Espressive Barista vs ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus comparison

Espressive Barista vs. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

Management Consultant at Accenture

Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions

Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.

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Jim Lobao

Senior Manager for End User Support Services at Five9

Has helped enhance our support ability, reduced our resolution time, and reduced our service desk costs

Espressive Barista's natural language processing and conventional AI still have room for improvement. We haven't yet found anything that resembles true AI that can learn autonomously without human intervention. However, Barista does help us identify and address some of these areas, allowing my team to step in and create intents and responses to questions. When a user asks a question that Barista doesn't immediately understand, we can recognize the pattern, capture it, and link it to a common intent. This is highly beneficial for acquiring such data, but it's a reactive approach and still requires curation. Natural language processing still has some way to go. One of our challenges is that our internal employees haven't yet adopted a natural way of interacting with Barista. Getting people to be concise and to the point, rather than being verbose as if they were interacting with a human, has been an ongoing challenge. While they may feel comfortable being conversational in Slack, expecting a human-like response, Barista is a different entity. Barista isn't interested in their recent vacation; it just wants to know they're locked out of their account. So, some users may assume Barista understands their intent when they say, "I'm back from vacation and locked out of my account." Barista, however, may interpret this as a request for the holiday schedule. Therefore, we're gradually educating our users to adapt their communication style for better success with Barista. Conversely, we desire Barista to adapt its behavior based on the interaction, the language used, and the way people communicate. I wholeheartedly desire an AI that can continuously learn and adapt to our organization's evolving needs. This is the most challenging aspect, as it involves understanding our organization's terminology, procedures, and toolsets. We've made significant progress in this area. However, from an NLP standpoint, we still face challenges with our nearly 3,000 Slack channel users, each with their unique communication styles. People ask questions in various ways, and sometimes there are misunderstandings. They want to interact with us naturally. However, we still struggle with natural language processing. People don't always realize that the bot is a virtual agent designed to be concise and efficient. Sometimes, less is more. It's been a difficult transition for people to grasp that they're conversing with a virtual agent, not a human. They still expect human-like interactions, such as discussing their weekend or holidays or simply pasting screenshots of errors. However, the bot can't interpret screenshots. If they provide the error code and some context about the application, the bot can better understand the issue. So, the key challenge is bridging the gap between human expectations and the bot's capabilities in terms of natural interaction.

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Mostafiz Miah

Sr. Presales & Technical Lead at Elitbuzz Technologies Ltd

Automation has transformed daily request handling and now tracks every customer interaction

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus helps my team manage and resolve requests compared to previous methods as we previously managed things through paperwork and diaries. After deploying ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, whenever any customer request comes, we provide the customer a product demo if they ask about the products. We then convert that request to a lead, which is converted to a demo, and then to the product POC, allowing us to follow up every stage of the requests. Everything can be tracked from ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, whether at the closing stage or the initial stage. I use ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus daily in a unique way because previously everyone managed their own tracking system through their diary, but now everyone inputs data into this solution so that at the end of the day, we can get reports on how many leads we have taken care of and when they need to be taken care of. This information is visible from the ServiceDesk tool, and using the dashboard, we can easily identify it, providing an at-a-glance view. The best features ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers for my team include automating manual tasks, which allows whatever tasks we previously did manually to be converted into automatic tasks. Currently, they have also introduced Zia, a very helpful solution for us. Using Zia, we can search for anything, not only inside the tool but also outside, integrating it with ChatGPT and Teams, and it can integrate with other ManageEngine solutions as well as solutions such as Jira and ServiceNow. When we integrate our network monitoring solutions with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, it automatically raises an incident ticket and assigns it to the right team whenever any incident has occurred, which saves us time and reduces manual tasks. Previously, we had to communicate to the right people through mail or phone calls after an incident, but now the incidents are automatically converted and assigned to the relevant support groups along with the SLA. The integration with Teams allows us to raise tickets without logging into the portal, and we can see the ticket status and add comments through Teams, which is very helpful. Additionally, mail integration can automatically convert emails into tickets, adding further efficiency. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has positively impacted our organization, particularly in customer satisfaction. Previously, customers managed service requests, incidents, changes, and problems manually, but after integration, most of these processes are automated. This includes change requests that now follow a workflow based on organizational needs and ITIL best practices, making tracking incidents and requests much easier for end customers through scheduled reports.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The automation of data entry is the most valuable feature for us."

"Some of the key features of Automation Anywhere include the simplicity that enables developers to build bots very quickly in a standard delivery fashion."

"Web-based control is the most valuable feature. We can access it from anywhere in the world with the control room URL and in any browser. Bot Insights make our report generation and other insights view easier. We can export the data in the form of CSV, PDF, etc."

"It is a great company with a great product and support."

"Excel automation is one of the best features in Automation Anywhere. If we have to work with multiple excel sheets with lots of rows and columns, it gets really difficult to keep track of this is done manually. But Automation Anywhere makes it really simple and error-free."

"Our clients are always happy with the product and its performance."

"Scheduling helps to generate and send reports without any delay."

"This most valuable features of this solution are the drag-and-drop interface, and it is easy to code."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The most valuable feature is its scalability."

"Our department received about a 70% deflection rate, so that was really great."

"We have the ability to alter phrases, create new phrases, or enhance phrases, or change paths. From the dashboard, we are able to get a lot of information we need about what people are asking, where they are dropping off from conversations, and where they do not get the information they need."

"The bot is pretty easy to update and keep up to date. Espressive itself is pretty easy to work with."

"Our developers have used the Barista Control Center to extend the platform by adding content, and they've found it fairly easy to do and manage"

"When it comes to neutral language processing and conversational AI, it's very good, very solid... We all have different ways of speaking or writing in English and the application does a very solid job of recognizing what's being asked regardless of how it's being asked."

"Given the out of the box content for common industry applications, we got good value out of the solution right from day one."

"Given Barista's out-of-the-box content for common industry applications, the value is pretty good right from day one."

More Espressive Barista pros

"The platform's most beneficial features are incident management, change management, request management, and asset management."

"The ticketing function is very straightforward and easy to use."

"This product helps us with tracking customer queries and managing the issues effectively."

"The most valuable feature of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is change management."

"The solution has helped the company in terms of managing our support for the companies we start."

"The product has been valuable and is working for us, looking from the angle of dealing with vendors, the AIOps space, as well as the SOC side of things, and cost-wise, we're quite happy."

"ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has impacted my organization by standardizing the tribal knowledge, adding great value for our team for the efficiency of the team, and professionalizing the support experience."

"I can't think of any single feature that stands out, but it's an excellent product for a fair price. Nothing is missing. ServiceDesk has a lot of features, and we aren't using all of them. We have to implement the ones we already have before we move on to the others."

More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus pros

Cons

"The initial setup was not that great. The road was very up and down."

"The data migration could be better."

"This solution could be more stable because sometimes I see some bugs."

"It is good for standard procedures with an SOP. For those, it works well. But there are processes that are tricky and need human intervention and intelligence. In those cases, the process gets stuck."

"In the age of AARI and Automation Anywhere 2019 IQ Bot, the biggest challenges for me and my company are understanding the product and implementing it at the right place."

"The Excel part needs improvement because we use it as a database. Right now, we are using UiPath for this feature, as that RPA tool allows us to sort, search, and filter in Excel databases."

"Setting up Automation Anywhere is a bit complex."

"It would be useful to have some updates for the control room in terms of analytics."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"Espressive Barista's natural language processing and conventional AI still have room for improvement."

"There aren't very many things that this product needs improvement on."

"Expressive Barista could improve by adding native integration with WhatsApp, one of the top communication channels in South Africa. When we're trying to sell Barista to customers, we have to tell them that the solution doesn't have out-of-the-box support for WhatsApp. We can develop it, but then we need to have a conversation about how much that will cost."

"The reports provided by the solution are not customizable."

"Although they've done some work on their metrics dashboard, there is some fine-tuning to do for people that just want to go in there at a glance and see their metrics."

"The knowledge management could definitely be improved."

"My only comment would be if they wanted to use this as an IT service management tool, maybe they could think about Barista making tickets and having change management and problem management capabilities."

"What would make things easier is more detail, out of the box, about what is helping out of the box. We're struggling a little bit to get that data. We want more information about what Barista has brought in that the employees are using, out of the box. We want more visibility into the things that we ourselves haven't done the interaction for."

More Espressive Barista cons

"If it could have a tighter integration with Microsoft 365, particularly for email flow, it would be great."

"There is a limitation when assigning an approval; it has to be a single user. It would be beneficial to have an option to assign approvals to a user group or a variable."

"Lacks some flexibility in the configuration of workflows."

"ManageEngine needs to improve its handling of large volumes, as it cannot manage transaction volumes as effectively as ServiceNow."

"They could improve the screens."

"The reporting capabilities are not as good as Ivanti's. So, ManageEngine could certainly improve on that."

"The UI for the app needs improvement."

"Its reporting can be improved. It can have better analytics reports. Even though they provide integration with another tool called Analytics Plus to get those reports, it would be quite helpful to have them on the fly and out of the box. A lot of improvement is required in change management and release management. Their change management module is quite simple, and they need to do a lot of work on the change management module. The release management is out only on the cloud. It is not available in on-premises deployments. In the next release, I would like it to have effective project management. They do provide the project management and contracts management modules, but these modules need a bit of improvement."

More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My understanding is that the license cost of Automation Anywhere is more reasonable than UiPath and Blue Prism."

"I find the license pricing to be competitive and reflective of the pricing models throughout the RPA space, and I believe there is a lot of value in continuing to maintain the free community edition platform."

"Overall, the pricing of Automation Anywhere is good."

"We are not receiving the right information about their features, e.g. Automation Anywhere University, or anything that they are selling. They need to improve their documentation."

"Talk to your manager and try to procure an automation license for training. This will allow you to train people, so you can move to automation."

"The setup and licensing cost is affordable, and it is not exaggerated like UiPath."

"We have seen the tangible benefits of taking monotonous work off people's plates, creating capacity, and cost reductions."

"We're just starting to renew our license, and we were quoted $115,000 without the IQ Bot. The IQ Bot is another $30,000. This is with very limited pages, as we go through our first projects. The majority of the cost was for ten days of onsite training."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"The pricing isn't overly burdensome. It's going to be interesting to see how new models come in with new capabilities but, as it is, as a base system, it's pretty good."

"It is expensive. It's not a cheap thing."

"User-based licensing has been working well for us, and we believe we are deriving significant value from it."

"The price for the licensing is fair."

"The solution is affordable."

"It is cheaper than its competitors."

"I am using the free edition of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus. There are different versions available, such as professional."

"The licensing is around $10,000 per year."

"It is above average. But it is neither cheap nor expensive."

"The cost of licensing is approximately ten dollars per suite, per month. When scaling up, there are a lot of other expenses such as infrastructure, the telecommunication companies, etc."

"The tool's price is okay and in line with other products, maybe even cheaper than some products."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The only issue for us is the pricing, which is quite high in comparison with the competition."

More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

15%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	157
Midsize Enterprise	83
Large Enterprise	553

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	20

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

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Regarding pricing, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers three editions: Standard edition, Professional, and Enterpris...

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

Currently, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is a mature solution, and I do not think major improvements are needed, as i...

What is your primary use case for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

My main use case for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is to record the day-to-day customer requests and incidents or any...

UiPath Platform vs Automation Anywhere

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Product Reports

Automation Anywhere

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Espressive Barista

Download Espressive Barista product report

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Download ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

No data available

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

Espressive

Demo not available

ManageEngine

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

Espressive Barista leverages natural language processing to provide efficient help desk support, integrating with ServiceNow, supporting multiple languages, and automating tasks like password resets for global teams.

Espressive Barista offers a seamless tool for enhancing service desk efficiency through its robust natural language processing capabilities. It supports multiple languages, allowing global scalability and continuity in operations. Integration with platforms like ServiceNow ensures effortless assimilation into existing workflows. It automates routine tasks and offers HR and IT content readily, making it an integral part of operations in IT, HR, and finance departments. Users can customize content and utilize reporting features to tailor support services to specific needs.

What key features enhance its functionality?

Seamless ServiceNow Integration: Enhances workflow efficiency without disrupting pre-existing systems.
Natural Language Processing: Accurately interprets diverse questions to provide precise responses.
Multilingual Support: Expands global reach by supporting multiple languages.
Task Automation: Automates common processes like password resets to save time and reduce manual workload.
Content Customization: Offers customizable content for better alignment with team requirements and reporting.

What benefits should users expect?

Improved Efficiency: Automates responses, reducing dependency on manual tasks.
Scalability: Capable of supporting expanding operations with 24/7 availability.
Optimized Resource Allocation: Reduces IT tickets by offering self-service options and automating support tasks.
Better Service Delivery: Custom reporting helps refine support strategies, responsive to evolving needs.

Espressive Barista proves beneficial across industries needing streamlined internal support systems. It aids IT, HR, and finance sectors fundamentally by offering rapid responses and reducing ticket volumes. Its integration with SaaS applications highlights its adaptability, serving as a primary channel for initiating IT support, particularly through platforms like Slack.

Espressive

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is an ITIL-compliant tool designed for IT help desk and incident management. It offers user-friendly ticketing, automation, and integration features, assisting businesses in effective IT service management.

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus provides comprehensive solutions for ticketing, automation, and integration with third-party tools. Its features include project, change, and asset management, which are essential for streamlining IT operations. The intuitive interface supports both technical and non-technical users. The platform's reporting, SLA management, and CMDB functions significantly enhance business operations. Despite its strengths, there are areas for improvement, such as customization and integration capabilities. Users often seek better automation for active and asset management, enhanced search functionality, and improved security.

What are the key features of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

Ticketing System: Facilitates efficient issue tracking and resolution.
Automation: Allows the creation of automated workflows to reduce manual effort.
Customizability: Enables tailoring of the platform to fit specific business needs.
Integration: Seamless connectivity with third-party tools for enhanced functionality.
Project Management: Supports planning and execution of IT projects.
Change Management: Helps in managing IT service changes systematically.
Asset Management: Tracks and manages IT assets effectively.

What benefits and ROI should users expect from ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlined workflows and processes save time and resources.
Enhanced Communication: Facilitates better interaction within IT departments.
Operational Visibility: Reporting and metrics provide insights into IT operations.
Flexibility: Customization options help tailor the system to specific requirements.
Security Enhancement: Regular updates enhance system security and data protection.

Industries implement ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus to address specific challenges such as IT help desk management and asset tracking. Companies use the platform to log incidents, automate workflows, and ensure compliance with ITIL standards, supporting effective management of daily operations, system auditing, and improved client interaction.

ManageEngine

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

Information Not Available

Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited, Sterlite Technologies, averda, Radiology Associates

Espressive Barista vs. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus