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IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) pros and cons

Vendor: IBM
4.1 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Simplicity allows quick adoption by both developers and business users.
Built-in integration with Watson enables intelligent document processing.
Analytics and reporting tools are advanced, surpassing other RPAs.
Offers scalability and integration with various systems like SAP and EBS.
Automation of tasks results in a significant speed improvement, up to 20 times faster than human performance.

CONS

IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) requires better integration with machine-learning and artificial intelligence to reduce the need for manual adjustments.
There is a need for seamless interface connection through APIs and enhancement in reading and writing capabilities with PDFs.
The documentation should be available in more languages to improve accessibility for global users.
Decreased need for customer support and faster response times are necessary for improved user satisfaction.
The scalability and stability of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) present challenges that need addressing.
 

IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Pros review quotes

LB
VP, Digital Workplace Strategy at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 27, 2018
I think simplicity is key. One of the things that we've noticed is how our developers have been able to quickly adopt the platform; but not only the developers or the techy people, also the business.
it_user845691 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Data Science at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Mar 27, 2018
The most valuable feature is the ability to automate mundane tasks. This improves efficiency, reliability, etc. You can form critical operations which can be highly automated.
AJ
Head of Process Innovation and Robotic Automation at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 9, 2018
It's not inclusive, in terms of automation, you can just do it standalone, in its own silo. It's not going to force your existing system or teams, your admin teams, to create new IDs for you or even force them to create new services or APIs for you or expose something from there. They can just keep the way they are doing it right now, but you still automate it.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Directore37f - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Cloud App Development at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 18, 2019
It is easy to use. We have enabled our resources who don't have a background in automation to be certified and trained, then implement this product within a very short period of time, as it is very user-friendly.
ClientEx1562 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Jun 18, 2019
It's integrated with all the other products within the Salesforce ecosystem.
SR
Senior Solution Engineer at Stream I.T. Consulting Ltd.
Jun 17, 2020
The solution's ease of use is its most valuable aspect.
SYEDMUJTABA - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President - Digital Automation Services at Techvista Systems
Dec 7, 2020
If you have a business process, and once you have automated that process, you have a readily available workflow in place.
FD
Senior IT & Business Consultant at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Dec 14, 2020
The quality is great! It's very strong and has a very strong platform.
AA
Director General at MindCraft Mexico
Jan 30, 2021
I like the integration with Watson and the possibility to have an intelligent reading of all the customers' documents.
LF
Project Manager at Montreal Oficial
Jan 30, 2021
IBM Robotic Process Automation is very easy to use.
 

IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Cons review quotes

LB
VP, Digital Workplace Strategy at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 27, 2018
One of the things I would definitely like to see is more of the machine-learning and cognitive capabilities. For example, now that we're starting to automate more and more tasks, there are some things that still require us to go back and modify the robots when we need to. But if we had more of the machine-learning integrated into it, I believe it would be easier to maintain, so that we wouldn't have to go back and adjust every time.
it_user845691 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Data Science at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Mar 27, 2018
We would like more focus on understanding AI and how it can be used to manage exception handling.
AJ
Head of Process Innovation and Robotic Automation at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 9, 2018
Extensibility is the key, especially in terms of the Recorders feature that we have. That should be browser independent. Enhance it because some people have Chrome, some have Internet Explorer, etc. Also, integration with PDFs: Not just the ability to read information from PDFs but the ability to write information from PDFs, make it secure, sign it, etc. Finally, if they can allow a token exchange inside the tool itself, that would help.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Directore37f - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Cloud App Development at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 18, 2019
I would like it to do pretty much everything out-of-the-box without any need for any customization. However, that is not the case right now. We absolutely have to do some amount of customization with the solution in order to use it out-of-the-box as-is.
ClientEx1562 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Jun 18, 2019
We are looking to see how it can connect with various interfaces seamlessly, through APIs.
SR
Senior Solution Engineer at Stream I.T. Consulting Ltd.
Jun 17, 2020
We're based in Thailand, but the documentation is not in Thai, which makes it difficult for us. If they could translate all of their documentation into our language, we'd be very grateful.
SYEDMUJTABA - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President - Digital Automation Services at Techvista Systems
Dec 7, 2020
This RPA should be under the umbrella of BPM. This is what the future should be.
FD
Senior IT & Business Consultant at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Dec 14, 2020
IBM should provide specific solutions for specific problems, like templates for invoicing processes, or general templates for creating efficient processes.
AA
Director General at MindCraft Mexico
Jan 30, 2021
The time it takes for approvals, and risk analysis could be faster.
LF
Project Manager at Montreal Oficial
Jan 30, 2021
Stability could be better.