Automation Anywhere vs Broadcom Service Virtualization comparison

The compared Automation Anywhere and Broadcom solutions aren't in the same category. Automation Anywhere is ranked #2 in RPA , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 10.4% mindshare in the category. Broadcom is ranked #1 in SV , and holds a 34.9% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Automation Anywhere users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Automation Anywhere and Broadcom Service Virtualization based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

To learn more, read our detailed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Report (Updated: March 2025).

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Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

March 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Automate

Mindshare comparison

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Service Virtualization

Featured Reviews

Anabel Marco

Account Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Automates processes efficiently with cost-effective scaling and robust customer support

Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities. Another important feature for me is its compatibility with MBI, the Power that is ISEQUADO Centers. I appreciate the ability to scale and increase the number of bots or studios without additional expense. Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.

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Vatsal Mehta

Co-Founder & CEO at HEDEHI Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Accommodates diverse use cases and effectively meets customer requirements

AI agents need further improvements. AI agent technology in agentic process automation is still evolving. We have only scratched the surface, and there are many potential use cases yet to be explored. As technology advances, I believe it will enable us to implement more comprehensive automation solutions. Document Automation has issues related to speed. When I compare Document Automation with IQ Bot, IQ Bot is faster than Document Automation. My understanding is that they are still evolving Document Automation, and this issue of slowness will be resolved in the upcoming .35 version, so we are good with that. They are working on signature identification and validations for handwritten documents. Currently, we are able to extract data out of scanned but digital images, but there is still scope for improvement for handwritten documents.

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reviewer956754

Assistant Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Scalable with good recording and creating of virtual services, but it's not stable and there is no support for previous versions

The learning curve is an area that needs improvement, as well as stability and performance. Stability has to be improved. It is not a stable solution. Especially, when you create custom solutions there are issues with memory accumulation. I would prefer that they stop adding features, which is what they do. Instead, focus on stabilizing it and make it work. What's the point of adding new features? It just increases the cost. I'll give you an example; CA and I have continuous applications, and insight is one of the service activation components. It has never worked in any project, just for the namesake and for showing they have this one. Support needs improvement, they don't support the migration from an older version to the current version. The price can be reduced. This portal, after one week, if it is enterprise-assigned, will stop working. Now we have a policy that every week, we have a scheduled restart of everything, and maintain it. The stability is so poor that this is what is required. Broadcom acquired it recently, approximately a year ago. Broadcom was not involved with the software before. They were known for having a history with the hardware, physical devices, and appliances. Now, they are focusing on both. Much of their technical expertise, have gone. There is no expertise.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The interface is simple, user-friendly, and very intuitive."

"A great feature that you seldom see in these kind of systems is the ability to use a database as trigger to launch a task. This is something I asked for a few years ago and that was added."

"The pricing is excellent. I would give them perfect marks in that regard."

"I find it very user-friendly. Our IT department and other departments can seamlessly collaborate without requiring extensive training. As a business department, we particularly value this aspect, as our team doesn't consist of many IT users. However, we couldn't solely rely on a drag-and-drop approach to implement and utilize the solution within our departments."

"This product is quite easy to install, learn, and use, with our new employees being able to start using it in projects for clients after only two weeks of internal training."

"The ability to connect to websites and pull data is the solution's most valuable feature."

"We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us."

"The licensing of the product is very good. You only need to license it once and then you have it forever."

More Automate pros

"Automation Anywhere aids in handling repetitive tasks, contributing to productivity and enhancing customer service, especially when combined with methodologies like Six Sigma."

"With Automation Anywhere, it has become very easy for us to do invoice billing. It has saved us about 80% of the time."

"This solution has gives us greater employee satisfaction because manual recurring work has been reduced."

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

"The Control Room is the most important feature, where we can manage the bots and publish to various bot runners in the environment."

"The features that we found most valuable have been just automating manual processes. We are able to integrate and work with applications that users typically work with. That has been the best feature for us right now."

"The most valuable feature is the object cloning."

"It is highly scalable on cloud and virtual machines."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The most valuable features are the recording and creating of virtual services."

"The most valuable feature is that it supports so many protocols. We, being a large bank, have almost all the protocols, and it supports all of them, so that's one good thing."

"Unit testing or early life testing did not have to be stopped or delayed because those services were not available."

"Scalability has actually worked well and we are able to bring it to multiple environments."

"In the case of the virtualization of TCP/IP protocols for third-party terminal insurance, there was a device terminal, which was interacting with the application via the TCP/IP protocol. Most of the tools don't support that, but we were able to achieve it using Broadcom Service Virtualization."

"Helps us to remove barriers that we have with dependencies on services that we don't own, or services that don't even exist yet."

"We have had developers produce code later than we wanted to, but we've had some other stuff that was dependent on that. So what we were able to do was virtualize these assets and then go forward with our developer and not have to wait for these additional services to be available."

"It is definitely scalable."

More Broadcom Service Virtualization pros

Cons

"It would be an improvement if Automate had better stability tools, whether by recommending a certain amount of memory because it can be a memory hog at times."

"The intelligent automation feature could be improved. It's interesting because it's simple, but the automation quality isn't always good. It's easy to use, but sometimes you need to make a slight improvement to the automation, and that's not so easy."

"The solution has a very weak knowledge base."

"I find that most important features are strong, however, there is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning."

"Sometimes when we communicate with the ERP system and there is an issue, we are not always aware of the specifics of Automate and the source of the problem."

"While this solution is continually improving, as it is now, the user interface could use improvement when I compare it to a product like UiPath."

"The documentation is not that great."

"Error messages should be better. For error status, there should be better documentation because a lot of times, error messages that you get are quite vague. For example, you get a message saying that the workflow has run into an unknown status, which is vague. It just tells you that it failed, but you don't know how or why it failed. It makes debugging difficult."

More Automate cons

"The IQ Bot is pretty immature, in regards to AI and machine learning. I would like them to add additional logic."

"The debugger is also a weakness of the tool, forcing the developer to use error handling or message box to map errors. Few applications take more time for loading when integrated."

"One improvement would be to implement a log mechanism within the workflow, similar to other automation tools. Currently, the log mechanism uses a text file. If we want to monitor a process, we need to check manually."

"There are improvements needed in error handling processes, as currently, they rely on start and end error commands."

"When working with Excel, unlike other tools such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere does not have the standard variables for .Net data types."

"While the ease of use for non-tech users is good, it could be improved."

"We would like a better coding interface for developers. We would also like to have a user interface which reduces the time to learn the product so more people in the organization can use software, like Automation Anywhere, quickly automating processes."

"When we need to upgrade the bot version for various applications like SAP, the compatibility issues could be easier to resolve. The financial team is using version 5 or 6, but the automation engineer recommends only version 6 because it is more compatible. I think Automation Anywhere could handle these compatibility issues better."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"I would like to have more flexibility towards the mainframe virtualization and also in JDBC virtualization."

"I would rate the tech support a nine out of ten. They need more knowledge about the connectivity to DevOps orchestration."

"I really want to see more of the "express" kind of model, where you get a little bit for free. I'd love to be able to see you be able to edit and author tests without having to be connected to a licensed server. And then, if you want to go and execute tests, then you go and connect to the server... I think it would unblock people to be able to do a lot more work from home or from remote places, where they can't really connect to the server."

"Needs some additional lightweight, portable elements."

"DevTest is pretty massive. It's hard to tell what different parts of it can be used to do different things. They should modulize it more."

"The cost is an area that needs improvement. There are a couple of other tools which provide support for performance testing with the base version itself, but Broadcom needs a separate component to support virtualization for performance testing. This is a costly component."

"CA actually releases a new version every year. We had issues with the upgrade prior to the latest one."

"I'd like to see more of the newer technologies included in there, looking mainly from a mobile perspective, possibly, so you can virtualize some of the aspects that we're going to be doing for mobile testing."

More Broadcom Service Virtualization cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Once you buy the software, you just pay for the support for backend help."

"From a distributor's side, one of the biggest selling points is its price point. Without going into any numbers, compared to UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism, we're significantly cheaper. The main difference is that other competitors usually charge you per process. However, in Automate's case, it's priced per bot. So, a bot can run multiple processes at the same time, but you are only priced for a single bot."

"It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."

"From a distributor's perspective, one of the biggest selling points of Automate is its price point."

"Compared to other products, the pricing model for this solution is much more convenient, flexible, and adaptable to the Portuguese reality."

"I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."

"While solutions like UiPath and Blue Prism cost around $11,000-$12,000 for each license, this product costs around $7,000 and you can keep it forever."

"It has gone up in price. The price of Fortra's Automate has increased since we first started using it. It does a lot but also costs a lot. It was a lot more affordable before Fortra owned the software."

More Automate pricing and cost advice

"There is a free trial so that they can get an overview, and there are different licenses that are very affordable and can suit every business model."

"We have seen a return of investment because it takes less time to market in our current process. I would estimate a times savings between 20 to 30 percent."

"On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most expensive, I rate the price of Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten."

"The pricing is a bit higher."

"Price is where I'm least satisfied. Other vendors are more willing to offer discounts."

"They all are very competitive today. At the end of the day, it boils down to the negotiations that happen and what type of partner you are."

"We paid separately for the Runner and Creater components. The final cost depends on the structure of your environment."

"The initial setup and licensing fees are high, and although it saves costs in the long run, reaching the break-even point can take at least six months."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"There are additional fees for advanced-level technical support."

"I don't have the exact dollar amount, but we have spent close to $1,000,000 for a three-year agreement, for an enterprise level."

"I think the pricing is quite fair because this solution provides a lot of functionalities, and is quite stable."

"There is a yearly licensing cost, and I would give it a four out of five."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

39%

Computer Software Company

15%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HelpSystems AutoMate?

We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?

I am a consultant and I am making a lot of processes in human resources, payroll, certifications, trainings, web scra...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?

The pricing is quite good compared to its competitors. Competitors are often more expensive than Automate. I would ra...

See all answers

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

See all answers

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

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Comparisons

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automate

Compared 43% of the time

UiPath vs Automate

Compared 38% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automate

Compared 6% of the time

VisualCron vs Automate

Compared 5% of the time

More Automate Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 31% of the time

UiPath vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 22% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 10% of the time

Python RPA vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 6% of the time

Tricentis Tosca vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 4% of the time

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OpenText Service Virtualization vs Broadcom Service Virtualization

Compared 32% of the time

ReadyAPI Test vs Broadcom Service Virtualization

Compared 28% of the time

Parasoft Virtualize vs Broadcom Service Virtualization

Compared 24% of the time

IBM Rational Test Virtualization Server vs Broadcom Service Virtualization

Compared 8% of the time

Orchestrated Service Virtualization vs Broadcom Service Virtualization

Compared 8% of the time

More Broadcom Service Virtualization Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automate

March 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

March 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Broadcom Service Virtualization

March 2025

Download Broadcom Service Virtualization product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise

ITKO LISA, CA LISA, CA Service Virtualization

Overview

Automate offers a user-friendly solution with a drag-and-drop interface for efficient task automation and integration with major platforms like SAP and Azure, making it ideal for quick deployment with minimal coding and training.

Automate provides powerful features for businesses seeking efficient automation, offering compatibility with databases, email integration, and cloud platforms. Its simple interface supports both beginners and experienced users, simplifying tasks like invoice processing, HR automation, and data transformation. Cost-effective pricing and flexible licensing enhance its appeal while integration capabilities and scheduling tools ensure smooth workflow automation.

What are Automate's Key Features?

Drag-and-Drop Interface: Simplifies automation with intuitive design.
Integration Capabilities: Connects with platforms like SAP and Azure for seamless data flow.
Database and FTP Triggers: Enhances automation potential through direct data interaction.
Efficient Scheduling: Automates tasks with precise timing and control.
Web Scraping: Automates data extraction for quick analysis and reporting.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Expect?

Rapid Deployment: Minimizes coding efforts for quick implementation.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers flexible pricing models to suit budget constraints.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces manual workloads and enhances productivity.
Comprehensive Integration: Facilitates improved data management across systems.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs with ease.

In industries such as healthcare, banking, and logistics, Automate is used for tasks like invoice payment automation, data transformation, and task automation. This leads to streamlined processes and reduced manual workload, illustrating its value in enhancing operational efficiency through diversified workflows.

Fortra

Automation Anywhere offers a robust automation platform known for its user-friendly interface, flexible scalability, and advanced automation capabilities. It's designed to streamline operations across industries by automating manual and repetitive tasks.

Automation Anywhere empowers organizations with its easy-to-use platform that simplifies automation processes through its drag-and-drop functionality. With features like MetaBot and IQ Bot, it provides advanced automation solutions. The platform seamlessly integrates with business applications, ensuring efficient operation and data protection through security features like the credential vault. Despite its strengths, there is room for improvement in integration with source control systems and third-party applications. Enhancing UI friendliness, IDE capabilities, and licensing flexibility, along with improved support in the Citrix environment, are needed. Better OCR accuracy, AI functionalities, and Excel integration would enhance user experiences.

What are Automation Anywhere's key features?

Ease of Use: Offers a user-friendly platform that allows straightforward automation of processes for non-technical users.
Advanced Bots: Includes MetaBot and IQ Bot for complex automation tasks.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with business applications for smooth operations.
Security: Features like credential vault ensure robust data protection.
Scalability: Provides flexibility and scalability for expanding automation needs.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Efficiency: Automates repetitive tasks, enhancing process efficiency.
Accuracy: Improves accuracy in operations like finance and HR.
Scalability: Offers scalable solutions for growing enterprises.
Cost Reduction: Reduces operational costs by streamlining processes.
Flexibility: Adapts to various industry requirements allowing broad implementation.

In the finance sector, Automation Anywhere is used for tasks like accounts payable, accounts receivable, and invoice processing. In HR, it's implemented for onboarding, payroll, and attendance verification. Its deployment also extends to supply chain, compliance, and customer service, providing streamlined operations by automating complex business processes.

Automation Anywhere

Broadcom Service Virtualization offers a robust platform for isolating test environments by virtualizing dependent services, including fragile or in-development services. It’s a versatile tool widely used for API testing, virtual data creation, API marking from web servers, and supporting performance testing.

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Users find Broadcom Service Virtualization incredibly efficient for creating and deploying virtual services as Docker containers that integrate seamlessly within Jenkins build pipelines, allowing isolated testing to occur without disturbing unrelated services. Features like IBM MQ service creation through recording simplify usage, even for those with limited development experience. Its support for TCP/IP protocol virtualization broadens its applicability, especially in specialized scenarios like terminal insurance. However, the solution does come with areas needing updates, such as outdated workstation components, integration of fragmented web applications, and a steep learning curve. Challenges also exist in stability, performance, and cost-related factors, particularly for performance testing. Users have called for improved flexibility in mainframe and JDBC virtualization, with a preference for enhancing existing functionalities over developing new features.

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**What are the most important features?**\n
- **API Testing and Virtual Data Creation:** Helps users perform comprehensive API tests and create virtual test data efficiently.\n
- **Docker Container Deployment:** Enables users to deploy virtual services as Docker containers, ensuring easy integration within CI/CD pipelines like Jenkins.\n
- **TCP/IP Protocol Virtualization:** Provides unique capabilities in virtualizing TCP/IP protocols, essential for specialized industries.\n
- **IBM MQ Service Recording:** Simplifies the creation of MQ services, making it accessible even to those with limited coding experience.\n
- **Performance Testing Support:** Handles heavy performance loads, critical for high-demand environments.

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**What benefits should users look for in reviews?**\n
- **Cost Efficiency:** Reduces costs by minimizing delays and expenses related to dependent service development.\n
- **Scalability and Performance:** Capable of handling performance loads up to 2000 to 3000 GPS.\n
- **Flexibility in Testing:** Offers flexibility in performing isolated tests without disrupting unrelated services.\n
- **Ease of Integration:** Simple integration within CI/CD pipelines, enhancing workflow efficiency.\n
- **Comprehensive Support:** Includes various tools for virtual service creation, even for those with limited technical skills.

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Broadcom Service Virtualization finds significant usage in industries necessitating complex testing environments, such as insurance, where it aids in third-party API virtualization and TCP/IP protocol virtualization. By creating isolated test environments, companies can reduce costs and delays and efficiently manage high-performance loads, ensuring a streamlined development process.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Aldergrove Financial Group, Preferred Health Professionals, Mindbeam Technologies, First Credit Union in British Columbia, Vestcom International, Prime Liberty Benefits, University of Tampa, CNLBancshares, World Precision Instruments, BJ's Restaurants, Globe Pequot Press, Accudata Technologies, Norton Healthcare, Pacific Toxicology Laboratories

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

Union Bank, Swisscom, Autotrader, KPN, ING Bank, Best Buy, American Family Insurance, TESCO, Telefonica, Molina Healthcare, California DMV, Aktia, City Index, Con-way, DirecTV, GRU Airport, Liquidnet, NAB, Nordstrom, T-Mobile, TIM Brasil,

Buyer's Guide

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

March 2025

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Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Updated: March 2025.

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