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Eric Peladeau - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical advisor at Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Real User
Great community, helpful Academy courses, and is straightforward to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "I love the REFramework and the Azure Queue and orchestrator."
  • "The speed of upgrades is really hard to follow."

What is our primary use case?

Right now, we have nine production animations.

Our first use case is to convert video to audio and then upload it to a legacy system. We have another use case that takes an Excel spreadsheet of 2,000 rows and searches one row at a time on the federal court website to get the results of our cases. 

We also have another use case that generates an SAP report daily, downloads a report, and feeds a Power BI dashboard. 

The last use case monitors a client's email, and as soon as there's the form request, we open the request, and we add it to their system automatically.

How has it helped my organization?

Thanks to COVID-19, since everything went digital, it added a lot of manual work to employees. It helps reduce manual labor. It just saved time. The robot now does the amount of work that got created due to COVID. It went back to normal in terms of workload now that we can get help from UiPath.

What is most valuable?

I love the REFramework and the Azure Queue and Orchestrator. Those are great features. They all work well.

The UiPath community is awesome. That's one of the reasons I use UiPath. There's so much stuff available everywhere. For example, if you go on Google and search for a subject, you are going to find information on either YouTube videos or community sites. There's just a lot of information available about everything. Also, a lot of super complete documentation is on the UiPath website. Any question we get, it's super easy to find technical information on that subject.

I've used the UiPath Academy courses. It has helped me start very quickly since they're all free, and there are many courses to choose from. When I started, I used my first two weeks to just do Academy training, and that's how I started. They have a complete curriculum. It's pretty nice.

What needs improvement?

The speed of upgrades is really hard to follow. It's great that there are continuous improvements just for us; however, it's just a bit hard to keep up with all of the changes.

I wish I could use the SaaS version. Our only con is the SaaS offering is not accredited in Canada, so we're working on that. That's not a UiPath problem.

Buyer's Guide
UiPath
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about UiPath. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is awesome. It is very stable. It recovers itself. It doesn't err. It's very easy to carry on, and exception handling is very easy to manage it. I have no problem with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's super easy to scale. I'm sure there are always ways to improve, and we're a small group, so I only have six bots in production right now. However, I already have some processes that could be scaled. They're using two robots now, yet I could easily put that to four or five if necessary. If you create workflows correctly, it's super easy to scale.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is pretty good. I've used it a couple of times and had no problems.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not previously use a different solution.

How was the initial setup?

I was involved in the initial setup, and it was straightforward. 

The installation instructions were pretty easy to follow. The orchestrator was pretty easy to set up, as were the studio and the system. There's nothing complicated. I find it's just a regular install.

I was given the license information and just went along with it. We are a small department. I was in a team of one. We didn't have a real strategy. We just had to start somewhere and do a proof of concept and move on from that. That was my strategy.

What about the implementation team?

We did not use an integrator, reseller, or consultant. It was implemented in-house.

What was our ROI?

I have witnessed an ROI. For example, when converting video to audio and uploading it. Each video was taking about 30 minutes to upload manually, and we produce about 280 videos per day. The robot does it in four minutes right now, and it does it across Canada. Three bots do 280 videos in 20 hours. The ROI there alone would be huge.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't deal with the pricing aspect. That said, I don't see it as a problem. I see that it brings a lot more value. We save a lot more than the cost of their license.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I touched Power Automate a bit. I heard about Blue Prism. However, I did not really look into it. We just started with UiPath. When I joined them, my company had already purchased UiPath. So for me, I just started with UiPath.

What other advice do I have?

We do not use the AI functionality just yet, although we have plans to in the future. 

I would for sure recommend UiPath. I haven't really tried other solutions. However, I've heard that people were trying them and returning to UiPath.

I'd rate it a ten out of ten. The product is awesome. The support is great. The community is also huge. It's super easy to find information, find support, and find stuff. I find it very easy to start using the product and can show value and benefit to clients.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Brent Williams - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Architect at Paramount Residential Mortgage Group
Real User
Automation software that delivers great ROI and has led to greater job satisfaction for our team members
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the most important features of UiPath is the transactional basis of how it works. I can see which ones are successful, which ones are not, and then have the bot take care of 98% of it. Our staff only deal with the exceptions and this has led to greater job satisfaction."
  • "UiPath could be improved by offering overall solutions instead of just having the RPA process."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution to download investor suspenses from 35 different investors in warehouses and populate those suspenses into our loan origination system. Once those suspenses are cleared, we get purchase advice to receive money and give capacity back to the warehouse lines to continue lending. 

We have 10 operational robots as well as other automations. These automations include populating interim servicing payments that come into the LOS, so we have a historic record of it. I am working on a project to reduce the amount of new folders or maintain existing ones. This helps us reduce the cost of document storage in our LOS. 

We make use of UiPath's user community to see different people's insights, exchange ideas, and identify features that could work well for our business. We also make use of the UiPath Academy.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has reduced our expenses by $30,000 a month. It has helped us reduce the costs of labor and continue to grow and scale.

What is most valuable?

One of the most important features of UiPath is the transactional basis of how it works. I can see which ones are successful, and which ones are not, and then have the bot take care of 98% of it. Our staff only deal with the exceptions and this has led to greater job satisfaction.

This solution has empowered us to take care of and create new integrations and help facilitate different processes and workflows to continue to streamline and scale our business.

In the future, we'd like to make use of the machine learning capabilities that UiPath offers and AI to scrape data off of different documents, log into different websites and populate the information where relevant. 

UiPath's AI functionality enables us to automate more processes overall. It allows us to pull information from various documents and populate it into different systems. This has enhanced the user experience. 

What needs improvement?

UiPath could be improved by offering overall solutions instead of just having the RPA process. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution since 2020. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. The bots in the system are stable and function according to their instructions. They only stop when they encounter a new scenario they have not dealt with before. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. We're also looking to expand our center of excellence to be able to take on all of UiPath's functionality and features.

How was the initial setup?

I deployed the software and the Orchestrator Studio. I run eight or nine virtual machines that I have our LOS on and created processes where the LOS can feed the work queues so it takes care of different processes on schedule every day. The deployment took four months. 

What about the implementation team?

We worked with different contractors to complete the deployment. 

What was our ROI?

I was allocated $50,000 to buy bots and create processes. I created about six or seven processes and then we calculated the savings. For the 50 grand, we had realized $1.5 million of savings. Although we don't always achieve this, it is possible to get a $7 return on every dollar spent. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated many other tools including Automation Anywhere. One of the things that I love about UiPath is that the whole community and the company continue to deliver new cutting-edge tech. Every month we have a preview of new releases. It's not just one thing being released, there's a whole plethora of things and functionality being released.

What other advice do I have?

On a scale of one to 10, I would rate UiPath's solution overall an 11. I would advise others to just get started. It'll more than pay for itself and you'll be amazed at the capabilities and functionality that you'll soon have in your arsenal to execute different projects. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
UiPath
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about UiPath. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SeanHarvey - PeerSpot reviewer
Insights analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Great for automating a wide variety of things, very easy to use, and highly reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The ease of use of Studio is valuable. In terms of features, Excel Application Scope, web automation suite of products, and screen scraping are the features I use the most."
  • "Our challenge with UiPath is getting the infrastructure assets up to speed, particularly on the Orchestrator side. However, I just now came from a demo for UiPath Web, and it seems to be to enable serverless robots, which would definitely be a lower barrier to entry."

What is our primary use case?

We provide a lot of financial services. Its use cases are specifically in banking. There is a lot of Excel transformation where we are moving data from Excel into in-house applications. That's probably about 80% use of it.

We are using UiPath to automate processes that deal with a good cause. We run a lot of charity work, and there is a bit of work going on there to automate the operational aspects of running these charitable causes and things like that.

We have not yet used its AI functionality in our automation program, but we would love to.

How has it helped my organization?

We started with nothing. We now have about 150 attended automations going with another 80 attended robots effectively. So, we've had quite a growth in automation capabilities in terms of its impact on the organization.

What is most valuable?

The ease of use of Studio is valuable. In terms of features, Excel Application Scope, web automation suite of products, and screen scraping are the features I use the most.

Excel Application Scope allows you to use Excel pretty easily and graph data from there, and then you can transform it within Studio and make any changes you need to do. You can then either write it back to another Excel file, or you can read the table within Studio and write it directly to a web-based application.

We have used screen scraping a lot. If you have a web application inside Chrome, you can go to Chrome, and it can grab all the data from there. You can put it into a data table in Studio, make any changes or transformations needed, and then write it back to whatever application you want it to go to.

We gain a huge value from the user community. I'm always running into problems, and I have been going to the UiPath forums to get answers to my questions. Usually, if I have a question, someone else would have already asked it, and I can get great info and insight from there. So, the community is a very important part of the development experience.

We have used UiPath Academy courses. We recommend our citizen developers to use UiPath Academy. I've used it on and off for things I don't quite understand, and people also use it to get RPA certified with UiPath. It's another great value service that UiPath offers. There is the ease of use of videos and the breadth of knowledge. There is also the applicability of the examples to everyday problems. I definitely know people who've been able to automate processes that are more complex with the help of UiPath Academy.

What needs improvement?

Our challenge with UiPath is getting the infrastructure assets up to speed, particularly on the Orchestrator side. However, I just now came from a demo for UiPath Web, and it seems to be to enable serverless robots, which would definitely be a lower barrier to entry. 

Our pain point is just on the infrastructure side and getting the assets coming up to speed. It's a big bank problem. We have a very large IT organization, which is not always aligned with the needs of teams like ours.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used UiPath for about two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is great. It's very stable. It's reliable. We trust it with a lot of different and very important automations. If UiPath wasn't stable, it would introduce quite significant operational risks to the firm.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is good. It could be better, but that goes back to my pain point on our struggles with infrastructure. That has been challenging. If we could get a better handle on our infrastructure, then scalability would be a bit higher, but overall, it's a very scalable product.

How are customer service and support?

I would evaluate them very highly. I work with their technical support every time our technical account managers can't get something done. They're very confident and well-versed in what they do, and they always find a solution to our problem.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The only RPA tool I've ever worked with is UiPath. Some people used Blue Prism at work, but I never used Blue Prism. They're not using Blue Prism anymore. They switched because of better capabilities. UiPath is just a better tool all around. 

I wasn't in the decision-making process, but I know they tried to do a proof of concept. The Blue Prism team was supposed to do automation of some sort, and the UiPath team was also supposed to do it. The UiPath team did it in six hours and the Blue Prism team didn't do it in two weeks. The ease of use of the Studio product really drives home UiPath's capabilities.

How was the initial setup?

It was complex, but it was straightforward with the help of account managers. We have two technical account managers with UiPath who are very resourceful and well-suited to working with us and helping us accomplish what we need to do.

Our implementation strategy was a citizen development framework. It involved getting the Orchestrator set up and then empowering people within the firm to start automating their various roles or tasks. We still have the citizen development framework, but we're also moving to unattended automations from our RPA developers.

What about the implementation team?

We did it on our own with the help of our account managers.

What was our ROI?

I don't have any metrics yet, but we're at breakeven in terms of ROI. That's just in terms of monetary figures. In terms of general error reduction and things like that, we have seen quite an ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its pricing seems reasonable. I know we've been able to get a good amount of value in a few years. Our breakeven was only in year two. So, we're approaching breakeven in our licensing program. It's not a cheap product by any means, but the value that can be returned on an ROI basis is quite high.

What other advice do I have?

To those evaluating such solutions, I would advise taking a good look at the capabilities of the solutions. The strength of UiPath is its capabilities in a number of key areas, whereas some specialized players in the industry might be really good at one specific thing. For scalability, you want to have a wider operating area that something like UiPath can accomplish, rather than a more specialized player.

I would rate it a 9 out of 10. It's a fantastic tool that does what you need it to do. It's great for automating a wide variety of things. Ease of use is there in the various products. Any concerns I would have about having a lower barrier entry seem to be acknowledged by the product managers in the demo that I just now had with UiPath Web. So, in that regard, it's a very accessible and functional product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Venkata Bhargavareddy - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Consultant at KPMG
Real User
Enabled us to eliminate manual processes, saving time and money and allowing employees to concentrate on other tasks
Pros and Cons
  • "UiPath has enabled us to implement end-to-end processes. That's important because we don't want to depend on third-party tools. With UI Path, all the resources are within the application for generating an end-to-end process, so we don't have to struggle to develop such a process."
  • "When it comes to document processing, they could work on more accurately identifying objects from PDF files."

What is our primary use case?

The first use case is related to our email process. We need to download multiple attachments in the form of PDF and Excel files from emails. We only accept the PDF files into a specific folder, while the Excel files go into another. We split them based on the file extension.

The second use case is related to the retail domain, in which we need to update an application with data that we get from a client. We process a few Excel operations and then update all of the invoice records in the application and generate a PDF invoice form with the client's details from Excel. That PDF is then emailed to the client.

How has it helped my organization?

With UiPath automations, work has been made easier for our employees. Previously, people were working on those processes manually. Now, they can concentrate on other work and on improving their skills in other areas. They have also improved their knowledge of RPA technology. There are time savings and we are more profitable. For just one of our processes, we have saved approximately 20 hours per week.

We are also able to deliver the output to our client easily. When things were processed manually, there might have been errors, but with the automation, they have been reduced as much as possible. Bots don't think about other topics while they're working.

In addition, while I haven't used the AI functionality of UiPath very much myself, my colleagues do use it, and it has enabled them to automate more processes overall.

But the main thing, when it comes to our business side, is that the solution helps to reduce the cost of digital transformation. In terms of ROI, it is helping the profitability of the organization. It has helped to reduce the employee count, has sped up the delivery of solutions, and it has helped us obtain more clients. We can generate more output, good results, in less time, enabling us to improve the overall expectations of our clients. Our cost savings have been greater than expected and the business team is more than happy with the results.

There is also the issue of employee satisfaction. Using myself, as an example, I feel very happy about developing and monitoring the results. It is satisfying to see that a process is working as expected, and that the results are more accurate compared to the previous manual work.

What is most valuable?

UiPath has enabled us to implement end-to-end processes. That's important because we don't want to depend on third-party tools. With UI Path, all the resources are within the application for generating an end-to-end process, so we don't have to struggle to develop such a process.

In addition, the solution doesn't require much infrastructure. We can easily install and operate the tool in a Windows environment.

I also did the Advanced RPA Developer course in the UiPath Academy. I learned how to create end-to-end implementations using the UiPath tools. The course helped me to develop my skills. In the course within the Academy, you learn about every command in UiPath. It is easy to learn the information very quickly, when compared to other learning resources. The Academy has all the resources for regular, advanced, and master developers.

What needs improvement?

When it comes to document processing, they could work on more accurately identifying objects from PDF files.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using RPA tools, such as UiPath, for the past four years. We are using the Enterprise version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

With the help of all the dynamic options in UiPath, the stability of the bots has been very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have deployed automation solutions for a lot of our clients in their environments, and they are happy with the results as well. There are more than 100 users.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support has been very responsive. They provide very accurate answers to our inquiries.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

What was our ROI?

Our business side has been happy with the ROI, compared to other vendors.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Our business team looked at other tools, including Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere, before selecting this tool. They were much happier with the results generated with UiPath than with the others.

The main differences are that UiPath provides a more efficient implementation and it's easier to monitor the results. It's also more efficient when it comes to analyzing a process. Compared to other vendors, implementation takes less time with UiPath.

What other advice do I have?

I can recommend UiPath to others. It will make their work easier. It's very easy to learn and to run the tools compared to other automation options.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
David Seger - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Systems & Special Projects at Seaboard Marine
Real User
Top 20
Enables us to speed up invoice processing and capture a larger breadth of data
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the general automation that UiPath offers, especially in improving data collection which allows for a more comprehensive analysis of information on invoices."
  • "There is a need for better autopilot features to enhance the functionality of UiPath."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for UiPath revolves around document imaging, specifically scraping data off documents and digitizing them. We only use it in our accounting department and haven't expanded it to the rest of the company. We've seen some success with the projects on the financial team, but we might be resource-constrained to get other departments involved. It's hard for them to adapt to new technologies. 

How has it helped my organization?

UiPath has improved the accuracy of data entry from our invoices. Processing thousands of invoices is time-consuming. One outcome we've achieved is expanding the data collection from the invoices. They were only capturing dollar amounts, but these invoices have tons of other information that was just going to waste and could be analyzed. Now, we're capturing the data and analyzing it. It will be a significant benefit, considering how we do business.

We've advanced our green initiatives by recycling invoice paper after digitizing it and reduced the costs of pulling this information into our system.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the general automation that UiPath offers, especially in improving data collection which allows for a more comprehensive analysis of information on invoices.

What needs improvement?

There is a need for better autopilot features to enhance the functionality of UiPath.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using UiPath for about a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

UiPath is stable so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

UiPath can scale as our business grows.

How are customer service and support?

Customer service and support have been excellent. I would rate it highly for their responsiveness and supportiveness.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we used a service that scanned documents and sent them back in EDI format. We switched to UiPath because the previous solution couldn't handle certain document images unless they were in native PDF form.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup seemed straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We used corporate for the setup. Corporate used UiPath as a partner for support.

What was our ROI?

While there hasn't been a financial return on investment yet, the team is happier not having to manually enter invoices, which is a qualitative benefit. However, I foresee a financial return in the future.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

UiPath's licensing seems straightforward, and the pricing is comfortable for the corporate leadership. They made an outright purchase, knowing the full cost and expectations.

What other advice do I have?

I rate UiPath 10 out of 10.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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reviewer2406918 - PeerSpot reviewer
Staff Software Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Reduces our on-prem footprint and accelerates our digital transformation
Pros and Cons
  • "A key feature of this solution is its built-in VM orchestration capabilities, allowing us to manage virtual machines without additional setup."
  • "UiPath could improve its services and account management."

What is our primary use case?

UiPath is our platform for automating tasks and processes within our manufacturing environment, to boost productivity and streamline overall operations.

UiPath utilizes a hybrid deployment model, where our virtual machines reside in a federated cloud environment, while the UiPath orchestration engine itself remains on-premises.

How has it helped my organization?

UiPath stands out for its user-friendly development environment and minimal programming requirements. Building automation with UiPath is a breeze, making it a strong selling point for those looking for an easy-to-use RPA tool.

UiPath offers end-to-end automation, but there's a catch: it requires full access and control within the target environment. This means UiPath needs security permissions to interact with and potentially run other applications, which can be a challenge to set up. While achieving end-to-end automation is valuable, this access requirement can be a hurdle.

UiPath has reduced our on-prem footprint, freeing up resources that were previously dedicated to maintaining that infrastructure. These resources can now be used for other tasks.

We saw the benefits of UiPath immediately upon deployment.

The UiPath user community has been a valuable resource for quickly solving problems. By interacting with other users, we've been able to share insights and find solutions to specific programming issues.

We leverage UiPath Academy courses to prepare developers for certification exams. These courses serve a dual purpose: getting new developers acclimated to the platform and providing foundational knowledge for citizen developers who want to learn UiPath quickly.

UiPath accelerates our digital transformation, but integrating legacy systems can be a hurdle. While UiPath excels once deployed, the process of granting it access to legacy data for proper functioning can be time-consuming in our environment. This may be specific to our setup, but it's worth considering nonetheless.

UiPath significantly reduces human error by automating tasks and allowing for faster turnaround. This means that even if users make mistakes in their submissions, UiPath can quickly catch them and provide feedback so the user can fix the error and resubmit the issue.

UiPath has helped free up our employee's time for other projects.

UiPath significantly reduces our transaction processing costs. Previously, transactions took days to complete, but now they're done in minutes. This efficiency translates directly to cost savings, and it's just one example of how UiPath can optimize internet-based processes by streamlining workflows and minimizing processing time.

What is most valuable?

A key feature of this solution is its built-in VM orchestration capabilities, allowing us to manage virtual machines without additional setup. This includes basic functionalities like starting and stopping VMs, as well as integrating queues into our orchestration workflows. Additionally, we can leverage built-in Insight reports to extract transaction and volume data for analysis.

What needs improvement?

The biggest hurdle in UiPath Academy courses has been completing projects, especially for advanced certifications like RPA developer. With everyone juggling work and deadlines, dedicating significant time to capstone projects becomes difficult, leading to course completion struggles for many.

UiPath could improve its services and account management. Specifically, greater interaction with the services team would be beneficial to understand their capabilities better. This could involve trial runs where the services team demonstrates the value they can provide before being engaged. Additionally, providing sample automation, such as starter automation for SAP workflows, would give users and teams a starting point to build upon instead of starting from scratch.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using UiPath for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Our daily automation runs smoothly, and weekly ones seem stable for users. However, I get frequent alerts about downtime, potentially due to VM configuration issues. Since we have multiple VMs and I might receive alerts for others, some get unintentionally ignored without impacting functionality.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've found UiPath easy to scale by adding virtual machines to handle more automation. As we expand our automation to support more users and environments, we anticipate needing another bot. Adding a new bot to UiPath is straightforward - we can simply assign an existing automation to the new bot and keep it running. The only additional cost is for the new VM. Overall, UiPath scalability has been positive for us.

How are customer service and support?

The quality and speed of the answers from UiPath technical support are good. We have a good support-level contract with UiPath that gives us enterprise-level support. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

What other advice do I have?

I would rate UiPath eight out of ten. It is a good solution but it wasn't made for ambiguity.

We primarily focused on UiPath for automating desk-level processes without initially considering other solutions. However, before implementing any automation, we assess its suitability for UiPath and whether a workflow tool like ServiceNow might be a better fit. In essence, we compare these two technologies for workflow automation needs.

UiPath took longer to use at first due to the learning curve, but now we're more experienced with the software, so creating automation is a breeze.

UiPath requires annual maintenance, which involves upgrading to the latest version. This process includes migrating virtual machines and thoroughly testing existing automation to confirm their functionality after the upgrade.

New UiPath users should consider two main factors: process type and system compatibility. UiPath excels at automating well-defined, repeatable processes that can be observed and coded. It's ideal for desk-level tasks and works well with Microsoft applications and many browser-based systems like SAP. However, custom systems may require additional effort as pre-built UiPath packages might not be available. By focusing on deterministic processes and compatible systems, new users can identify the best use cases for UiPath.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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ThomasMitchell - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of uipath delivery at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 20
An easy-to-use solution for building automations quickly and automating more processes
Pros and Cons
  • "Their core platform of Studio is valuable. The ease of use and the ability to build these automations quickly is definitely a highlight for us. Our average process from start to finish takes three to four weeks. We can knock out automations as quickly as we can identify them. That is probably the best feature I see."
  • "There should be more clarity around the feedback loop along with the auto-update feature when you deploy machine learning packages. They should give some rule-based options so that if the confidence is returned higher than the previous model trained, then it would auto-deploy. If it is less, then it should send you an email rather than auto-deploy."

What is our primary use case?

We are a consulting firm. We started last year, and we are growing pretty rapidly.

We have quite a few document-understanding processes that we are working on. We are a partner of UiPath, so we have various clients in different industries. Currently, we are processing vendor statements to create payments in NetSuite. We also have a three-way match cache application process, and then we have a basic user interface for scraping vendors' websites for payment data and that kind of thing.

We are trying to figure out how to incorporate LOMs with everyday processes and get reliable information back. We are also training a lot of machine learning models to extract data from PDFs along with processing contracts. I hope that those get easier to train and that there are more reliable answers or outputs from the models that we train.

How has it helped my organization?

Our AI-powered automation initiative has fundamentally changed what our organization is able to achieve. Document processing has come a long way and become a lot more user-friendly with validations and Action Center. The straight-through processing has increased.

They are constantly making improvements to Action Center where you have more feasibility in assigning tasks. There is a lot more flexibility and data around it. We have been incorporating insights into our automations, which helps us create a business case for future automations based on what we have done in the past.

The use of AI in our automations has definitely increased the accuracy of our operations. It has also increased the ability to process certain use cases that were not available before. It gives us more opportunities to automate processes, and therefore, drive revenue.

The use of AI in automations has freed up time or resources for other tasks for our customers. The time saved depends on the use case, but they are probably saving about a thousand hours a month on the vendor statement processing. They are getting 2,000 to 5,000 statements a month. Each one takes roughly 45 minutes.

What is most valuable?

Their core platform of Studio is valuable. The ease of use and the ability to build these automations quickly is definitely a highlight for us. Our average process from start to finish takes three to four weeks. We can knock out automations as quickly as we can identify them. That is probably the best feature I see.

What needs improvement?

In Action Center, saving progress in data validation, specifically for table content, is currently not available. There should be more clarity around the feedback loop along with the auto-update feature when you deploy machine learning packages. They should give some rule-based options so that if the confidence is returned higher than the previous model trained, then it would auto-deploy. If it is less, then it should send you an email rather than auto-deploy.

With task assignment, if there was a round-robin feature within the bucket to automatically assign it to a certain group of people, that would be helpful. 

There should be the ability to add custom fields to validation tasks because there is a lot of potential for it. It would be helpful when somebody needs to identify a scenario. For example, we have a customer who is processing rate sheets for trucking, and sometimes, depending on their customer, they have an all-in rate versus an adding fuel mileage rate. If they are able to specify that, even if it does not say it on the rate sheet, it would allow them to process more documents successfully.

We use UiPath's AI Center, but some clarity is missing around when to use AI Center versus when to use the Document Understanding module within Orchestrator. We are trying to figure out the benefit of one versus the other. We have also seen that the out-of-the-box models that we train versus a custom model that we train with the same data end up with the same output result at the end. We are trying to see where these out-of-the-box models are providing value if we are going to take the time to train them.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using UiPath since 2019.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have run into issues with integration services where we developed something, implemented it, put it into production, and all of a sudden, it does not run unattended. It is a very frustrating situation to be in. 

There were some issues with sharing connections between different accounts, and we have learned from that experience to do more upfront testing of new features before we build automation on it. 

Event-based triggers not working is probably the biggest stability issue that we have run into, and integration services not working is probably the biggest gray area. Other than that, it is a stable platform.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is definitely a scalable platform.

How are customer service and support?

Their support is good. I have had good success with submitting support tickets and getting answers quickly. If it is a bug that is identified with the process or with the platform, they resolve it within a matter of a week. There was a production issue. It was a throughput issue for the AI model. We were not able to access a 100-page document because of this exception. They implemented it and fixed it within a week, which I thought was awesome. I would rate their support an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not use any other RPA solution previously. I have only used Power Apps a bit, but it was a very small part that we have looked into. Overall, we are strictly focused on UiPath.

How was the initial setup?

I have probably set up 100 Orchestrators at this point, so it is straightforward. However, the initial setup is confusing for new people who have not done it where they are matching machines to the tenant and plugging it in their machine key, but I am not sure if there is any way to get around that. When you have done it once, it is easy. 

The other thing is the licensing aspect of it. You need to assign a license to the machine template and then the machine template to the folder, and then you have to make sure that the machine is connected. There seems to be some confusion amongst our developers on how to make sure it is all set up correctly, and then you have the robot account. You have to make sure that it is also set up correctly to run unattended automations. It is a challenge, but if you do it two or three times, you get the hang of it.

In terms of the implementation strategy, overall, we look for quick wins upfront so that we can build the program and get support behind it, and then tackle the more advanced use cases after we get three or four in production.

We have cloud deployments. We have had different cloud providers, such as Azure, AWS, and GCP.

What about the implementation team?

We are a consultant. 

What was our ROI?

We have definitely seen an ROI in terms of hours saved and quality of work. Once you get off the ground, there are a lot of other departments that end up getting excited and looking forward to future automation. I feel that is a win for morale.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Overall, the model is fine except for AI units. It is usage-based, which makes sense if you are processing documents, and you have one unit per page. It is the hosting cost of the models where there are issues, so we are running into potentially designing poor solutions because we are having to say, "If the documents are very similar but different enough, even though you would prefer to use two models, maybe consider not using two because of the hosting costs."

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Power Automate is something we might look at. UiPath has orchestration while Power Automate does not. Orchestration is vital for us.

What other advice do I have?

If you are trying to do in-house development, the user experience is much better than any other platform that we have evaluated. It is easy to pick up. The UiPath academy, training, and forums are great. The biggest selling point for me is that you can pick it up as a business user and learn the platform in a matter of days or weeks as opposed to months or years.

I would rate UiPath a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Ashish Upadhyay - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at BlockMosiac
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Accelerated our development process and improved our time-to-market, while AI has increased our efficiency
Pros and Cons
  • "In the dynamic world of DeFi, where integrated financial processes and smart contracts are the norm, UiPath's workflow automation capabilities provide us with a valuable advantage."
  • "The debugging capabilities need to be improved in UiPath because it is very difficult to find bugs in the chatbot. In Visual Studio Code, by contrast, we have an excellent debugger that fixes all the bugs."

What is our primary use case?

Our company, Block Mosaic, automates the creation and management of DeFi (decentralized finance) applications. This involves streamlining the development, deployment, and maintenance of these applications by automating repetitive and rule-based tasks. UiPath enables us to automate tasks such as data collection, communication with customers, integration with blockchain networks, and the execution of smart contracts.

We mostly use UiPath for the integration of bots in websites, as it provides integration features for AI chatbots, and we use it for the deployment of smart contracts on a large scale.

How has it helped my organization?

Automation not only accelerates our application development but also reduces errors and increases operational efficiency. It has accelerated our development process, and that means that our time-to-market has improved for DeFi applications, giving us a competitive edge in the fast-moving blockchain sector. It allows our team to focus on innovation and improving the user experience of DeFi applications.

UiPath is very important for our organization. It improves the workflow of our company, and it helps our company publish more DeFi applications. It helps accelerate the process of managing accounts in our company, as the DeFi applications we create are for managing many accounts on a platform.

It has helped with cost-cutting because UiPath chatbots have replaced many of the employees. The employees were not that efficient in comparison to UiPath bots. The bots are very efficient and productive and can do tasks in just minutes or hours, things that used to take a lot of hours to do.

We have also used the AI functionality by integrating AI chatbots into our website using UiPath. They help with amusing chats with our users for their entertainment. Our users do not like the simple Python or bots that are made with C++. They like modern bots like ChatGPT, so we have implemented that.

AI has played a significant role in improving our efficiency. Tasks that a person used to do in hours are completed by AI chatbots in a shorter time. Also, human error has been reduced when compared to bots. The bots are highly efficient. The AI functionalities have helped us manage all the smart contract deployments as well as the management of our user base. It has also helped with database and account management and in settling many transactions. And it has boosted the number of KYCs that are managed per unit.

Deploying most of the smart contracts and managing our user base are now done by the UiPath bots. This saves us about 30 to 40 percent of our time and gives us time to think more creatively about our solutions for making better DeFi apps and improving their functionalities.

Another benefit is that UiPath has reduced the cost of digital transformation because our projects require a lot of web services. We have saved money by using UiPath instead of cloud services.

What is most valuable?

One of the best features is the workflow automation. That is the most valuable feature for our company, as it plays a pivotal role in the efficient development of our DeFi applications. In the dynamic world of DeFi, where integrated financial processes and smart contracts are the norm, UiPath's workflow automation capabilities provide us with a valuable advantage. It enables the orchestration of complex sequences of tasks involved in DeFi application creation, from smart contracts to blockchain transaction monitoring.

By automating these workflows, we can ensure that all components work harmoniously and efficiently and reduce potential human error.

UiPath is also a very easy platform to use. It provides us with a canvas where we can draw from our imaginations, draw our settings, and then convert them to automations.

It allows us to enable end-to-end automation.

The user community of UiPath is very big and very helpful as well. When our team hits an error, the community is sometimes very helpful. And the customer support we are getting is also very full and good. I am satisfied with the community. I would rate it 10 out of 10.

What needs improvement?

The debugging capabilities need to be improved in UiPath because it is very difficult to find bugs in the chatbot. In Visual Studio Code, by contrast, we have an excellent debugger that fixes all the bugs.

Also, task management is complex and needs to be improved. They need to simplify the user interface so it can work properly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using UiPath for six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It offers a great amount of stability, and the team at UiPath is adding more and more features that are increasing the stability of the platform.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

UiPath demonstrates excellent scalability with its consistent addition of features. It's impressive to witness that it remains current and continues to evolve and incorporate new capabilities. I rate the scalability at nine out of 10. It offers a great deal of scalability.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Blue Prism, which is quite a good solution, but it's not as easy as UiPath because it requires a high level of coding. UiPath offers good drag-and-drop functionality, which results in better automation. Also, there is no orchestrator in Blue Prism.

Automation Anywhere does not have the features that UiPath has. It does not have as good a web-based orchestrator as UiPath, which manages all the accounts and services.

How was the initial setup?

Deploying the system took a couple of hours, done by a team of three to four people.

It doesn't require any maintenance.

What was our ROI?

After implementing UiPath, our organization realized a substantial return on investment. This was achieved through a combination of cost savings, increased productivity, and improved accuracy. We quantified the cost savings from reducing labor expenses and eliminating error-related costs. There is also ROI from optimizing overall operational efficiency.

Furthermore, UiPath automation capability significantly improved productivity, allowing us to process more and more transactions, take on more and more customer needs, and respond to the customers as fast as possible. We have been able to handle the increased workload. This has translated into enhanced customer satisfaction and market competitiveness.

By automating error-prone tasks, we also saw a remarkable reduction in errors and compliance-related issues, leading to further cost reductions and process efficiencies. After factoring in deployment and maintenance costs, we calculated a positive ROI, and the payback period for our initial investment was achieved in a very short timeframe.

We've seen about 30 percent ROI through the growth of our company.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of the Enterprise version is high, and the licensing is very complex. For small businesses like ours, licensing is a very complex task and takes too much time. I face many issues with that.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

All our people, about 50 to 60 staff, use UiPath because we do not have an alternative. There is Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, and Microsoft Power Automate, but UiPath is the best solution. The only issue is that the pricing is higher, but it has all the features that make it worth it.

What other advice do I have?

UiPath has reduced a good amount of human error, but there are some errors that the chatbots make. They are resolved within seconds or minutes, although longer ones can take hours. But overall, the bots make many fewer errors and increase efficiency. It has removed about 80 percent of human errors. Since using UiPath, we have gotten good customer reviews about the websites and improvements in all our sites and management.

Using UiPath has been a great experience. It's the best alternative on the market. No alternative is better than UiPath.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
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Updated: October 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free UiPath Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.