Automation Anywhere Reviews

We have used Automation Anywhere to develop different software bots. We currently use version 10.7 for Windows 10 and we are in process of migrating our version to 11.2. We have automated important processes like creation of purchase orders from attributes that are in a Sharepoint form, and upload of exchange rates in our ERP system from data that is available in websites (central banks). We look at automating processes that are manual, repetitive, and rules based.

AA has allowed the generation of gains in productivity by automating certain processes, moving the hours from FTEs to a software robot, thus creating a digital workforce. The employees who were working on those manual activities are now focusing their time in the critical analysis of their processes. Here a few examples:

• Load of daily exchange rates - 840 hours/year saved
• Creation of purchase orders in Oracle - 1056 hours/year saved
• Processing of bank account statements - 600 hours/year saved

• The user friendly interface enables a quick learning process by any developer, and the ability to interact with virtually any system.
• MetaBots - This is an intelligent component/functionality that makes connection to websites or web forms a breeze. This functionality also works great with our corporate ERP system.
• Technical support - Very quick, efficient, and acknowlegeable. They were able to address all our inquiries very satisfactorily.

• Object cloning - This component seems to be unstable in version 10.7. We have run tests in version 11.2 and they seem to work much better there. During development/test cycles it is common to see object cloning components that were working previously stop full of a sudden. In these cases we usually migrate those components to MetaBots.
• Schedule queue - Scheduling is allowed at intervals of 30 mins. Having this interval reduced to 15 mins would allow better control of taks that run more quickly. The ability to schedule bots to run in different time zones would also be a great addition.
• Control Room - Enabling the ability to customize it would be a great addition. In version 10.7 we need to pay attention to the URL to differentiate between Dev, QA, and Prod. We could also use the function to create our own custom dashboards.
• Give MetaBots the ability to work with objects in applications running on a terminal server. This functionality would be a great help to developers.

Less than one year.

The solution in general is very stable, we haven't found any problem with bots deployed to the production server. As far as development goes, object cloning is a component of the solution that seems to be unstable, as it apparently stops working for no reason. Once deployed to production, everything is very smooth.

Scalability is associated to the number of bot runners purchased. More bot runners can be purchased at any time depending on how the demand grows, and AA offers the ability to process bots in a platform called bot farm.

AA Technical support has been contacted for different reasons, including validation of bot developments. In all scenarios, support was very responsive, efficient, and acknowledgeable, resolving all issues very quickly. Support is available 24x7 with tickets being raised either by their own ticket system or by direct calls. The customer service manager engages with the SPA in the company via phone call every quarter, to check on the customer satisfaction.

We previously used the product Automate. That product had issues working with Java forms, which were extensively used by our ERP solution.

The basic setup was straightforward. Deployment took two months. Our implementation strategy consisted of three servers, one for Dev, one for QA, and one Prod, as well as five bot runners: one for Dev, one for QA, and three for Prod. Finally, we have one administrator and one backup. AA provided the needed support to get the solution up and running quickly and smoothly.

Our company has a long-term partnership with TCS. We are currently using their consulting support, which has been good. TCS is able to engage with top professionals in the market.

We started utilization of the tool with a target of generating productivity, specifically by saving 10,000 hours between August and December 2018, regardless of the number of bots deployed.

Automation Anywhere is costlier than the general competition. I believe that it is consistent with their market share and with the benefits AA has to offer.

We evaluated Automation Anywhere vs Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere vs UiPath.

Automation Anywhere is a great platform. It is the tool that allowed us to bring back to life former plans to create our digital workforce. One suggestion is to go with the most recent release, both for the app and Control Room. Versions after 10.7 are the ones with enhanced functionalities.

We purchased ten developer licenses, all of which are in use now. The developers are responsible for deployment and maintenance along with two administrators. We have a target to be met and it requires extensive use of the product. This target will certainly be increased in 2019.

We primarily use the solution for business process automation. We use it to help us with background processes.

It's a very stable solution.

We have found the solution to be very scalable. 

The solution, in particular, is simple to set up.

There are quite a few very strong features available to users.

I haven't really used it long enough to critique too heavily. I need some more time to do a deep dive into its functionality, which I haven't done yet. 

The solution should have a more robust forum to help users navigate the solution, learn about it, and get help when they need it.

It should have a better marketplace where you can gather various workflows, et cetera. It would be an ideal place to find pre-built workflows, for example. 

I've been using the solution for maybe one year.

The stability of the product is quite good. It's reliable and offers good performance There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

It's quite scalable. We have many users on the solution. 

I'm not sure if I have ever actually contacted technical support. I can't recall dealing with them directly, and therefore would not be able to comment on their services. 

I'm also familiar with UiPath.

In general, when you set up the cloud solution, it's very, very easy. It's not overly complex. The on-premises version does take a bit more work. It's a bit more complex. That said, it's not too hard to handle either. 

The deployment is pretty fast. You're looking at maybe a 15-minute setup.

There is a community version, which is free. they also have a yearly paid license. 

I would recommend the solution to other users and companies. 

Overall, I would give it a rating of eight out of ten.

We are an integrator. We are selling RPA products to various customers. They have different use cases. 

We have cloud as well as on-premise deployments of this solution.

It is an easy product. It is easier and less complex than any other RPA tool in the market. It is a popular product.

Some of the machine learning (ML) components are still in development. They deployed many of them, but they are doing some improvements on the machine learning part.

I have been using this solution for one year.

It is stable.

It is scalable. It is suitable for enterprises.

Their technical support is good. I get very quick support whenever I face an issue. I raise a ticket, and the Automation Anywhere support team is available.

The deployment of Automation Anywhere is much easier as compared to any other RPA tool in the market. The solution itself is browser-based. So, we don't have to install complex software.

Its price is competitive with all other products in the market.

I would rate it an eight out of 10.

We are a factory and supplier corporation, e.g. we focus on the financial and automation niche, but mostly financial. Our service is implementing automation, e.g. we implement Automation Anywhere (AA) for customers. It's a tool for automating processes.

Automation Anywhere (AA) is easy to use and understand, even if the user didn't have previous experience with RPA (robotic process automation) software before. This solution has many tools for automation. It's good even if you're just starting with RPA software, e.g. we don't have to decide on the whole productivity process, so we can put in the costs step by step first, then put in the details after.

Other solutions require you to know the codes first and make decisions on the whole process. This means that with other RPA solutions, if the user doesn't have the experience, it will be difficult for them to use and decide on those automation programs, which is not the case with Automation Anywhere (AA).

An area for improvement for Automation Anywhere (AA) is its organization or utilization, because if it's your first time to initiate automation, you have to convert it properly, and you have to develop the amendment path through the automation path, but you have to pay a subscription for it first. The first part is difficult because if you buy the full package without having much experience with the product, it could be difficult to utilize the process from manual to automation.

There are some limitations in the migration from the manual process to automation, because currently, Automation Anywhere (AA) is trying to develop transfer from on-premises to cloud. There's a limitation in migration.

The setup and deployment processes for this product also need to be improved, e.g. made easier.

I worked with Automation Anywhere (AA) before, and I helped a developer team provide it to the customer, and that was last year. We implemented it. I've been dealing with the solution in the last two years, but changed my focus to analytic solutions for a year.

Automation Anywhere (AA) is a stable tool.

Scalability for this tool is good.

It's difficult to set up Automation Anywhere (AA) on the on-premises environment. It's also difficult to make preparations for it. You have to be ready so it can support the automation process. That was what people experienced in the on-premises deployment, but I'm unsure how it is when it's set up on cloud. Setup could be easier if it's done on the Cloud.

If you have a person who knows the utilities of this solution, setup will take one to two weeks.

Our clients are paying for a yearly subscription of Automation Anywhere (AA).

Automation Anywhere (AA) is very easy to understand, but automation is something new here in Thailand.

We have 20 clients using this solution. For deployment and maintenance, we have a technical team made up of 10 people, with one vision analyst.

We have an automation hypercare team responsible for supporting customers after we've deployed Automation Anywhere (AA).

I would recommend this tool to others who want to start using it, because it's a good tool.

I'm giving Automation Anywhere (AA) a score of eight out of ten.

Automation Anywhere is primarily useful for any processes with repetitive data entry. For example, supplier invoice processing. This solution can be deployed on-prem as well as on the cloud. 

Automation Anywhere is stable, scalable, and easy to use. 

The product's technical support could use improvement. 

I can't think of any additional features I would like to see. The existing features are okay. 

We have been providing Automation Anywhere for over four years. 

Automation Anywhere is very stable. 

This product is very scalable. 

The number of customers we have using this solution exceeds 50. 

Automation Anywhere's tech support could be more knowledgeable. 

The installation is straightforward. It usually takes under two to three hours. Full deployment can take anywhere between four to twelve weeks for one process automation. For deployment and maintenance, we have a team of roughly three to four: one project lead, one solution architect, one BA, and one developer.  

We implement this solution through an in-house team. We are IT service providers and partners of Automation Anywhere, so we provide this solution to customers. 

There is an annual subscription for Automation Anywhere. 

I rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten, and would recommend it to others. 

I highly depend on the product for automation processes on most of our organization systems. 

It has been able to simplify most of the tasks and projects from the creation of bots that perform most duties. Our team members have focused on more productive duties that require human input leaving less operative duties to robots. 

Service delivery has improved and our customers are very happy since they can be served at faster speeds by robots. It has created a conducive working environment that has overseen our workforce team increasing production.

Automation Anywhere has led to faster growth in our organization. We have increased our sales volume and ensured that the current international threshold. We have created robots to undertake critical roles and left some duties under the labor force team. It has streamlined workflow infrastructure and sped things up in our company. The deployment cost of Automation Anywhere is relatively low when compared to other RPA platforms. It has secured our data and given us very effective cloud services. An increase in production has enabled our teams to focus more on quality and fulfilling customer demands.

The Robotic Process Automation tool is very powerful and most useful in our organization. It has enabled our system management teams to design robots that fit most programs. Cloud operation features are very convenient and have lead to faster deployment processes. It has created a conducive collaboration feature that has led to better teamwork among our team members. The creation of most applications in our company has been done from the programming interface and they have been very effective in running our business programs.

The current version is very effective and I have no recommendation for improvement. Since we deployed Automation Anywhere is has never failed in functionality. It has led to faster growth of our enterprise and lead to increased productivity. 

Automation of most services has led to faster service delivery and given our organization an opportunity to win over many customers. 

The next version could have more data storage capacity that can be customized to sustain different workloads. I am satisfied with most features overall and I am very proud of this Software.

I've used the solution for two years.

This platform has has highly increased performance across the entire organization. Production has increased leading to faster growth.

The customer support team has been very supportive since we deployed it.

Positive

I have not used a different solution.

The initial setup was straightforward.

We implemented through a vendor and they were very supportive and had a high level of experience.

It has contributed to a positive ROI.

The setup cost is relatively low and is affordable while offering a quick ROI. 

I explored other options, such as UiPath, but have settled on Automation Anywhere.

We serve different clients of ours helping them streamline or ease out with their day-to-day activities. There is a team who identifies which activities can be automated end-to-end. They prepare a proposal sheet, which comes to us, and we do the feasibility of it: How much of that activity can be automated. Then, we proceed from there.

Currently, in our production environment, we are using Automation Anywhere version 11.3.1. In a beta test version, we are also evaluating the latest version, which is 11.3.2.

Previously, we had to input a password to a particular tool for the user to login. The only option was through encrypted keystrokes, and if I uncheck the password, I can see it. Now, they have a credential vault, which is 256-bit encrypted. That is the highest security that can be provided when it comes to credential maintenance. That's a day and night difference. With a credential vault, other than the user who is entering the password, no one else knows what the password is. This also helps when convincing the clients. 

The most advanced feature in the current version is the security. Previously, the whole thing was like a software installation. Nowadays, it is more of a URL and credential vault. Everything is taken care of by a centralized tool, a Control Room, which is only accessible through the URL. I really like this feature. I hear that in the upcoming version that everything will be cloud-based. So, I'm really excited to see that type of an infrastructure.

As a developer or user, I feel that the performance of the overall package could be made a little better or reliable. For example, if I'm opening up a heavy Excel file, which is uploaded in some shared drive over the net, and I have my box coded to open that Excel to do some work or formatting on it, and depending on the network load and the size of the file, this client version while trying to access that file becomes unstable at times. It goes into the hang position until a human being comes in, ends the task, and restarts it. Until this happens, it does not respond. 

In version A2019, it's moving from a software installation infrastructure to a cloud-based infrastructure. I am hoping that the end-to-end deployment from conception to coding to production will be much faster than it is right now. That really excites me as this is a feature that I suggested to tech support.

I've been using this tool since 2014.

I would definitely like to see an improvement in how it handles the system resource crunch and how it takes care of the pressure. That would be really nice to see.

Over the years, I have seen the solution really change. I have seen the differences that come with the subsequent releases.

It is definitely scalable. It is very flexible when it comes to scalability. I have had projects in which the total benefit was about 12 FTEs across the globe. We would start off with 0.5 FTEs when we went into live production. Then, we started onboarding other countries or regions, and getting roles onboarded was pretty much seamless. Scaling up is a good thing that Automation Anywhere has for it.

I use Automation Anywhere's tech support every day. They are awesome. Whenever I have certain ideas, I always drop them an email. Then, six or eight months down the line, I see those releases coming in which makes me feel proud. 

The engineering team works on our suggestions and provides us with a patch or upgrade, which is nice to see.

Back in 2014 (at my previous organization), I wouldn't say the initial setup was smooth. There were a few roadblocks. Both Automation Anywhere and my previous organization worked on them. Eventually, everything got sorted out. Nowadays, everything is much better than what I saw back then.

We deployed in-house.

I have not see ROI in my current organization. However, I did see ROI in my previous organization.

In the initial year after deployment, you won't see return on investment. Eventually, when your bot is more stabilized and your processes are streamlined, in the one and half years to two years window, you will start seeing return on investment. The FTE cost is definitely higher than the license cost of each bot. If your program has been thought through, then one bot can be used to do the work of approximately two human beings worth of labor. That is where the benefit is, which will start from the second year onward. 

Approximately, for a developer, it is around $750 for a license a year. For Bot Runners, it is about $550.

Automation Anywhere is unlike any other software. Automation Anywhere provides me with my bread and butter. I just love the tool.

Understand what projects or automation projects that you have on hand. Every clients setup demands a different set of tools which can be used for automation. Automation Anywhere does try to cover all environments, though. However, there are a few other tools in the market specifically built for specific infrastructures. First, study your requirements. Then, based on those, go ahead and decide on what tool you want to use.

My primary use cases consist of the following:

1. Filtering and manipulating multiple Excel, CSV, XLS files to gather relevant data as per the business requirements.
2. Extracting text from searchable and non-searchable PDF files and uploading the data to separate output files or web-based forms.
3. Scheduling tasks to run on a daily basis or implementing trigger-based process execution.
4. Implementing email automation in various modules.
5. Working with external macros and JScript files, depending on the given business logic. 

Automation Anywhere has by far, provided one of the best and easiest solutions to implement RPA. It has helped increase our productivity in the following ways:

1. The scheduling and trigger-based solutions provided by Automation Anywhere have saved the effort of manually checking the conditions and executing tasks.
2. The OCR commands have made document processing efficient to a certain extent.
3. Working with external scripts has been very useful; I have used JScript and VBScripts in my processes.
   

The features I found most valuable are:

1. PDF Integration Commands: It is easy to extract text from PDF files in two ways, plain text and structured text. Automated password protected files, as well.
2. FTP Commands: I found it very easy to automate processes where I have to extract, upload, and rename files on the SFTP server for my process.
3. Error Handler: One of the most valuable features is the error handler, as this command has helped me design bots that can handle multiple errors and exceptions.
4. Object Cloning Features: This is one of the most reliable features provided by Automation Anywhere.
   

The product is amazing, nevertheless, it would be really great to see the following points being implemented:

1. Better OCR Extraction: The OCR extraction is good to some extent, but I have seen some cases where it has failed to extract text from a few documents, and this was quite unexpected.
2. More Excel Commands: The set of Excel commands I am currently using in Automation Anywhere V11.3 are limited. Most of the Excel commands such as filtering and removing duplicates are not available.
3. Options to edit Document and PPT files: The scope of projects could be expanded if we have such commands. 

I have been using Automation Anywhere for more than a year.