The only feature that stands out in Blue Prism, as compared to other tools, is security. This is the only reason for still having Blue Prism in our bucket. It is very secure and reliable, and it has also been in the market for a very long time. We automated a lot of federal and government automation processes very recently with this solution.
Development Lead For RI DMV Modernization at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Very secure, stable, and reliable, but doesn't have a community edition and good documentation
Pros and Cons
- "The only feature that stands out in Blue Prism, as compared to other tools, is security. This is the only reason for still having Blue Prism in our bucket. It is very secure and reliable, and it has also been in the market for a very long time. We automated a lot of federal and government automation processes very recently with this solution."
- "There are many reasons why many companies don't go for Blue Prism. It is not open, and the community addition is not available. Blue Prism provides support through partnership. You need to do a partnership with them, which is a major disadvantage. You contact a Blue Prism team, and they will schedule a meeting with you. They will give you a demo and help you set up everything, whereas with UiPath and Automation Anywhere, you can try the community edition, and if it fits your needs, you simply buy a license for that. The initial setup of Blue Prism is complex. They simply provide a PDF or documentation for you to go through it, whereas, if you go with UiPath or Automation Anywhere, they have several videos and community support to guide you. The documentation of Blue Prism is static. They don't have any sort of videos or open forums. Other tools have got a lot of community support, but Blue Prism doesn't have that. Its training is also hard to attain, and they also don't provide any certification."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
There are many reasons why many companies don't go for Blue Prism. It is not open, and the community addition is not available. Blue Prism provides support through partnership. You need to do a partnership with them, which is a major disadvantage. You contact a Blue Prism team, and they will schedule a meeting with you. They will give you a demo and help you set up everything, whereas with UiPath and Automation Anywhere, you can try the community edition, and if it fits your needs, you simply buy a license for that.
The initial setup of Blue Prism is complex. They simply provide a PDF or documentation for you to go through it, whereas, if you go with UiPath or Automation Anywhere, they have several videos and community support to guide you.
The documentation of Blue Prism is static. They don't have any sort of videos or open forums. Other tools have got a lot of community support, but Blue Prism doesn't have that. Its training is also hard to attain, and they also don't provide any certification.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, it is a good solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It has good scalability.
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Blue Prism
November 2024
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How are customer service and support?
I never got a chance to contact their technical support.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is complex. It is not easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
They work on a big partnership kind of program with our organization, and they also give us a lot of discounts. Its price is pretty much comparable to the other solutions like UiPath and Automation Anywhere.
What other advice do I have?
We primarily use UiPath, and we also use Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere. UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere are the three leaders in RPA. We kind of make sure that we include all the pros and cons. Blue Prism provides a lot more reliability and security as compared to others. That's the reason it is still in the game.
I would rate Blue Prism a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Sr. Project Manager, Automation at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Good automation with legacy systems helps with overall efficiency
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the ability to do surface automation, allowing interaction with legacy systems where terminal emulation is still in use."
- "I would like to see the vendor improve the efficiency of Blue Prism interaction with applications."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is automating data entry-intensive tasks interacting with in-house applications.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution has allowed us to free up time for more "value add" tasks, increased quality through a reduction in data entry errors, and has benefitted us with shorter turnaround times for some processes.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the ability to do surface automation, allowing interaction with legacy systems where terminal emulation is still in use.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see the vendor improve the efficiency of Blue Prism interaction with applications. There are instances where the human user can complete the process faster than the "bot". It does not support (at least not well) scenarios where attended automation (back and forth hand-off between human and bot) is required.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for eighteen months.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Blue Prism
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Blue Prism. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,660 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Vice President at Maybank Singapore
Integrates well with existing systems to increase speed and accuracy of automated tasks
Pros and Cons
- "This solution has increased the speed, accuracy, and happiness of staff involved in the activities for which RPA has been deployed."
- "We would like to see intelligent process automation that integrates RPA and machine learning."
How has it helped my organization?
This solution has increased the speed, accuracy, and happiness of staff involved in the activities for which RPA has been deployed.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the exception handling and versatility with interfacing to existing systems.
What needs improvement?
We would like to see intelligent process automation that integrates RPA and machine learning.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for two years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Solutions Architect at ValueMomentum
Integration with Outlook and OCR capabilities have helped reduce effort spent on mundane tasks
Pros and Cons
- "The way you design the flow and configure the activities for the bot is very useful if you are working with any of the BPM or local platforms."
- "I would like to see wider integration with other products."
What is our primary use case?
We were using this solution for two main purposes. The first was to leverage the OCR capabilities, and the second was integration with Outlook to check email and retrieve attachments from email.
We were also looking at the workflow component, and how to orchestrate the bot and the process flow within Blue Prism.
This is all being done as a pilot project by one of our departments to assess the impact of implementing RPA.
How has it helped my organization?
An example of how this solution helped us is with our ticket creation process. When a client raises a ticket with us, we receive an attachment by email. We have to first read the content of the email and then the attachment. Next, we have to identify who the customer is, and based on that, we create a ticket and assign it to the appropriate team.
By using the automation in Blue Prism, we have reduced the manual activities of somebody reading those emails, figuring out whose account it is, deciding where it should go, and creating the ticket. All of these activities are automated.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature for us was the orchestration of the workflow. The way you design the flow and configure the activities for the bot is very useful if you are working with any of the BPM or local platforms. It made it very easy for the developers to work with assets.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see wider integration with other products. That way, while we work on other core systems like SAP or Salesforce, there are ready-made connectors that can get the data. It would make it easier for people to work with Blue Prism.
The next release would benefit from integration with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. For example, the OCR can populate fields in variables and proceed with a workflow. But adding intelligence to this, or integrating with a service such as AWS, would be useful.
For how long have I used the solution?
One year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We did not find any issues with respect to stability or performance. We performed testing around the number of emails that were coming in and tried to see how fast the bot was able to process them. We also tried scheduling the bot to run at a specific time and checked to see if it was able to do so.
We did not perform extensive load testing efforts.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
An RPA scales as you add bots to your ecosystem.
We don't consider the number of users with respect to utilization. Rather, the solution is used by one of our departments. They have adopted RPA to handle one of its processes as a pilot project.
We have seen a lot of use cases, but it is still picking up. Not too many departments are coming up with RPA as a strategy, but I believe it will soon pick up.
How are customer service and technical support?
The only contact we had with technical support was during our initial setup. It was a minor issue that was solved pretty quickly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another RPA prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
I do not want to call it complex, but it is not simple either. It is somewhere in between.
We set up our own sandbox environment to do the trial run and the POC. We did the initial setup, but we needed help from Blue Prism to some extent. I rate the complexity as medium-level because we needed help in setting up our infrastructure.
We had one developer involved, and there was a QA tester for the entire process. There was a back and forth mechanism between the developer and our tester. For deployment, there was an admin role who was taking care of our other system assets, such as the BPM and other platforms. The Blue Prism administration was taken over by the same person, so it does not require a specific admin.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the deployment ourselves and did not hire anybody from outside of the company.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Other than your infrastructure, in terms of servers that you have to set up, I don't think that there are any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not do any formal evaluation of other products. We chose this solution because we are working with Appian BPM, and Blue Prism is a partner. This is what influenced us to look at this solution, and they work well hand in hand.
What other advice do I have?
We performed quite a few POCs to help understand the platform.
One of the most important things while working with RPA is choosing the right process, understanding the process, and ensuring that you pick the right process for RPA activities. That was the key to our success.
The process should not be too complex, and not be too simple. If it is too complex then it will take too much time to implement. At the same time, it should cater to your immediate needs so that you can demonstrate the tool's features to the leadership.
My advice is to do a pilot project before adopting any RPA platform. Try one or two key integrations, such as the Outlook and OCR integration that we have chosen.
Another important point is that there might be some fear in the team. Some people are concerned that bots are taking away jobs. It is important to ensure confidence in the team that the RPA will not replace humans. Rather, it will enhance their capabilities in terms of resources that are being used for mundane tasks. The message to take to the organization is that bots will handle the simple tasks, while humans can do more intelligent activities.
We have not fully explored the platform, but it is enough to capture our requirements.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Partner Technology Consulting at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Overall good feature sets, reliable, and simple setup
Pros and Cons
- "The overall package from Blue Prism is valuable. I cannot pinpoint one certain part."
- "Blue Prism can improve on the ease of use of its graphic user interface(GUI)."
What is our primary use case?
We are mainly using Blue Prism for finance processes. Then slowly, we move into other processes, such as HR and IT.
What is most valuable?
The overall package from Blue Prism is valuable. I cannot pinpoint one certain part.
What needs improvement?
Blue Prism can improve on the ease of use of its graphic user interface(GUI).
In an upcoming release, it is important for Blue Prism to think about the future and not stay in the present. They should spend enough time on innovation.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Blue Prism for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Blue Prism is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Blue Prism is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The support that Blue Prism offers is very good.
I rate the support from Blue Prism a four out of five.
How was the initial setup?
The setup of Blue Prism is very easy.
What about the implementation team?
The number of people we needed for the implementation of Blue Prism depends on the size of the project. However, typically within the assignments which we do, which is more at the strategic level when drilling down to the initial part of the start of implementation, we use between five to ten smart technicians and business personnel.
What was our ROI?
Over a one-year period, customers should receive a return on investment using Blue Prism.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Blue Prism an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Head of Intelligent Automation at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Stable with good object modeling and a straightforward setup
Pros and Cons
- "Being able to create an object and use it for multiple processes has been very useful for us."
- "The reporting system, specifically the system admin reporting could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for finance, specifically accounts payable.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has improved our organization in that our AP administrators and AP clerks don't have to put the information into the ERP. The RPA does the transfer upon approval over to the ERP system. You don't have to code and create backend APIs or custom code to integrate the systems. It makes things much easier overall.
What is most valuable?
The object modeling is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's been quite helpful for our organization. The reusability of it has been great. Being able to create an object and use it for multiple processes has been very useful for us.
The initial setup is straightforward.
What needs improvement?
The reporting system, specifically the system admin reporting could be improved.
If there were more business analytics, that would be quite helpful.
In general, however, the solution isn't really lacking any features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for three years. It's been a while at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's extremely reliable in terms of performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability has been good so far. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with ease. It's not a problem.
We have several hundred users on the solution currently. Blue Prism operates on the enterprise level and the activities of the digital workers happen on the servers. So virtually no one needs to interact with it directly. It's mostly on an administrative level that there are some people accessing the application and its reviews, exceptions, and things like that.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have limited familiarity with other RPA products.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not overly complex. A company shouldn't have any issues with the process.
The installation itself takes maybe a couple of hours, however, the customization, depending on the complexity of the process, can be anywhere from six weeks to eight months. It really depends on the complexity.
Per five digital workers, you need one or two individuals for maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We are an integrator. We are able to help our clients set up the solution.
What other advice do I have?
We are a reseller of the product.
We've been working with the most recent version of the solution in our organization.
I have been happy with this solution overall. I'd rate it at a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Bank Employee at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Good at doing background processing and stable, but needs better integration with Excel and better pricing
Pros and Cons
- "Blue Prism is very good at doing background processing."
- "As a user, I cannot directly work with the bot. On a daily basis, I use and do some work in Microsoft Excel, which cannot be directly taken into Blue Prism. Our company majorly runs on Microsoft Excel. Everybody has Excel sheets as their working sheets. Therefore, we need a kind of automation to be able to do things with this program. This bot is almost like an invisible staff that works between the servers but not with the users. This bot works well with SAP and things like that, but it doesn't work with Excel sheets. It doesn't work with the bots that we have, and I cannot invoke an RPA right now as a user. It has to be done by an administrator who has better control than me. It needs better integration with Microsoft Excel. Its price can be improved. It is expensive for us. It should be cheaper for a market like ours. We are based in India."
What is our primary use case?
We have multiple systems here that are integrated. We have our SAP system, and then we have the vendor portals that are running on some web applications. If somebody puts an order in the portal, there used to be some kind of verifications for which we had employed some people, but now, the same verification is done by Blue Prism.
We have also been using it for automation for invoice verification. We use Blue Prism to do the verification of the scanned invoices sent by people. We are using the latest minus one version of this solution.
What is most valuable?
Blue Prism is very good at doing background processing.
What needs improvement?
As a user, I cannot directly work with the bot. On a daily basis, I use and do some work in Microsoft Excel, which cannot be directly taken into Blue Prism. Our company majorly runs on Microsoft Excel. Everybody has Excel sheets as their working sheets. Therefore, we need a kind of automation to be able to do things with this program. This bot is almost like an invisible staff that works between the servers but not with the users. This bot works well with SAP and things like that, but it doesn't work with Excel sheets. It doesn't work with the bots that we have, and I cannot invoke an RPA right now as a user. It has to be done by an administrator who has better control than me. It needs better integration with Microsoft Excel.
Its price can be improved. It is expensive for us. It should be cheaper for a market like ours. We are based in India.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution off and on for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product. On the stability front, we haven't found any issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable, but scaling this product is a little bit expensive for us. We are based in India, and it is not fitting in the budget. To add more bots, we have to put in a lot more money.
So far, we have automated almost 13 processes. In terms of the number of users, we have our partner and four to five technical people who are being led by a manager. I am from the client's side, and we have three people in our team. So, there are seven to eight people who are working on it.
How are customer service and technical support?
It is pretty good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We weren't using any such product previously. We were new to RPA, and this was the product that was chosen by our team. This decision was taken one or two years ago. At that time, I wasn't with this organization.
How was the initial setup?
Blue Prism are our partners, and we did not face any challenges in installation. In a week's time, we were able to develop our first bot.
What about the implementation team?
Blue Prism helped us in installing this.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is expensive for us. It should be cheaper for a market like ours. We are based in India.
What other advice do I have?
We will keep on using this solution in the near future because we have invested in this, but I wish to go for Automation Anywhere, and down the line, we might be exploring that. It is currently not a fully-grown application, whereas many features in the Automation Anywhere are full-grown automation features.
The Blue Prism sales team gave us a demonstration of the upcoming features a couple of weeks ago. They are coming up with a lot of features that are currently not there. I would recommend this solution only if the features they have planned in the upcoming version are there, and they are stable. Blue Prism currently cannot be compared with other products such as Automation Anywhere and UiPath. The full-grown kind of bot is something that is relevant for RPA use cases, but it is not there right now. It is there on the roadmap, but they have to take care of the stability. Right now, other products have definitely got an edge over this.
Without considering the roadmap and features that they have promised in the next version, I would rate Blue Prism a five out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Provides the best OCR features and has good stability
Pros and Cons
- "It is a scalable solution."
- "They should add more OCR engines to it."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as an RPA tool to automate business processes.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable feature is optical character recognition.
What needs improvement?
The solution's UI, control panel, and technical support could improve. Also, they should add more OCR engines to it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for one and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution's stability as an eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution's scalability as an eight.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup was straightforward. Although, the control panel installation requires some time as we need to connect it to SQL servers.
What was our ROI?
The solution generates a high return on investment.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution as an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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