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

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Microsoft Power Automate based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. Microsoft Power Automate Report (Updated: May 2023).
706,951 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The solution’s performance is good.""The feature I found most valuable is the TCO.""The solution is scalability.""It's user-friendly; even non-technical people can program bots using drag-and-drop functionalities.""IBM Robotic Process Automation has greatly improved the organization by improving the speed of performance, as the speed of the robot is estimated to be 20 times faster than the human being.""We can connect with different database types, and they have included a different package for a terminal connection to, for example, AS400. When it comes to UI development, it's not using the drivers or anything. It's not a selector-based development like UiPath."

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"I like the scalability option and the simplicity, the way we can really use the interface to easily scale up.""The most valuable features of Microsoft Power Automate are the connectors, such as loops, which make things easier.""The solution offers a lot of documentation and tutorials for users to learn about various aspects and features.""The most valuable feature is how much you can do with this solution.""The initial setup is pretty straightforward.""The whole platform seamlessly integrates well.""Technical support is responsive.""Third-party integrations with third-party applications are quite easy."

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Cons
"The product's document readers must be improved to capture the data well.""We would like a decreased need for customer support.""I would like to improve the efficiency of this solution and the Surface Level Agreement.""IBM Robotic Process Automation should be more stable.""We can use its inbuilt activities, and it's a complete package, but just like ElectroNeek, a limitation is that we have to depend on its inbuilt activities. We can't include our own activities or we can't introduce other activities.""The scalability of the solution can be challenging."

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"Sometimes it can be difficult to share flows for multiple users to edit.""They should include a custom plugin feature so that we can add our custom connections.""The solution could have more integration with different platforms.""Microsoft Power Automate could improve by adding more features to the free version it would be good because there are many features that you have to pay for. There are some functions that IT personnel, like myself, have a difficult time using and could be made more user-friendly.""On the governance side, there isn't enough documentation on how to govern Power Automate. People just build bespoke automation, which then becomes a problem point for different companies.""Power Automate is too complicated - it forces you to go through extra tasks instead of streamlining your workflow.""The downside is the lack of orchestration and supplemental tools such as capturing existing processes and using them to build out.""The product should improve its RPA capabilities."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The license is paid annually."
  • "The product has a yearly licensing fee."
  • More IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It depends and varies a lot according to the licensing terms. There is no cost to maintain if we have less than 10 forms. Microsoft only charges if there are more than 10 forms. So, most of the companies can survive without paying anything extra. It is included in the Office 365 licensing."
  • "There should be increased transparency about which features attend the pricing."
  • "The price is right. If you have Office 365 It's included."
  • "The license cost could be better."
  • "The licensing price should be more cost-effective."
  • "Due to the pricing model, the solution is more convenient than any other tools."
  • "They have the community edition that people can use for free, and they also have the enterprise edition. My company uses the enterprise edition, and I don't know how much they pay."
  • "We've got a subscription package. We are on a monthly package of $40. We've got some discount because we're a big corporate client of Microsoft 365 and other solutions, but the standard price of the package that we use is $40. For the product, you don't have to pay anything extra. If you're using a partner, you need to pay for their coding, advice, and services, which is a separate cost. The majority of the features are available for free for anyone who is on Microsoft 365."
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    706,951 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It's user-friendly; even non-technical people can program bots using drag-and-drop functionalities.
    Top Answer:There are a few areas that could use improvement. Firstly, the cost of IBM RPA is high, especially here in Brazil. Additionally, it requires a good understanding of the technology to apply it… more »
    Top Answer:I used it in 2018 in a company that specialized in medical services. They used it for accounting and payments.
    Top Answer:Yes, Attended Bots  which can run without centralized control Module. RPA Tools like Automation Anywhere, uiPath ,Power Automation they do support this.
    Top Answer:Microsoft‌ ‌Power‌ ‌Automate‌ ‌is‌ ‌intuitive‌ ‌and‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌integrate‌ ‌and‌ ‌use.‌ ‌I‌ ‌like‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌no‌ ‌coding‌ ‌experience‌ ‌necessary,‌ ‌and‌ ‌appreciate‌ ‌the‌ ‌automated‌… more »
    Top Answer:‌Neither‌ ‌solution‌ ‌requires‌ ‌any‌ ‌coding‌ ‌experience,‌ ‌and‌ ‌both‌ ‌are‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌use‌ ‌and‌ ‌have‌ ‌great‌ ‌drag-and‌ ‌drop‌ ‌functionality.‌ ‌The‌ ‌training‌ ‌and‌ ‌resources‌ ‌for‌ ‌AA‌… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    4,682
    Comparisons
    3,409
    Reviews
    5
    Average Words per Review
    477
    Rating
    8.4
    Views
    46,267
    Comparisons
    27,529
    Reviews
    47
    Average Words per Review
    559
    Rating
    7.8
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    IBM RPA
    Power Automate, Microsoft Flow, MS Power Automate
    Learn More
    Overview

    IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that encompasses the use of smart robots in any process requiring efficiency, consistency and speed, with no risk of mistakes. In a nutshell, RPA simulates a human user working.

    Today, it is possible to automate processes through the use of digital robots, or bots, which execute pre-programed, repetitive tasks in a safe and mistake free manner. There are literally thousands of opportunities for Robotic Process Automation to make an impact on your organization today, including: automatic invoice emission, system integration, information reconciliation, report generation, intelligent email management to lead generation, and many others.

    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."

    Offer
    Learn more about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
    Learn more about Microsoft Power Automate
    Sample Customers
    The Hanover Insurance Group
    SNCF, Air France, Avanade
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company38%
    Pharma/Biotech Company13%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Educational Organization13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Manufacturing Company16%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Government11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise61%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise53%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise69%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. Microsoft Power Automate
    May 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. Microsoft Power Automate and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.
    706,951 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is ranked 11th in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 6 reviews while Microsoft Power Automate is ranked 2nd in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 49 reviews. IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is rated 8.4, while Microsoft Power Automate is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) writes "We can connect to different databases and use inbuilt activities, but we can't include our own activities". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Power Automate writes "Improves operational efficiency, integrates with all sorts of databases and Microsoft solutions, and is easy to use". IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is most compared with UiPath, Automation Anywhere (AA), Blue Prism, IBM Datacap and ABBYY Vantage, whereas Microsoft Power Automate is most compared with UiPath, Automation Anywhere (AA), Blue Prism, WinAutomation by Softomotive and Kofax RPA. See our IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. Microsoft Power Automate report.

    See our list of best Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vendors.

    We monitor all Robotic Process Automation (RPA) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.