Lead Project Engineer at Peristent Systems
Real User
Takes good security measures and is user friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "Blue Prism takes good security measures and is user friendly."
  • "The domain in regards to cognitive abilities and the use of processing activity needs improvement. They have added this capability, but that's not really big in the public. It is more also available for gold partners. So they should improve the user activity for the public or even the regular customer."

What is most valuable?

Blue Prism takes good security measures and is user friendly.

What needs improvement?

The domain in regards to cognitive abilities and the use of processing activity needs improvement. They have added this capability, but that's not really big in the public. It is more also available for gold partners. So they should improve the user activity for the public or even the regular customer. It can add a good amount of scalability.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Blue Prism since 2014.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

Buyer's Guide
Blue Prism
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Blue Prism. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 300 resources that are using Blue Prism at different levels.

It can be maintained by three people and it can be done by our IT team as well. It is not hard to maintain

How are customer service and support?

If you are a customer or a gold partner, you'll be aligned with a customer success manager who can escalate the case quickly and you'll receive a resolution in no time.

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

After I started using Blue Prism, I also started working with Automation Anywhere and Ui Path.

Blue Prism has its own market share. The large three or four organizations use Blue Prism's security and scalability features, which can be applied at an enterprise level. Some things need to be improved. These are things that are lacking in other tools as well, so it is a fair competition.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. 

If everything is set up well like the restrictions that are on the PCs are up to mark, it will take 20 to 25 minutes for the complete installation.

What other advice do I have?

My advice is that not all activities can be automated by using Blue Prism. There are certain levels of criteria that need to be calculated before choosing a particular RPA tool. There are things that need to be considered before choosing economically.

In the next release, I would like to see improvement in cognitive abilities, AI, and document processing.

I would rate Blue Prism an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Director, Km & Bpo Innovation at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
User-friendly interface, easy to use, and you can automate tasks without coding
Pros and Cons
  • "The web-based designer is very user-friendly and easy to use."
  • "I would like to see machine learning functionality integrated with the automation."

What is our primary use case?

We have a lot of use cases for automation, including testing our website.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is that you can create automations without coding.

The web-based designer is very user-friendly and easy to use.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see machine learning functionality integrated with the automation.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Blue Prism for about three years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

At this point, it is hard to say how scalable it is. We have more than 200 employees using it.

How are customer service and technical support?

This product is very easy to maintain, so we haven't had to contact technical support.

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

Prior to using Blue Prism, we gained experience using UiPath. We have now started using Automation Anywhere, as well. Each of these RPA products has different features and we choose the one that best meets the needs of the project.

For example, UiPath is very good at text file automation, whereas Automation Anywhere is better at web-based or cloud-based automation.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex. I would say that it is really easy.

What about the implementation team?

We had assistance implementing Blue Prism from SAP.

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

Blue Prism is less expensive than some of the other RPA solutions. The licensing fees depend on the number of users that you have.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Blue Prism
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Blue Prism. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5
Provides the best OCR features and has good stability
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a scalable solution."
  • "They should add more OCR engines to it."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution as an RPA tool to automate business processes.

What is most valuable?

The solution's most valuable feature is optical character recognition.

What needs improvement?

The solution's UI, control panel, and technical support could improve. Also, they should add more OCR engines to it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for one and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the solution's stability as an eight.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the solution's scalability as an eight.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup was straightforward. Although, the control panel installation requires some time as we need to connect it to SQL servers.

What was our ROI?

The solution generates a high return on investment.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution as an eight.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
ROM Architect at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Reseller
Easy to set up and configure but not very user-friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "It's fast to get up and running if you use a cloud deployment."
  • "From a monitoring perspective, the way the screens are set up, or the reporting within Blue Prism, is not really user-friendly. You need a technical person to basically put that up. It's not necessarily easily viewable."

What is most valuable?

The product is pretty good so far.

The initial setup is not complex.

It's not too difficult to configure everything.

It's fast to get up and running if you use a cloud deployment.

What needs improvement?

We haven't really used it extensively. I can say that even though it feels like a good product, there are some things that are completely missing the mark for me in Blue Prism.

The solution isn't complete. There are items that you have to pay extra for, such as the Interact. Those things should be part and parcel of the Blue Prism solution. I can't see it as a standalone separate service, therefore, why do I have to buy this separately? It should be part of the base offering.

From a monitoring perspective, the way the screens are set up, or the reporting within Blue Prism, is not really user-friendly. You need a technical person to basically put that up. It's not necessarily easily viewable.

As far as the assessment is concerned, the assessment tools need to be refined as it is really difficult for one to just use it out of the box. The cloud offering basically says that you can start right away, and you don't have to wait for all of these configurations and things. However, we have purchased the on-premise solution and not the cloud solution. For me, I just need a better experience on that deployment, even though it should have been the more mature solution.

From a Blue Prism perspective, user-friendliness is really an issue. The components that I now have to buy extra to do automation, things that, if I look at a tool like UiPath, that is already part of their toolset. You don't have to buy any user integration with other solutions. I can't understand why Blue Prism doesn't do the same.

They are not really very innovative. There's nothing that wows me if I would compare them to the newer tools that are coming out that's got the cognitive automation tools that are built into the product.

Within Blue Prism it's very difficult to manage a team of coders, for instance, or a team of developers developing on the same application. That is not in Blue Prism. You can't do that. It's one developer at a time working with one thing. The source code management within the toolset really needs to improve. They don't seem so managed and packaged well, and integration to maybe other repositories where one can store that information would be better. That is where it's lacking at the moment. The configuration, as I said, of the reporting, of the dashboard, out-of-the-box, should actually be easy to configure and not so challenging.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for about six months.

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

I've worked with UiPath in the past.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup has a sort of medium level of difficulty. I won't say it was complex per se. I would definitely not say it was complex to do it or to configure it. 

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

The price is low and it's reasonable, however, I expected more to be included in the product. Now, if I have to go and buy all these other extras, that price is going to go up. For instance, if I use OCR capability and I'm not using their product, the Decipher product, I have to go and buy an ABBYY license separately. That means I have to manage more licenses. It's not included in the package where I have a good OCR solution that works with it, I must now go and buy and manage separate licenses. It is just a nightmare.

If you look at the supply chain, you now need to get a separate license from another company if you want to buy licenses to OCR with Blue Prism. And that is where the cost increases and then the investment becomes a little bit more difficult to justify. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I'm in a position within our company where people are saying to me, "We've got Power Automate from Microsoft, why should I use Blue Prism?" And with the Microsoft suite, Power Automate, and all of the cognitive automation is already included as part of Azure. And here I sit with Blue Prism, and now I need new gateways to integrate with that. It's going to be a little bit more work to make it work with Microsoft Azure than the product that is already there in Microsoft Azure. I must now basically justify to the business why do I need Blue Prism.

It makes it very difficult in terms of their strategy if all the extra products that we want, we have to buy additionally. Whereas, if I compare it to the Microsoft Azure Suite of things, you get all of these features without having to buy them separately as you would need to with Blue Prism. It's a very difficult sell to the business.

I would advise others to go straight to the cloud and not mess around with the on-premise solution. The reason is the on-premise solution will take you six months before you can start to show anything. Going to the cloud is probably a better option to get the results out faster.

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user

Is US$ 1,100 per year the licensing cost?

Manager, Information Technology Automation Delivery at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A stable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy solution with good integrations and features
Pros and Cons
  • "We've started to use some of the new features such as translation, cognitive, and we are finding them useful. We are also finding API integrations very useful."
  • "We would like to have something, not particularly within the tool, that gives flexibility to the end-users to schedule the bots themselves. There should be some kind of control room flexibility so that they can go in. We don't have to always keep that centralized with us. We would also like to have inbuilt scheduling and resource pooling to distribute the bots on servers from within the platform. I should be able to distribute or orchestrate them internally so that if one bot takes a little longer than planned, it automatically shifts to another server. We would also like its price to be lower."

What is most valuable?

We've started to use some of the new features such as translation, cognitive, and we are finding them useful. We are also finding API integrations very useful.

What needs improvement?

We would like to have something, not particularly within the tool, that gives flexibility to the end-users to schedule the bots themselves. There should be some kind of control room flexibility so that they can go in. We don't have to always keep that centralized with us. 

We would also like to have inbuilt scheduling and resource pooling to distribute the bots on servers from within the platform. I should be able to distribute or orchestrate them internally so that if one bot takes a little longer than planned, it automatically shifts to another server. 

We would also like its price to be lower.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about one and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is absolutely scalable. We have close to 200 automations written in Blue Prism. We have five to six people who work on this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

They're good. We didn't find any issues.

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

This was our first platform for automation. We have used other tools such as K2, but Blue Prism is the only full-fledged RPA platform that we've used.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy.

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

Its price should be lower.

What other advice do I have?

I have heard that UiPath is catching up in a big way and offers a lot of flexibility. You can also evaluate UiPath.

I would rate Blue Prism an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Senior Planning and Control Analyst at a translation and localization position with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Useful base features and helpful implementation support
Pros and Cons
  • "I use the basic features that are very useful."
  • "There are some new tools on the market that work better than Blue Prism. When Blue Prism receives information I have found other RPA solutions refresh the application better. At this moment it's not the best application."

What is our primary use case?

We were using Blue Prism mainly for simple RPA processing.

I work with advisors, and we have a lot of clients that have a lot of processes. We use the solution for the cost and management processes. When we need to organize some information we join the information into a report.

What is most valuable?

I use the basic features that are very useful.

What needs improvement?

There are some new tools on the market that work better than Blue Prism. When Blue Prism receives information I have found other RPA solutions refresh the application better. At this moment it's not the best application.

Blue Prism could improve the integration with the development of applications. For example, a type of automation where we can build applications and integrate them with the RPA. This is something that we would use a lot and is not available in Blue Prism.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Blue Prism for approximately two years.

How are customer service and support?

The support is great for Blue Prism when you are implementing the solution. However, since it is a new solution there is not a lot of information on the forums.

How was the initial setup?

The installation difficulty level depends on what processes are going to be being used.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others wanting to implement this solution is to make sure they evaluate their requirements and it is important to have good integration with their systems. I would recommend using templates for their data because if they do not it can create problems.

I rate Blue Prism an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Doctoral Researcher at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable but limited in terms of capability compared to similar solutions
Pros and Cons
  • "Blue Prism is stable enough."
  • "Blue Prism could be more scalable."

What is our primary use case?

We use Blue Prism to target the financial service industry. Our core use cases are specifically in insurance and banking.

Within our company, there are two developers that use this solution. 

Whether we increase our usage of this solution is going to be a market-based or market-driven decision. 

What is most valuable?

Although it's very simple to work with, it's a bit limited in terms of capability compared to similar solutions. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Blue Prism since the beginning of 2021.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Blue Prism is stable enough. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Blue Prism could be more scalable. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Most of our use cases are back office-based. They usually don't interfere with our day-to-day operations. We tend to run most of our robots in the evening after working hours. The support is mainly remote. So it's not really a big deal.

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

We started with UiPath and Automation Anywhere.

How was the initial setup?

Before we started using this solution, we were programming directly from things like Python, which was really cumbersome and complicated. The mid-levels specifically around continuity, and plus one capability internally. That's why we decided to use existing development tools like UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism. From an implementation perspective, they're a lot simpler to use. We no longer have to do a full-on manual implementation and develop from scratch.

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

The big vendors should consider some sort of unbundled pricing model that allows them to price accordingly to a customer's needs. Because developing robots manually took too long, this solution gave us a lot of flexibility when it came to pricing. A lot of global vendors have a very big problem understanding the price structure or price requirements of frontier markets, like Africa.

What other advice do I have?

Compared to UiPath and Automation Anywhere, on a scale from one to ten, I would give Blue Prism a rating of six. 

I would recommend Blue Prism to others. From a tool perspective, UiPath is by far and away the best tool to use. Unfortunately, it's rigid around its pricing. Blue Prism is more affordable, but it won't provide you with the same features and functionality.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Head of Strategic Alliances at Zensar Technologies
Real User
A secure, stable, and easy-to-use solution with a centrally managed infrastructure
Pros and Cons
  • "It has a centrally managed infrastructure, and it is secure. Our client was using it because of its ease of use. They had already identified some workflows that were trained on Blue Prism RPAs. It was much more convenient for them to preselect Blue Prism as compared to other vendors."
  • "Its pricing is sometimes higher. Its price can be better. Its presale support should be increased. Currently, its presale support is very less. System integrators generally position Blue Prism in front of customers. Though they have an ecosystem, they don't have people who can train for the partner ecosystem. They have to increase the presales consultants for partners. In addition, their L1 and L2 support can also be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We were trying to integrate Blue Prism for an insurance solutions company. Without manual intervention, they wanted some bots to qualify and make some selection procedures easier for certain customers and integrate them with the CTI, which is a computer technology exchange. This means that when somebody calls up, they will go to a bot and CTI. They run a bot, and the bot will guide them about how they can answer some queries for the insurance customer.

What is most valuable?

It has a centrally managed infrastructure, and it is secure. Our client was using it because of its ease of use. They had already identified some workflows that were trained on Blue Prism RPAs. It was much more convenient for them to preselect Blue Prism as compared to other vendors.

What needs improvement?

Its pricing is sometimes higher. Its price can be better.

Its presale support should be increased. Currently, its presale support is very less. System integrators generally position Blue Prism in front of customers. Though they have an ecosystem, they don't have people who can train for the partner ecosystem. They have to increase the presales consultants for partners. In addition, their L1 and L2 support can also be improved. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is pretty good. That's the reason why they have 98% of renewals.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It depends on how you code this.

How are customer service and technical support?

People find it difficult to get L1 and L2 support. They're pretty weak at L1 and L2 support, so you have to have your own people for that. They don't have people to answer the queries. They want system integrators to do that for them.

How was the initial setup?

It depends on the use case. Some use cases are pretty simple, and some use cases are pretty complex. It also depends on how the consultant would choose to configure it, but generally, it is pretty okay in terms of configuration. 

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

Its price is sometimes higher.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Blue Prism an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Blue Prism Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Blue Prism Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.