Automation Anywhere Reviews

In our banking center, we are using Automation Anywhere for loan settlements, credit card transactions, and reconciliation forms. It has been easy to use.

I like working with most of the commands in Automation Anywhere, such as object cloning commands.  I like MetaBot for automating Citrix.

They need to improve the speed. It runs too slowly.

There are some setup limitations:

• There is no direct passing mechanism to manipulate adjacent data and send it back to the server. 
• There is not one task that lets you debug everything.

Version 11.3 already has a lot of things that we want: quickness, ease, bigger, and more functions.

It is 90 percent stable. 

10 percent is due to network issues, slow performance of the application, or failed bots. These happen infrequently though. We implemented some fallback mechanisms around the network issues.

Scalability is fantastic. We can build anything out of the application. Though in some places, there are limitations. Fixing those would be good.

We are deployed in five different regions.

We are using the technical support. They are fantastic, but sometimes we aren't getting the expected outcome that we want from the tech support team. We would like to see this improve.

The initial setup is not that complex. We just download the software. Anyone can go and download it. It can be downloaded with two-way server. Then, the next step is to get a license for development and other things. Once development is done and it has been move to product, the client can use it.

I would recommend using this product. It is very useful. We can automate anything through it. There is much flexibility. It provides a robust mechanism, which is good.

We look at process which are feasible for automation on a case-by-case basis.

We mainly use it for development of finance operations, and it's been performing fairly well for the most part. We have 40 automations going right now and they run daily on the Bot Runner.

We've automated journal entries, bank reconciliations, different claims-accounting - a lot of finance processes. For example, we created a system where accountants can drop in journal entries and the journal entries will be read and posted to our system.

One of the processes we automated was that people who work in treasury would go into their email and download PDFs from their emails over and over. Sometimes there would be 200 or 300 emails that they would have to go through, and they would spend a whole day doing that. Now we have an automation that does it, and it only takes one or two hours, and it frees up their time too.

We have saved time or money using this solution, but I don't know how much. That information is tracked by my manager.

The most valuable feature of the product is the flexibility. There are so many features that you can use to develop; it can hit a lot of use cases.

In terms of the usability, the drag-and-drop, instead of being able to type, makes it hard for somebody with a programming background to get used to it. The drag-and-drop slows down development; I can't just keep my hands on my keyboard, I have to use my mouse as well.

The bot creation process is tedious. The solution has a lot of features, but since you have to drag down a lot of the commands, it can get tedious to use it. You end up having to use the mouse a lot more. You can't do it as fast as if, say, you just typed it out on a keyboard.

Since I do a lot of bot development, I'd like a different way to develop them, other than dragging the commands down. If there were a way to type out the commands, to make it a little bit easier or a little bit faster to create the automation, that would be good.

Integrating this solution with other applications is hit or miss, depending on the application. For some applications it's very easy and then sometimes, for others, it's very difficult. There are occasions when, the first time, the application doesn't work at all, so we have to use commands that are not as consistent.

The stability of the solution is hit or miss. It depends on what you're using it for. Sometimes it's very stable and you'll never have issues, but for some processes it may have issues, and you have to be able to fix them and develop it properly.

What we're trying to figure out right now is how to scale this. That's where the hardware comes in. For the most part, scaling with the application is more a matter of building the infrastructure around it.

To scale from pilot to the point where we are now, where we're developing three or four bots every two weeks, it took us six months. A lot of that was trial and error, creating our standards, and hiring developers to whom we could pass the projects.

Sometimes technical support has been very helpful and they've solved a problem very quickly, while sometimes it takes a month or a few weeks to get a problem solved.

The setup was complex because we didn't want to just start making bots immediately. We needed to build the infrastructure around it so that, in the future, it would be a lot easier for us. Once we had a process for how to build bots, it was a lot easier for us, and we had proper standards.

We used Neuralify. They helped a lot in getting us set up and it's been a good experience working with them.

I'm not 100 percent sure how we measure the ROI of a process we automate because a lot of that is handled by my manager. From what I know, we measure it based on time returned to the employee. Instead of calculating how much time it takes for the automation, we calculate how much time the employee was spending on this task beforehand, and now that we've moved it to an automated process, how much we have saved them.

Overall, I think we have seen ROI, but I don't have specifics.

On the shortlist we had UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere. They ended up using Automation Anywhere because it was the most flexible and the easiest to use.

Instead of trying to build a bot immediately, first build the infrastructure for how you want to build the bots. That way, when you scale in the future, it's a lot easier than trying to figure that out after you've already made multiple bots.

I have taken courses at the Automation Anywhere University, but for the most part the courses have been very basic. I had prior training, but when taking it again in the University, a lot of it was just going over the basics of Automation Anywhere.

We are a distributor of Automation Anywhere in Malaysia, and our focus is on solving business problems related to accounting, reporting, network operation centers, and first-level troubleshooting.

We deploy the solution on both AWS and Google Public Cloud.

Since we are the distributors of the solution, the improvements provided by Automation Anywhere vary for each of our customers.

The drag-and-drop feature is valuable.

Once we deliver to the customer, and they see the code, they can truly understand it without needing programming knowledge. As customers don't want to rely on vendors constantly.

The analytical dashboard in the Control Room could use some improvement. Currently, it's quite basic, which can pose a challenge when customers require more advanced features. Of course, different customers will have varying needs and expectations, so there's no one-size-fits-all solution. However, I believe it would be helpful if our team could have more flexibility in developing a more sophisticated analytical bot to meet these diverse demands.

I have been using the solution for five years.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable. We use the solution in multiple locations.

The technical support is good.

Positive

I previously used UiPath and WinAutomation by Softmotive but Automation Anywhere is easier to use.

The return on investment that our customers experience with Automation Anywhere typically revolves around the saved processing time and reduced headcount.

Although the initial implementation cost of Automation Anywhere is relatively high compared to other options, its annual subscription cost is lower than UiPath's, which has the opposite pricing structure.

I give the solution an eight out of ten.

I recommend Automation Anywhere to others.

The solution has really changed a lot when it comes from v11 to A360. When it was v11, then it was complete scripting, and it was not the UI, the drag and drop features that the other tools provide. You just drag an activity and drop it. It was actually scripting. So it was relatively difficult to develop a code for someone who is not very familiar with basic coding skills.

There are more valuable features with the updated solution. Now they have both the list view and the flow view. They have increased some features in terms of data types. They now have good usage of the data table and have added variable types. It's convenient.

One area that could be improved with the cloud solution when it comes to A360 is we have seen a certain lag. It's not a very happy tool. There are stability issues, but that is something that they maybe looked at already. They have come up a long way, and they are actually promoting the IQ bot as well. The document OCR/ICR techniques are something they're already working on, so I'm looking forward to that as well. 

As a developer, the biggest con is the lag. It's pretty inconvenient to face that delay in things happening. We come across that pretty often. 

It's not necessarily an added feature that I would be looking for, but in general, as a solution, it could have been easier to use than in the current state. The way the tool has been built, it's not easy to build a solution when it comes to using Excel automation. And it's not that convenient.

I've been working with the solution for a little less than two years.

The code for the solution, once developed, is pretty stable. I would say there is no issue in terms of stability there. It is only the initial accessibility in terms of the build phase where we have seen that issue of the lag.

Scalability is pretty much achievable, and I don't think we have faced any issues. We have had bots earlier. But when it comes to larger processes or where there's a situation where we need to use multiple bots for common processes and things like that, there, I have not been able to use those solutions. I don't work as a developer. I work as a solutions architect and a business analyst, and that is one place where I have felt Automation Anywhere is not that capable.

Customer service is comparable to Power Automate and Microsoft; they are responsive.

The initial setup for cloud-based solutions are all straightforward.

When it comes to pros, the solution is convenient. And now it has both the list view and the flow view in terms of the code. So whether it is a seasoned developer or whether it's a newcomer, they have made it slightly easy. I feel that for a first-timer, Automation Anywhere would be something that is relatively difficult to pick up.

I would rate the solution a six out of ten.

We use Automation Anywhere to automate business processes for better accuracy, time reduction, and scalability. An Automation Anywhere bot can work for 24 hrs. I worked for KYC Reconciliation processes in Automation Anywhere which consists of data extraction from PDF with the help of IQ Bot and extracted information entered into companies web portals. In the process, clients give us invoices through the mail and te bot identifies mail with specific subjects, downloads invoices, uploads invoices to IQ bot, and downloads CSVs to specific folders, and validate CSVs and upload CDVs to the web portal.

Automation Anywhere improved our organization's growth with prior usage of Automation Anywhere for repetitive tasks like data entry in the web portal and data extraction from the PDF with the help of IQ Bot. I've been working with Automation Anywhere for the last year. I've worked on two versions of Automation Anywhere i.e.V11.3 and A2019. One thing that I like the most about Automation Anywhere V11.3 is that you don't need any programming knowledge to develop the bot, so a non-technical person can also easily understand the process and can create the same.

Automation Anywhere has lots of features, some of them are accuracy increases, time consumption reduced, scalability. Automation Anywhere does not require a strong knowledge of programming languages. The dashboard is user-friendly. In A2019 of Automation Anywhere we can run a python script. The accuracy of the IQ Bot has been improved in Automation Anywhere. The new concept of the control room in A2019 is more impressive than older versions of Automation Anywhere.

Automation Anywhere has lots of good features. It does not require improvement. 

I would like if the IQ Bot could read hand-written documents, otherwise, Automation Anywhere is fabulous to work or develop processes for customers. Automation Anywhere has a user-friendly UI to work with so that any non-technical person can easily understand the process workflow. The accuracy of the IQ bot in the new version has been increased. We can make validations to fields in IQ Bot with Python scripts.

I've been using Automation Anywhere for a year.

Automation Anywhere gives us a stable developed process. We can run a bot without any human interaction. I found it to be stable.

One of the features of Automation Anywhere is scalability. We can scale our developed bot at any particular time and increase accuracy.

If any error occurred during developing a process you can ask for help from Automation Anywhere support team. The support team of Automation Anywhere is pretty good.

I didn't use any other software for developing processes to automate other than Automation Anywhere. From the beginning, I've been using this tool to automate.

Automation anywhere is very easy to set up. We have to download the product from the Automation Anywhere website and run it. We can set up the file in two ways either in Express mode or custom mode.

Our team developed a process for clients.

I'm working as RPA developer so don't have any idea about the ROI.

I'm an RPA developer, so I don't have any idea about the cost or pricing but the licenses for developers and runner IQ Bot are pretty good.

I haven't used or evaluated other options for developing the process.

Automation anywhere going great with its improvements.

Use case: Extraction from Main Frame Application

Solution : 

The bot will log in to the email box and then picks the invoice no, order invoice amount, and surcharge details. 

Based on a single line item and multiple line items, the bot will log in to AS400 and feed and check all the information. If there is a discrepancy then the bot will update it based on the tolerance limit. If there is no discrepancy, the bot will accept the orders. The bot will validate costs in Excel and AS400 application and it will allocate cost for each invoice.

Easy to access: Without the need to download and install software on a local machine, we can access the RPA application from virtually anywhere.

Easy to use: Automating a business process is as easy as logging in, clicking, and automating any kind of business.

Value for time: with the help of Enterprise A2019, we can get instant value. We can log in, set up automation, and go live within minutes, giving an immediate return on your investment.

Scalability: With help of Enterprise A2019 is a highly scalable application, we can deploy a few bots and automating any kind of business processes.

1) By using Workload Management in Automation Anywhere a lot of manpower was reduced. 

2) Credential Manager used to keep customer/client information's more secure.

3) The product is dedicated to the business user and comprises advanced capabilities to offer an intuitive interface for the business user and bot developer.

4) This platform is easiest to use, avoids complexity, and ensures fast adoption & rapid deployment. 

5) It not only fulfills the requirement of the digital workforce but also be flexible to evolve with the business needs.

1) Needs some improvement in IQ BOT:

* while uploading input files we are facing issue with grouping even the same kind of PDFs

* consuming of CPU utilization and requiring more RAM

2) It is not able to use OCR effectively and has limited usability.

3) Handwritten documents are still a drawback.

4) Some of the control room GUI can be improved, it is also difficult in terms of control room management.

5) If Excel gets hanged Automation Anywhere does not give any notification.

6) Needs improvement in image recognition.

7) BOT insights taking more CPU utilization.

I have been using AA for three years and five months.  

Automation Anywhere is a stable RPA application.

Enterprise A2019 is a highly scalable application, we can start small by deploying a few bots and automating any kind of business processes.

We are satisfied with their customer service and technical support.

We have used Blue Prism for Automation. Cost wise it is higher than Automation Anywhere.

A2019 has zero installation required.

We didn't look at other options while choosing Automation Anywhere.

UiPath and Kryon.

There is only one option Automation Anywhere for cost-effective RPA.

We are an SI vendor. We have been implementing customer-facing solutions for processes like reports generation, bank reconciliation, payroll processing, etc.

There were different bank statements generated for reconciliations. With some standardization, we were able to automate a process that took more than 4 hours in under 15 mins. In one of our customer implementations, the environment was to use simple RPA functionalities without any complexities. We achieved it with the basic pack of AA license.

The organizations where we have implemented AA have seen tremendous benefits achieved in terms of time and cost-saving with the highest quality of deliverables. Since this is about how it has helped our organization, I would explain it from the context of a system integration vendor. We are able to build a steady pipeline when we position AA as a solution and enhance our resource skills by certifications of AA.  This has certainly improved or relevance in the RPA market space with a growing team of Automation Engineers.

The features that help us satisfy the needs of the customer to overcome mundane activities using task bots and meta bots are the most valuable along with the rich controls in the control room. The developer team is able to capture all the necessary steps without much hassle with the visual designer and the ability to test each step of automation has helped in delivering error-free automation to our customer. With the new version of AA, we have more control over the implementation and we are able to quickly deploy the solutions to the customer.

OCR - OCR capability needs to become better. For the handwritten documents, we had a struggle to extract with accuracy while some other market tools were able to achieve it without any issues. 

The OCR component should allow integration with 3rd party OCR. This way we can use the best of breed solution along with AA or allow better control over OCR packages to be customized. As of now, it acts like a black box where there is very little control over the outcome of the OCR. We had great struggles with a customer who had handwritten data extraction. Finally, the customer was not able to see the value and the exploration went on hold post COVID.

We partner with multiple tools. We find AA to be much superior in support.

We use it in the field of banking, especially for repetitive tasks in card centers. We use automation with IBM BAW tools. 

It's helpful in creating new customer accounts, as we work with other systems that have no API or services to work with. The process starts in IBM BPM and it calls the robot to finish the work by calling other systems like iScore and T24. These add customer details and retrieve scores for the customer, especially when working with loans (personal, car). 

We used it in sending and collecting emails to and from different sites. 

We use it for repetitive tasks that need a lot of people and consume time, as bots work 24 hours and 7 days.

It helps in:

1. Improving employee productivity, morale, and retention. 
2. While there is some fear that automation will eliminate jobs, the consequences of automation are counter-intuitive: automation actually removes the tedious parts of work and frees up often stretched-thin employees for more meaningful and creative work. 
3. Streamline chaotic processes and workflows.
4. Increases transparency.
5. Enhances customer service and delivery.
6. Drives exponential growth.

Recorders and Bot Insights are very valuable features.

In addition:

1. Workload management helps to make the best use of the bots to make sure bots work well.
2. Concurrent bot executions. 
3. A web-based solution for bot creators.
4. It is a cloud-based solution.
5. Dashboards, especially for bot and task monitoring.
   
6. The REST APIs help to integrate with other systems.
7. Commands in the Excel package that make it easier to work with Excel files.
8. Email package commands.
9. Bot store.
10. Run DLL and Python code that helps a lot in working with machine learning.

The product needs improvements in dealing with remote servers and providing more APIs that will be used with other systems.

Also in need of improvement are:

1. The AI sense command needs improvement.
2. Bot discovery needs more work.
3. Migration tools should be improved.
   
4. REST and SOAP services need work.
5. AA should provide the ability to use custom packages that follow a standard to be imported in RPA.
6. I would like the ability to use custom cryptography algorithms with commands.
7. They should improve PDF commands and IQ features to include Arabic language OCR.
8. The admin user should have the ability to change the tome out of the session. 
   

We have been using Automation Anywhere for two years.

Stability-wise, AA is very good.

The scalability is good.

Technical support is good.

I previously used Blue Prism but changed because I found that AA has more helpful features. 

Straightforward, installation with disaster recovery approaches. 

The vendor team assisted us with deployment and they are very helpful and have a very good level of expertise

It helps to increase the ROI by 25%.

It's very good in terms of cost and pricing.