have not used other solutions so it is difficult to compare. However, in terms of support and the ability for us to start using the solution, it was quite easy. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Our primary use for this solution is in the financial department.

It offers assessments by way of a robotics or automation readiness assessment tool, which was quite helpful. Otherwise, it is much like other automation tools.  

This solution is lacking attended automation, which is the worst thing about this solution.

We did not push the boundaries of our implementation beyond what you would normally expect for this type of solution.

We have not dealt with technical support for this solution.

Specifically for Robotic Process Automation, we did not use a solution prior to this one. We have used Test Automation tools from Mercury Interactive, which seems to be where RPA started.

The initial setup for this solution was complex because our client did not refine the processes. There was no time taken to make simple, reliable, and high-volume processes.

My advice for anybody implementing this solution, or any other RPA project, is to start with the right processes. They should be simple, and suitable for high volume or repetition. Do not make the processes too complex.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We were using this solution for two main purposes. The first was to leverage the OCR capabilities, and the second was integration with Outlook to check email and retrieve attachments from email.

We were also looking at the workflow component, and how to orchestrate the bot and the process flow within Blue Prism.

This is all being done as a pilot project by one of our departments to assess the impact of implementing RPA.

An example of how this solution helped us is with our ticket creation process. When a client raises a ticket with us, we receive an attachment by email. We have to first read the content of the email and then the attachment. Next, we have to identify who the customer is, and based on that, we create a ticket and assign it to the appropriate team.

By using the automation in Blue Prism, we have reduced the manual activities of somebody reading those emails, figuring out whose account it is, deciding where it should go, and creating the ticket. All of these activities are automated.

The most valuable feature for us was the orchestration of the workflow. The way you design the flow and configure the activities for the bot is very useful if you are working with any of the BPM or local platforms. It made it very easy for the developers to work with assets.

I would like to see wider integration with other products. That way, while we work on other core systems like SAP or Salesforce, there are ready-made connectors that can get the data. It would make it easier for people to work with Blue Prism.

The next release would benefit from integration with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. For example, the OCR can populate fields in variables and proceed with a workflow. But adding intelligence to this, or integrating with a service such as AWS, would be useful.

We did not find any issues with respect to stability or performance. We performed testing around the number of emails that were coming in and tried to see how fast the bot was able to process them. We also tried scheduling the bot to run at a specific time and checked to see if it was able to do so.

We did not perform extensive load testing efforts.

An RPA scales as you add bots to your ecosystem.

We don't consider the number of users with respect to utilization. Rather, the solution is used by one of our departments. They have adopted RPA to handle one of its processes as a pilot project.

We have seen a lot of use cases, but it is still picking up. Not too many departments are coming up with RPA as a strategy, but I believe it will soon pick up.

The only contact we had with technical support was during our initial setup. It was a minor issue that was solved pretty quickly.

We did not use another RPA prior to this one. 

I do not want to call it complex, but it is not simple either. It is somewhere in between.

We set up our own sandbox environment to do the trial run and the POC. We did the initial setup, but we needed help from Blue Prism to some extent. I rate the complexity as medium-level because we needed help in setting up our infrastructure.

We had one developer involved, and there was a QA tester for the entire process. There was a back and forth mechanism between the developer and our tester. For deployment, there was an admin role who was taking care of our other system assets, such as the BPM and other platforms. The Blue Prism administration was taken over by the same person, so it does not require a specific admin.

We handled the deployment ourselves and did not hire anybody from outside of the company.

Other than your infrastructure, in terms of servers that you have to set up, I don't think that there are any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

We did not do any formal evaluation of other products. We chose this solution because we are working with Appian BPM, and Blue Prism is a partner. This is what influenced us to look at this solution, and they work well hand in hand.

We performed quite a few POCs to help understand the platform.

One of the most important things while working with RPA is choosing the right process, understanding the process, and ensuring that you pick the right process for RPA activities. That was the key to our success.

The process should not be too complex, and not be too simple. If it is too complex then it will take too much time to implement. At the same time, it should cater to your immediate needs so that you can demonstrate the tool's features to the leadership.

My advice is to do a pilot project before adopting any RPA platform. Try one or two key integrations, such as the Outlook and OCR integration that we have chosen.

Another important point is that there might be some fear in the team. Some people are concerned that bots are taking away jobs. It is important to ensure confidence in the team that the RPA will not replace humans. Rather, it will enhance their capabilities in terms of resources that are being used for mundane tasks. The message to take to the organization is that bots will handle the simple tasks, while humans can do more intelligent activities.

We have not fully explored the platform, but it is enough to capture our requirements.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

I am an RPA consultant and the use case varies depending on my client. Basically, it is a tool that helps users to automate repetitive tasks.

We do not automate in our own company but we do help our clients to implement it.

I do not have any IT training, but I am still able to master this skill and develop Blue Prism solutions. It has a very user-friendly interface for a non-technical person.

The most valuable feature is the work queue. This helps the user to create a workflow, and it is a very powerful tool for generating management reports.

One area that needs to be improved is the resource monitoring with respect to queuing processes. Specifically, if the user is trying to schedule more than one process then the product will reject it, saying that the process cannot be run due to license limitations. However, competing products do not have this problem. Rather, the processes will be queued and then completed once the resource is available. The robot will automatically pick up the process and run it. I think that this is an area where Blue Prism can do better.

In the next release of this solution, I would like to see support for attended robots.

The stability of this solution is very good.

The scalability is dependent on the design. If the process is designed, in advance, such that the capability of expansion is in place, then it will be very easy and simple. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult.

Our client's roles vary. Some of them are developers, others are business users, and the end user will be the process controller. Some of our clients are looking into purchasing additional licenses because they are using this solution extensively.

The technical support is quite helpful. Whenever we raise a support ticket, they respond to it in a timely manner.

We did not use a solution prior to this one.

The initial setup is very dependent on the company's policies. If the company policy does not have heavy restrictions then the implementation will be very fast. However, if the company has a very tight IT policy then sometimes it will take more time to configure.

Normally, the deployment should not take more than two months. Part of the process is identifying the correct opportunities that are suitable for automation. Some clients fail because they do not know how to pick which processes, or which activities can be automated. 

A minimum of two people is required for deployment and maintenance, but it will depend on the company itself. If they have deployment applications then they will not need a controller to deploy. Also, it depends on how many processes there are.

If it is a good design that is developed, following best practices, then the support may be minimal because the processes will be stable and not require attention.

We perform the implementation for our clients.

This solution provides a good user experience for the target audience. The non-technical users may not be able to appreciate the competing products.

My advice to those looking to implement this solution is to have a clear understanding of what RPA is. Some of our clients are confused between RPA and AI, so before planning to implement any automation, they have to have a full understanding of what RPA can do, and what the limitations of it are.

This solution does not have support for attended robots. Most of our solutions are for unattended robots that perform unmonitored tasks. In some of the departments, they have a need to automate tasks that are in front of them, and without this feature, there are certain operations that cannot be handled.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We are using Blue Prism's process automation software to eliminate low-return, high-risk, manual data entry, and processing work for our financial processing in manufacturing. We are not a direct partner with Blue Prism, what we do is when our clients have bought the Blue Prism solution for someone we implement Blue Prism for them. We are acting as the integrator.

Blue Prism has improved process efficiencies. We can get some maximum optimization with ticket processing. Blue Prism provides a large variety of robots that can automate and manipulate processes with very few problems. Furthermore, we can program multiple methods within a single bot.

We found the unassisted bots very useful because they can program a variety of different processes. This is a valuable feature of Blue Prism, especially when compared to other tools on the market.

Blue Prism needs to provide better customer support because there are some bugs in the product that make implementation tricky.

It is designed more for operational than transactional processes. If Blue Prism incorporated a lot of IQ bots and cognitive processing, then it might be of better value at a lower cost. 

The issue of the cost of the tool needs to be addressed. To become a Blue Prism partner, it's costly. I think that this is one of the negative aspects of using Blue Prism. 

In terms of the stability of the solution, I think that Blue Prism is a really good tool. It's a stable solution.

Blue Prism scalability is good. 

The requirements for deployment and maintenance differs from process to process. Certain processes take around three programmers and one solution architect and technical architect. It really depends on the project scope.

In total, we require a minimum of four to five people for deployment and maintenance. 

Technical support has a local team, but they have not been very supportive. We manage our technical support through our internal team. We have not received a sufficient level of support from the Blue Prism's professional support team. They don't respond, and when they do respond, they say that it's the job of the implementors to do whatever it is we are requesting from them. Blue Prism is good at selling the product, but implementation support, technical support is not that good.

The initial setup was a little complex. We needed a specialist with good coding experience to implement it.

Blue Prism is by and large a standalone type of tool, with quite a lot of optimization required. I think that this is an issue, especially when compared to some other solutions on the market that don't require any coding knowledge. With Blue Prism, you need somebody with good coding experience for implementation.

Our initial implementation strategy for Blue Prism took between two to three months per process. For the implementation strategy, we used both a technical architect and a solutions architect, both experts in implementing Blue Prism.
For deployment, we have been using partners who already bought directly from Blue Prism. 

Pricing is on an annual basis. Blue Prism is around 8,000 GBP while other tools vary between 3,000 to 6,000 USD. 

The standard licensing fees for Blue Prism are around 3,000 to 4,000 USD for a partner. In addition to the tools, you have implementation costs to consider. There are no additional fees. 

Before choosing, we didn't evaluate other options. But now we are looking at a lot of competing tools in the market. We have considered migrating to EdgeVerve.

My advice to others would be to let them start with the standard enterprise-wide robotic automation solution. If they're looking for fewer process automation bots, Blue Prism would be incredibly expensive. They should have a ballpark figure of the number of people under the processes, then Blue Prism is an excellent tool, but if you lessen the number of processes then it's costly.

On a scale of one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate this product around seven. Blue Prism is the same for enterprise-wide implementation but if you're considering the entire tool, technical support, implementation needs all these things; I would adjust my rating.