IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs Microsoft Power Automate comparison

Microsoft Power Automate is an intelligent, cloud-based solution that allows users to boost their productivity by creating automated workflows between multiple services and applications.

These workflows are used to synchronize files, receive notifications, and retrieve data. The system creates workflows by recording user actions, like mouse clicks, data entry, and keyboard use, which are processed into intelligent, secure workflows.

Users can easily add intelligence to their workflow automation with AI Builder. AI Builder has a set of AI tools which range from language comprehension to image recognition, as well as hundreds of pre-built connectors and thousands of templates.

Power Automate utilizes triggers and events to create chain reactions within each workflow so that all manual and repetitive tasks are carried out without any human intervention. The automation of time-consuming manual tasks frees teams up to focus on other strategic opportunities for their organization.

The workflow creation tool allows users to easily set up custom integrations and processes between Office 365 and third-party applications by using pre-built connectors. These integrations are typically services like data loss prevention and access management services.

Microsoft Power Automate seamlessly integrates and automates tasks with hundreds of out-of-the-box data sources. Some of the more popular third-party applications include:

• SharePoint
• Microsoft BI
• Microsoft Office
• Asana
• Mailchimp
• Twitter
• Trello
• Google Docs
• Salesforce
• OneDrive

Microsoft Power Automate was designed to allow non-technical business users to create their own automated processes with AI builder’s easy-to-use drag-and-drop-based interface, using four different types of automation flows:

• Cloud flows: Automations that are triggered by a specific event in the cloud or on-premises, such as an email or a social media post related to your organization.

• Scheduled flows: As soon as a designated time is reached, a scheduled process is triggered and continues to run until it completes all of its assigned scheduled tasks.

• Desktop flows: This allows users to automate their desktop by recording their screen. The visual flow designer automates mouse and keyboard clicks. Desktop flows can be used for extracting text from files, retrieving files from folders, and more.

• Business process flows: This automation can be designed in order for employees with different security roles to have a smooth work experience that best suits the tasks they need to perform.

A few of the major benefits of Microsoft Power Automate include:

• Automated processes improve workforce productivity and reduce human error.
• Streamlined repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
• Constant access to the solution via the mobile app to create, run, and monitor automated workflows from anywhere at any time.

Reviews from Real Users

Microsoft Power Automate stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its user-friendly interface, its automation capabilities, and its integration options.

Thiago R., the head of Digital transformation at Zaact, writes, "Workflow management is what clients select the most. It is very intuitive and pretty much drag-and-drop, so we can create escalation, decision flows, and if-else conditions pretty much by dragging and dropping boxes. Even someone who is not technical can develop a workflow for the business."