Empowers business users and improves customer satisfaction
What is our primary use case?
I am working for a financial organization, and we have implemented more than 100 Automation Anywhere bots in our organization from 2018 till now. Our organization holds all the teachers' annuity and 401k funds, and we automated a lot of use cases related to customer information updates as well as payments for those who are already retired, including pensions and related services.
Currently, my company is evaluating building some agnostic processes and creating our own LLM to consolidate data into a single data store. Once that LLM model is ready, we see an opportunity to automate many things using Automation Anywhere by calling those LLMs rather than multiple applications. Our top priority currently is document automation, extracting data from documents, which we have also been doing for the last three years. At the enterprise level, a separate artificial intelligence team is working on building an LLM that can be utilized by all other application teams.
How has it helped my organization?
Earlier, if a customer called our organization or created a ticket asking for their financial statement, it would take a couple of days to get that, but with Automation Anywhere, they receive their financial statements while still on the call.
Automation Anywhere has helped us save money, as we track use cases with ROI, resulting in FTE savings. For instance, last quarter itself, we processed almost six million transactions using Automation Anywhere, which involved around 70 bots running 24/7, saving about 150 FTEs.
Overall, it is pretty easy for non-technical business users to use Automation Anywhere. One week is good enough to train them, and it is 90% easy for them, except for some technical terms or knowledge required.
It integrates well. We have integrated various tools with Automation Anywhere, including PeopleSoft, ServiceNow, IBM Case Manager, Workday, and Clarity. We have integrated CRM tools, HR systems, and some homegrown applications and workflow systems. With IBM Case Manager, we were able to integrate Automation Anywhere for end-to-end process automation, handling case creation to completion.
What is most valuable?
What I appreciate the most about Automation Anywhere is that it does not require any technical knowledge; if we educate business people, they can automate their daily tasks and activities. It is easy to use for non-technical people, with a simple drag-and-drop interface, so they don't need to be technically savvy to automate their processes.
What needs improvement?
To improve the product, one aspect that Automation Anywhere can work on is archiving legacy data effectively. Currently, data older than current versions remains on the server, slowing the system down.
Additionally, they should introduce a generic RE framework for better framework creation within organizations, along with enhanced task statistics captured at the transactional level rather than just the top level.
Their support should also be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Automation Anywhere for almost eight years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability can be of two types: process-wise scalability where common functionalities are created, and infrastructure-related scalability where we forecast loads for upcoming quarters to adjust our current capacity accordingly.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted technical support multiple times. Especially when I was involved with IQ Bot and earlier A360 versions as a beta user, I faced numerous issues that required direct collaboration with the support and engineering teams for immediate resolutions or feature enhancements.
I would rate Automation Anywhere's support a four out of ten because the support is horrible for all customers. Response times and resolutions are significantly downgraded, leading to a frustrating support experience that ultimately harms the client-vendor relationship due to lengthy email back-and-forths instead of direct communication.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
It requires a bit of technical background from the server and infrastructure standpoint. If someone knows middleware, it is pretty straightforward. There can be hiccups here and there. Especially in the earlier versions, there were a few challenges, but it is now streamlined in A360. Everything is pretty easy.
Upgrading Automation Anywhere can vary in difficulty, with package version upgrades being easier than transitioning from version 11.3 to A360, which is tougher and requires significant setup work, including roles, accesses, and schedules.
What about the implementation team?
I handle the whole deployment and system upgrades personally. I am supported by a couple of people working offshore for any issues. Overall, I manage all upgrades and installations, while the two others assist anyone needing help with particular VDI or bot issues.
What was our ROI?
I see the benefits of Automation Anywhere based on the ROI factor. While immediate customer satisfaction is noticeable because customers are able to get their statements quickly; from an organizational standpoint, it shows a return on investment within six to twelve months.
Automation Anywhere has helped us save money.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The current pricing for Automation Anywhere seems a little higher compared to competitors Power Automate or UiPath. Automation Anywhere is perceived as pricey due to the support model charges ranging from 20% to 30% based on the plans. A lot of organizations are moving from Automation Anywhere or UiPath to Power Automate.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I was working at this company when Automation Anywhere was evaluated and deployed. I was one of the core members to identify what tool to use for RPA technologies for this organization. We evaluated Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere in late 2017, as those were the two RPA vendors available in the market. We identified Automation Anywhere and began onboarding from there onwards, working from scratch to implement it at the organization.
What other advice do I have?
I connect with business leaders to review the processes and identify who is manually doing these processes. I connect with business leaders every month to identify the best use cases that need to be automated. We identify the processes that need to be automated or have chances for automation. We evaluate the ROI, and based on that, we go ahead with the implementation. We assess the ROI and compare the processing speed or delivery speed to customers and customer satisfaction as our measures to keep track of statistics for human versus automated processes.
We are not using the Co-Pilot, but I work with community forums and help others, gaining hands-on experience with the Co-Pilot. For real-case scenarios, we are not exploring or introducing the Co-Pilot to the business as we are still working in a hybrid model due to market conditions. Once the market stabilizes, all businesses will be happy to explore the Co-Pilot or Discovery in the future, maybe at the end of this year or so.
I would rate Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten.
Best platform for automation purpose.
What do you like best about the product?
It has the AI integrated abilities that helped with digital transformation into our account.
This platform comes with great features and we are exploring it as well.
Glad to using Automation Anywhere with respect to it's capablities.
What do you dislike about the product?
I think the cost for this platform is bit high for our account so it took more time to convince client about it, anyways the platform is great so no major concern for it.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Into our account one of the use case is - the document data is much more important and to tally it perfectly with proper data analysis as well as data insights - it's much more important with platform is going to help with this and how. So this solution we implemented using this for document processing as an BFSI(banking domain).
The first batch employee in Automation Anywhere China team and been dedicated on introducing AA
What do you like best about the product?
AA knows the enterprise and industry well and practice the professional way, to lead the RPA and now in APA world, AA make the turn quickly even it took a lot of loss and sacrifise, but it keep in right trace
What do you dislike about the product?
The cost to adopt RPA of AA and now APA looks still high, but understand that should come from entire ecosystem work effort
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I helped most client in greater china to transform their business, RPA helped them on many ways, it is very typical on but not just limited in such area:
- Old legacy system is out-of-date and with no maintenance, to get the data , feed the data,
- Numerous document with picture and pdf format to use AA DA and IQBot before to convert,
RPA Solution Architect
What do you like best about the product?
Custom framework and SDK development with drag and drop
What do you dislike about the product?
Transaction level history or dashboard not available or custom dashboard not available
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Accuracy and time sensitive processing
Automation reliably improves data handling and streamlines verification processes
What is our primary use case?
I automate data entry by receiving files from one system and making data entries into other applications. Additionally, I perform file transfers by receiving files from one system and uploading them to another application. I also have OFAC verification procedures, which were previously done manually. I enter a local application, and depending on the pending cases, execute all verification processes automatically, sending responses to other applications. Basically, I have extensive data transfer automation. Moreover, I have automation that receives a file from another system and executes a procedure or invokes a web service to upload or create other things.
What is most valuable?
The product, in general, is more stable. The latest version provides easier vulnerability management. The new version offers a better experience in recognizing objects. The Co-manager tool helps calculate saving costs. Many of the issues I had in version eleven were resolved in version 360. The cloud version of Automation Anywhere 360 eliminates all the vulnerability management, making it much easier to manage. The application replaced about three employees for the OFAC verification processes, thus eliminating the need to hire more people for those tasks.
What needs improvement?
The new version requires one project to be open at a time, making it slightly more difficult to manage tasks compared to the previous version. They sell every different functionality in too many separate packages, making the procurement process complicated as it requires paying additional licensing for more features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for about six years.
How are customer service and support?
The support is good. Sometimes the technical team doesn't know too much about the situation, and they rely on knowledge articles. However, they have improved.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
This is my first RPA solution. I have other automation solutions in my company, but this was my first RPA solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for the initial version, version eleven, is not too complex, medium. The latest version is easier because it requires less infrastructure.
What about the implementation team?
One person was involved in the deployment.
What was our ROI?
The bot replaced about three employees, saving hiring costs.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think it is expensive. It is not a cheap solution. Though there are other options that possibly can be less expensive, this is not a cheap solution. It's not for everybody.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My supervisor conducted research based on the Gartner reviews and decided to go for Automation Anywhere. This analysis was made several years ago.
What other advice do I have?
The overall rating of Automation Anywhere is eight on a scale of one to ten. Other departments in my company use Control-M and Ansible for automation. If I did not have Automation Anywhere, we might have needed to hire more people for certain processes. I don't have any direct integrations, but I do have several project integrations via file or triggering a bot when an email is received.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
User-friendly and works well for web automation and SAP automation
What is our primary use case?
I am working as an RPA Developer, and I am expected to create bots that simplify people's jobs, allowing them to focus on more important tasks. I am tasked with creating robotic processes.
How has it helped my organization?
Business analysts come to us with their problems and want to find out if we can address them with robotic process automation. My role is to confirm whether we can do it with Automation Anywhere. They handle the metrics calculations in terms of the impact on the business, but I am informed that with Automation Anywhere, we have streamlined processes, eliminating errors and reducing time. Previously, these jobs were performed manually, but with Automation Anywhere, they can concentrate on more significant tasks.
Its integration with Outlook and SharePoint was easy with the help of the Automation Anywhere team. After we got information about the connection strings and other things from them, integration was easy.
What is most valuable?
I like web automation and SAP application automation.
It has a good interface. Those who do not have programming experience can easily use Automation Anywhere. It is very easy to learn. Within three months, they can start creating basic automation.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes, I find that Excel automation is not as expected. Excel automation can be enhanced. For instance, to accomplish tasks faster, I use scripts. However, if I could achieve the same speed without scripting, that would be ideal.
For web automation, the recorder package can be improved. It is sometimes hard to catch certain elements on the web.
The Automation Anywhere community is less active than the UiPath community, which is a downside. When I ask questions in the Automation Anywhere community, responses take a longer time. I have checked the UiPath community, where there are more active participants.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for a bit more than four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable. I would rate it a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. It is being used for automation for multiple departments. I am working in the RPA team. My company has more than 100 people, but the RPA team has seven people using Automation Anywhere. I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
When I encounter difficulties, I raise a ticket with the Automation Anywhere team. They respond promptly and are willing to help, but some team members seem to lack the necessary skills. As a result, problems that typically should be resolved in one day may take three days.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I only have experience with Automation Anywhere.
How was the initial setup?
I have not installed Automation Anywhere.
The deployment of automated tasks is easy. I can do it in two minutes. I have used both on-premises and cloud models. In terms of maintenance, the bots usually require updates when there is an issue or there is an update from Automation Anywhere. It is usually once every three months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not know the price, but I am told that it is cheaper than UiPath.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product to other users because it is user-friendly, and I appreciate its features, such as SAP automation and web automation.
We have not yet used AI in Automation Anywhere, but there is an upcoming course on integrating AI, which I will attend.
Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten.
Excellent and flexible RPA platform
What do you like best about the product?
The tools (packages) available for building RPA automations is extensive. The UI is easy to use and has two different ways of viewing the code, both of which are extremely visual. Having many different types of variables to choose from like string, number, Boolean, table etc. allows you to structure inputs and outputs well and handle most situations. The platform makes capturing parts of any web page or desktop application easy. Being able to break the steps of an automation down into smaller sub-tasks and re-usable components accelerates development and makes the code more manageable. The platform also allows you to trigger automations with file drops or even e-mail, as well as scheduling the automation at specific times of day, days of the week and more. Lastly, being able to call APIs allows for easy integration with other platforms, services, and automations. Implementing an automation is also extremely easy .
What do you dislike about the product?
Having multiple developers work on the same project is difficult as once one person has code checked out they are the only one who can edit. There is no 'merge code' functionality as there is on other development platforms. Documentation for each package (feature) could be improved with more examples, screenshots, tips, and use cases.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are using RPA to ease workflow in many areas of the company from Finance to Operations to HR functions. Many repetitive tasks and in some cases, an entire process is being automated, saving hundreds of manual hours of work. In some cases we are using RPA to reduce defects and risk as well.
Automation Anywhere RPA
What do you like best about the product?
I like the customer service, when I face a problem in rpa, I raise a ticket, and get quick help from Automation Anywhere team.
I also like the building code in AA platform, it is easy to use.
What do you dislike about the product?
It can take time to use few packages like sharepoint,outlook packages since it needs some informations to be filled.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We create bots for works that need to work so often. So AA helps people to use their time more efficiently.
Powerful, Scalable, and Intuitive
What do you like best about the product?
Having developed both in traditional languages and in all RPA platforms, I appreciate how Automation Anywhere offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface. For both seasoned and citizen developers, this makes barrier to entry and the time needed to get up to speed building automations much less than I have seen on other platforms. Additionally, the sheer volume of features, from AI to Document Automation to integration with dozens of top-tier systems, makes Automation Anywhere an indispensable tool to have.
What do you dislike about the product?
There are times when getting technical support is difficult, but this is not uncommon in the industry when dealing with complex issues. I struggle sometimes with the need to walk through the same basic steps with Tier 1 Support multiple times before I can get an issue escalated and dig further into matters.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The ability to quickly create automation processes for our business units allows them to focus on more value-add tasks rather than the mundane. Also the ability to help business units find those tasks and processes that are ripe for automation, to cure the "we don't know what we don't know" dilemma, has provided ongoing value to the teams.
RPA - A true breakthrough in programming business processes that seemed impossible.
What do you like best about the product?
Automation Anywhere makes it easy to create automations for both the beginner and the seasoned Automator. Its versatility is tremendous with both built in modules and functions plus the ability to add custom Python or Scripting to accomplish the task at hand.
Furthermore, the recorder feature makes integration with 3rd party applications its most powerful feature. The ability to duplicate user mouse actions, copy and paste data, and also efficiently loop thru html screens is a winner.
I especially like the ability to capture multiple points on the screen in addition to recording or re-recording a single action this truly makes implementation quick and easy.
What do you dislike about the product?
although the Automation Anywhere customer support is top notch and very responsive. the need to improve the time to repair for bugs and new features is very evident. My expectation is that if a get function is provided it should always be paired with a set function.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are using RPA in as many situations as possible. We have automations that produce 100s of automated ours / month and others that are much smaller running daily and saving 1 hour or less to produce a report. The biggest intangible benefit is data accuracy. Our users now trust the Bot results with great confidence.