We use UiPath to create automation for our clients. The best use cases are the ones where we automate an old system. We had instances where we migrated one customer's data over to another. Until that migration occurred to the new system, we could get an automated solution using the old system.
RPA UiPath Developer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
An easy-to-deploy solution that saves time and money and enables users to build automation easily
Pros and Cons
- "The user interface guide helps speed up automation development for customers."
- "The tool has some bugs, and it doesn’t respond sometimes."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The product provides better customer service and builds better customer relationships. Customers receive statuses and reports in a timely manner. Instead of somebody constantly sending out emails to customers, automation is doing it for us.
What is most valuable?
I was doing automation development before UiPath and did everything typically by code. It had its own functionalities. However, when navigating older systems, we can use the solution's user interface to tell the cursor to go to a specific location on a screen. Another functionality also supported by the product is the ability to select the selectors, where we can define a specific attribute to a button and ensure the cursor clicks it. The user interface guide helps speed up automation development for customers. We can also use background code, so we have coding capabilities and a user interface to navigate some of the older systems.
What needs improvement?
UiPath provides Cloud Robots functionality but they should provide more Cloud Robot integrations. I feel that Cloud Robots must have a very, very strong integration with AWS or some type of cloud service where that integration is almost seamless.
We use a lot of virtual machines. It would be nice if UiPath checks the virtual machines and ensures they perform well. We have run into some performance issues. The product must have better performance checks to determine whether a virtual machine fits the functionality or if something is missing. It would be great to know if we will run into some issues. We will be able to think ahead of it.
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 have been using UiPath for more than three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool has some bugs, and it doesn’t respond sometimes. However, it’s no more unstable than Windows. It is fairly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We’re new to the tool. Around five people are using it in our department. The product must improve its scalability. Our security team hasn't approved the Cloud Robots functionality in some cases. I've noticed that our time gap is getting smaller, and we may need additional virtual environments. That is why I wanted better integration with the cloud. It will allow us to be able to launch virtual environments immediately. We would love it if the product could provide the same scalability that AWS provides. We would love the same type of scalability when integrating cloud functionalities with UiPath. If it needs another environment, another environment must shoot up right away so that we can immediately start working on it.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't used the technical support. When we contacted the other department connected to technical support, we got responses and workarounds within a few days. The support has been decent. The team replies pretty quickly.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is deployed on the cloud. The deployment was straightforward. The deployment was pretty quick. It was done within a few minutes. For my current organization, we need one person to deploy the product. My organization has multiple departments, but I only operate on one.
What about the implementation team?
The solution does require maintenance. While dealing with our websites, some changes or updates are done, and then we make changes to the code.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I chose UiPath because it offered UiPath Community, where I could learn UiPath on my own without a business license. I like the idea that there's community support for UiPath. We can learn and teach ourselves. I like UiPath Enterprise, too. Since they have a community version, it makes learning UiPath much better and easier.
What other advice do I have?
Building automation using the product is pretty easy. Over time, we get better and better through experience and create it more efficiently. Some of the additional functionality released by UiPath helps us enhance our automation. The solution speeds up digital transformation. We transitioned to a brand-new system. As we transitioned, we spent a lot of money on this new system and found there were limitations to the system. We used UiPath to mitigate that cost tremendously.
UiPath enables companies to implement end-to-end automation. Currently, we do not have end-to-end automation. Our company is going through a strong transformation. The processes are still a bit archaic. We use digital transformation to help us do our jobs first. Eventually, this will lead to automating new processes rather than someone else doing it. A bot doing 24/7 automation is better than someone assigned to do it 24/7.
We are not using the product's AI functionality yet. However, we are looking into incorporating AI functionality. The product has freed up a lot of employee time. The solution has saved us more than $ 400 a month in the current project. The solution has reduced human error. A lot of the work that the bots do is tedious, like sending a hundred emails to customers or consolidating reports from five different sources. Mistakes can happen in these processes. The solution has reduced human error in our organization by at least 80%.
I have used UiPath Academy courses. We have also provided our business personnel with the courses so they can see it from the business side to learn UiPath. I like the user community. There are a lot of forums where people post questions and help each other. There are YouTube videos where people share their experiences with certain issues. The community is strong.
The massive improvement from DBA to RPA is the user interface interactions. UiPath has a free community version. I would recommend the solution to others. I've taken training on Automation Anywhere, but I've never been able to touch it because my previous organization decided to keep it only in one department, and our department never received it. I could never use what I studied in Automation Anywhere because it requires business licensing. There was no community version. On the other hand, we can start working on Uipath on our personal computers. We can also use UiPath Academy.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
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.
Senior Software Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Helped minimize our on-premise footprint and substantially reduced human error
Pros and Cons
- "The UiPath community is helpful because you can ask questions and get tips from other people on best practices. Many of the problems have already been resolved by others so you can get advice from those people. You can also see how other people use the system."
- "UiPath could add more interactive features that enable you to explore and design processes from scratch. There should be more features that support the digital transformation process from the design phase. In the current data panel, you need to start with a process that's already in place."
What is our primary use case?
We use UiPath to understand and refine supply chain business processes. Our company is a solution integrator developing solutions for clients. We help companies undergo a digital transformation and digitize existing processes and systems.
You can monitor and automate existing processes, but it's challenging if there's a skill involved. You need to optimize the process and ensure the system is fully integrated. You're pushing the data into UiPath and optimizing the process. You want to integrate it with another system that isn't part of your environment or improve your process. In that case, sometimes you don't have the data in place. That is what you call process mining or process automation.
How has it helped my organization?
If you want to understand the processes you have in place, UiPath can help you understand the gap between the design and execution. For example, you can see if the data is pointed in the right direction and identify where your process has problems. You can also integrate some monitoring capabilities to detect some patterns.
Another important thing for our organization is migration. If you want to change something or relocate a process, you can measure and transfer those things. If the method you want to migrate isn't in place, you need to create something from scratch that currently lacks support. UiPath is suitable for detecting and monitoring existing processes but is not good at identifying new flows, cases, and procedures. That's one area where it needs to improve.
UiPath helped minimize our on-premise footprint. We use AI for some aspects, such as detection and segmentation. Some companies implemented ChatGPT-type functionality, but we haven't tried that.
UiPath substantially reduced human error. It speeds up the business. You can communicate with the customer and show them what's happening. That's the advantage. It frees up employee time because it's an automated process, and you can replace a lot of labor with the tools and the general report. It depends on the data and the efficiency of the data integration, but you can save 20 to 60 percent of labor time.
What is most valuable?
I like how you can download the log and perform static analysis. You can also do dynamic monitoring to look into the system integration. The ease of building automation depends on the vendor you are integrating. You bring data in and push it out through the API. It's relatively easy either way.
The UiPath community is helpful because you can ask questions and get tips from other people on best practices. Many of the problems have already been resolved by others so you can get advice from those people. You can also see how other people use the system.
What needs improvement?
UiPath could add more interactive features that enable you to explore and design processes from scratch. There should be more features that support the digital transformation process from the design phase. In the current data panel, you need to start with a process that's already in place.
You can do end-to-end automation with UiPath, but the problem is that the system hasn't been integrated from that perspective, so UiPath has some disadvantages. It's easier to handle an existing system in UiPath, but it's harder to integrate and model a new system.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used UiPath for about a year. Before I started using UiPath, I was involved in developing these kinds of processes for more than 10 years, so I'm experienced in this area.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
How was the initial setup?
Deploying UiPath is straightforward. We had a team of two people primarily responsible for the deployment and one or two additional staff.
What about the implementation team?
We worked with UiPath during the deployment. They have a consulting team that we use when possible.
What was our ROI?
The real ROI comes in the later process monitoring stage. You need to spend money initially planning and building processes. Once you get to the evaluation phase, you start to recognize the advantage of using these tools.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Most tools have a trial license. With UiPath, you need to pay from the beginning. Many customers aren't familiar with the product, so it would be helpful if they offered a free evaluation period.
We need experience with UiPath because we have to convince the customer to adopt it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated several other options, but I can't recall which ones. UiPath's advantage is that you can do system automation.
What other advice do I have?
I rate UiPath an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
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.
Senior Software Engineer at Accenture
Helps us automate output from PDFs, reducing human time and error
Pros and Cons
- "UiPath is easy to use without any training. Anyone can use it. There is also great customer support."
- "It needs improvement in terms of optimization. Sometimes the tools slow down when you are working on a huge data set or if the internet connectivity is slow in your area."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to automate output from PDFs.
How has it helped my organization?
It reduces human time and human error compared to manual processes. It helps a lot in improving business productivity, project productivity, and scalability. It also saves us money.
What is most valuable?
UiPath is easy to use without any training. Anyone can use it. There is also great customer support. And if you want to learn new things or enhance your skills, you can choose the UiPath Academy training courses.
It is very secure and cheaper and faster.
What needs improvement?
It needs improvement in terms of optimization. Sometimes the tools slow down when you are working on a huge data set or if the internet connectivity is slow in your area. Otherwise, it works as well as the other tools that are available in the market.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using UiPath for the last three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I give the stability a 10 out of 10. It is very stable compared to other solutions.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is also good, a 10 out of 10.
I have deployed it across different departments and different locations, per the requirements of the various projects I have worked on.
How are customer service and support?
I would give a 10 out of 10 to customer support. If you have any queries you can post them to the community. Last year I was facing some issues related to some processes and I posted queries on the community. I got a response after some time. That was very good for me.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before UiPath, I tried a related Microsoft tool.
How was the initial setup?
I did one deployment with the team, but I'm not privy to how deployment works from scratch. But the deployment is of medium difficulty, not very straightforward and not very easy.
I have used UiPath in different types of deployments, depending on the project. Sometimes it's on a private cloud. For example, if it is a project related to deployment on the client side or server, we use the cloud services. If we want to test something on a website or another cloud, then we use the SaaS.
The solution does require some maintenance. The number of people needed depends on the project's size and complexity.
What was our ROI?
It gives a great ROI. It gives around 25 to 30 percent return. It works well.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is moderate. It's not that cheap and not very expensive. Every organization can buy or renew a license.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have used Microsoft Power Automate. I chose UiPath because it is cheaper and has great customer support. There is a huge community of developers, more than for Microsoft Power Automate.
What other advice do I have?
If we're working on a project related to website automation, it requires a minimum of five to 10 people. And if we're working on a small project, there might be a single person or maybe two who work on it. The responsibilities relate to developing, testing, and hosting.
If an engineer wants to learn more about RPA, they should consider this tool first. I always recommend UiPath if you are working as an individual. If you invest X, it will give you 100X.
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.
Chief Innovation Officer at Imbassy
It has streamlined how we generate, use, and store business data, saving thousands of hours of manual work
Pros and Cons
- "We like how UiPath is designed for low-code or no-code users. It's less complicated, enabling everyone to use it with only a basic knowledge of automation or data. Generally, I also like UiPath's ability to mine processes and analyze user interactions to generate analytics."
- "A task capture feature enables you to capture the workflow from a process and record it. This feature isn't as specific as I would like. It should be able to capture every detail. The same goes for process mining when it comes to system loads. It's already the best, but I think it could be better."
What is our primary use case?
I implement UiPath for other companies. My specialization is software integration and digital transformation. I also manage UiPath for some organizations. We're a digital marketing agency that helps companies undergo a digital transformation for data and analytics. We help them automate marketing and data analysis for researchers and the organization itself.
The primary use case is to help the marketing department collect data about user experience and interaction. We also automate repetitive IT work and connect it with marketing. In other words, we extract data from the IT operations to use for marketing purposes. UiPath is also used in every department to reduce manual work.
UiPath has workflows and templates for every use case. We use nearly all of them in all departments with pre-configured templates and workflows, but we mainly use UiPath for IT operations, marketing, and finance. And the three are our primary use for it. We build the procedures and generate automation. We use public, private, and hybrid clouds, but we mainly use public and hybrid clouds for our services. It depends on the client, but sometimes it's private.
How has it helped my organization?
We previously did everything by hand because we had no automation knowledge or experience before we started using this product. Before we started implementing it for others, we began using it ourselves, and we saw a 200 percent increase in performance in the first three months after launching UiPath automation.
At that point, we realized we could do the work of twice as many employees without hiring more. With UiPath, we can build, monitor, manage, and do many things that used to take so much time and account for a lot of our operating costs. The most important benefit was a reduction in the risk of human error. In addition to saving time and money, we can grow much bigger daily. We can automate more as we gain more experience, collect more data, and amass more insight. The benefits are compounding as time goes on.
We only had two or three clients when we started working as integrators and service providers two years ago, but we've grown significantly since then. It became harder to handle as we started getting more clients and revenue. That's why having an easy-to-use solution that allows end-to-end automation without much effort is crucial.
You need end-to-end control and easy management when doing this work for multiple clients or providing support to other teams. It's vital to have end-to-end capabilities without complications, making things harder for us. UiPath is helping the company grow faster and making our operations more efficient. We can automate the specifics of finding out how much everyone is working, enabling us to recognize and reward hard-working employees. Without automating the process of understanding every employee's impact, we could never find this out. For example, some employees may work longer than others, but they might be less effective. It's challenging to discover this without tools driven by AI and machine learning.
Overall, it has streamlined how we generate, use, and store business data, saving thousands of hours of manual work. This Automation Cloud app feature doubles the benefits of UiPath by enabling us to generate apps from the data we collect and the automations we create. Ultimately, this translates into considerable savings in time and money.
Automation Cloud has helped tremendously by turning complicated, complex coding work into drag-and-drop templates, so we can build automated processes in minutes. It has enabled us to realize a lot of value from our employees who lack coding knowledge. They can now participate and create apps for us and our clients.
Most other tools lack enough documentation, or the onboarding experience has a steep learning curve. It's hard for junior employees who lack coding or data experience. The fact that UiPath is accessible is crucial for our employees and those who work for the organizations we help monitor and manage. UiPath is an industry leader in enabling everyone to learn, and they provide rich visual courses that take you from A to Z. I usually don't have to hold a junior developer's hand and answer lots of questions. I only need to send the links.
The material UiPath provides is enough for them to get started. With other tools, we always have to turn to the community and YouTube videos or Google how to do something. They also don't get the complete picture of the use cases or what to do. After using UiPath Academy courses, they have a comprehensive understanding of everything and can easily find whatever they are searching for in the documentation or the academic studies. So it's a very mastering point for them to provide these courses and enable it for everyone.
What is most valuable?
We like how UiPath is designed for low-code or no-code users. It's less complicated, enabling everyone to use it with only a basic knowledge of automation or data. Generally, I also like UiPath's ability to mine processes and analyze user interactions to generate analytics.
Through task mining, UiPath can generate AI-powered analysis, and it has a Document Understanding feature that enables it to extract information from submitted images and data. We also appreciate the added value UiPath provides for customer service and user experience. It can automate ticket handling and responses. This has saved thousands of hours. Document Understanding has made a massive difference by analyzing and extracting everything from user submissions, then putting it into tickets and generating customer satisfaction scores.
What needs improvement?
A task capture feature enables you to capture the workflow from a process and record it. This feature isn't as specific as I would like. It should be able to capture every detail. The same goes for process mining when it comes to system loads. It's already the best, but I think it could be better.
I need all details of a log file from every software and ERP to discover the pain points and bottlenecks. It usually understands where the most automation value is delivered but could generate more valuable information. Sometimes it's the same data from a different ERP, but it doesn't generate the same insight from it 100 percent. There's a slight difference, whereas they are supposed to be practically the same.
I also think the UiPath community needs more attention in terms of how they engage with the community and what they recommend. I find that they hardly engage with the community compared to others. To be clear, I think they are doing well, but they could do better at engaging with the community and encouraging community members to engage with one another. I feel like it's not the most active community with the most active management. At the same time, there's also much information in the community, and they're always sharing information with us. Still, I think UiPath could achieve a better experience by putting a little more effort into the forums.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using UiPath for about four years.
How are customer service and support?
I rate UiPath support a seven out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously tried IBM Process Mining, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism. I think the ease of building automations is the main thing that differentiates UiPath from the rest. There's a single-user interface that gives you the ability to create automated processes without much advanced data or logical knowledge. We can find pre-configured commissions for specific use cases for our clients, but we also build custom services for specific users.
Compared to other automation tools, it's much easier to build and manage workflows and find an opportunity for more automation within the interactions. And I barely plan for automation by myself. UiPath's end-to-end automation also separates it from its competitors, which tend to have separate tools for each operation. Mining is separated from RPA, but UiPath provides an all-in-one end-to-end automation tool.
What other advice do I have?
I rate UiPath an eight out of ten.
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
Intuitive with excellent partnerships with other vendors for built-in integrations
Pros and Cons
- "My impression of UiPath's stability is good. Compared to some other automation vendors that I've used, I would say that UiPath is more stable and better."
- "UiPath could work towards more engagement on the community practice side. Some of our people are having a hard time understanding how to make sense of the data that UiPath puts out."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use cases are within the financing and HR teams right now. But of course, there's a lot of opportunities in the clinical space and with MB services. We have use cases in all of those departments throughout the organization, but right now we are engaged primarily with the HR and finance team.
We have two automations in production right now. We just started our COE and it's been exciting so far. We are building things and have identified quite big end-to-end opportunities.
How has it helped my organization?
I'm not new to the automation world. I've been in this field since late 2015 and I've seen the ROI you can get with it. Some things you can quantify and others you can't. However, we are very new to UiPath so I can not comment on improvements just yet. We will know within a year.
We have seen savings in time. One of the automations that we have in place with our finance team is a monthly reconciliation process. The first three to five days of the month are critical in finance. So, if you're able to save as little as half an hour every day in those five days, that adds up to a full day of work. This automation has helped our accountants and the finance team do their closing and be on time and have extra time to analyze things. They're not fighting fires anymore.
What is most valuable?
The partnerships that UiPath has with other vendors are excellent. Some of the applications that we rely on heavily, like DocuSign for Workday, already have built-in integrations with UiPath. This will help us scale and go to market quickly.
I am happy that they are always listening to us and doing as much as they can to include more features.
What needs improvement?
UiPath could work towards more engagement on the community practice side. Some of our people are having a hard time understanding how to make sense of the data that UiPath puts out.
There could be some guidance as well on how to calculate ROI. ROI is how much money you have spent and how much you are getting back. But, how can I know how much money I've spent? Do I calculate the cost of infrastructure? Do I calculate the cost of the team I have? Where do I begin? What is the right way to look at ROI? What are some of the analytics I should be looking at?
Utilization, the success rate, business value, and ROI have to go hand-in-hand. You cannot tell a whole story with just ROI.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using UiPath since March of this year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
My impression of UiPath's stability is good. Compared to some other automation vendors that I've used, I would say that UiPath is more stable and better.
How are customer service and support?
We do not have a lot of experience with them but whenever we reached out to them they helped and directed us.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It was on-premise and run-of-the-mill. Our team is very knowledgeable and had already done similar implementations.
What about the implementation team?
We had four people engaged in the implementation from our side. We partnered with EmiTech for the deployment and they brought in their expert and helped guide us through the installation process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not fully understand our pricing model yet, but I would say that it is fair. I cannot tell at the moment how it is going to affect us. Right now we have only six unattended bots and maybe two attended ones, so we will see how it goes as we grow.
What other advice do I have?
The ease of building the automations depends on the process, but overall I would say that UiPath is intuitive. If you understand some basic functions of logical expressions or loop functions, UiPath is intuitive enough to help you build some impressive automations. It is easy to pick up.
We have a few people who have completed UiPath Academy courses and are now going for advanced certification. I'm not planning on building any bots on an enterprise scale myself, but I am going through the training as well.
UiPath Academy is excellent because it is intuitive. Of course, you have to have some development or SDLC knowledge, but it helps tremendously. You get so much insight on the features. You also get to build a small automation. I dedicated 30 to 40 hours to the trainings and was able to get some knowledge from it.
The trainings are even easier for people from accounting, for example. They are used to macros, automations, and file transfers. Conceptually, they are already there and with a tool like UiPath Academy, they can start using the solution. It's important to just stick with it.
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.
Associate Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Within Orchestrator, we can restrict roles from the admin level to the user level
Pros and Cons
- "Once we deploy the automation into the production, our manpower has been reduced so there are only one or two people needed for the backup. The rest will be taken care of by the automation itself. So, there has been a drastic reduction in our workforce."
- "We are doing automation to take care of all our processes, but we still need support people 24/7 to monitor these jobs. So, human intervention is still there. We have two people monitoring these automations 24/7 because there are still some challenges with the automation."
What is our primary use case?
We develop and deploy use cases in the area of the cloud. We have deployed over 100 use cases. Most of our use cases are related to SAP applications, web applications, and mainframe applications.
One use case example is related to mainframe applications. The bot monitors mainframe applications 24/7. If there are any new jobs, they are identified, then the bot changes the status of the job to differentiate it.
Previously, we are using the 2016 version of Orchestrator, then we upgraded to the 2018 version of Orchestrator. Some clients are deploying the 2020 version. It depends on the client. We suggest using a version back to clients, i.e., the 2019 version.
We automate retail, sales, and agricultural services.
How has it helped my organization?
There are a bunch of candidates being monitored 24x7. Automation Cloud monitors these jobs, and whenever new docs come into the application, it will then change the status manually based upon certain conditions. Once we deploy the automation into the production, our manpower has been reduced so there are only one or two people needed for the backup. The rest will be taken care of by the automation itself. So, there has been a drastic reduction in our workforce.
What is most valuable?
We schedule different jobs using Orchestrator only. We have a separate team who takes care of jobs that we apply in Orchestrator. So, if there are any failures, it will automatically send email alerts to us.
Within Orchestrator, there is a tab where we can restrict roles from the admin level to the user level. Developers give only access to the jobs. Whereas, admins have a roles option to restrict access.
What needs improvement?
There are still some areas that need improvements. Currently, the tool is not 100 percent accurate with hand written notes and image based automation. It is also tedious using it with Word applications.
We are doing automation to take care of all our processes, but we still need support people 24/7 to monitor these jobs. So, human intervention is still there. We have two people monitoring these automations 24/7 because there are still some challenges with the automation.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with it for two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
When new bots are developed, we definitely see some errors in the first few days, which are usually connector issues. Once the bot is moved to production and has a lot of enhancements and patches to the automations, we make sure that the automation is running smoothly. So, during the initial stages, it won't be very stable, but after a few enhancements to adjust to the automation as time goes, then it will become stable.
Once we deploy and release the automation into production, we will monitor production to see if there are any new challenges, different scenarios, or bugs that we need to fix. We have monitored the automation after deployment for around six to seven months, and the automation went smoothly without any issues. Because the automation is performing pretty well, we have deployed it to more of our workforce and their different jobs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have separate, dedicated test data in three different environments. Orchestrator has a database and email server, so everything is in Orchestrator. Apart from the servers, products, and services, everything has a separate operations team, which has eight to 10 members, who take care of everything.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, they used on-premises services for the bots. Then, they asked us to migrate more than 20 bots from on-premises to our AWS environment. So, we have created a dedicated AWS environment for them.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment process goes this way:
- Developers develop the use case in a development environment.
- Once that is done, then they will move the code to the non-cloud environment.
- They will test the code if the automation is running fine or not. If automation is running fine, they will show the data which is running fine as a code to the client.
- Once they have the desired output, then we will move to the production environment.
- The operations team will then deploy that process.
The first time, it is a bit tricky. Going to production, it will take around 20 to 30 minutes to deploy the first time. If there is already existing automation, we only need a patch to implement it in production, then it will take roughly five to 10 minutes to apply.
The process of testing and deploying code takes roughly one to four nights maximum.
What about the implementation team?
For deploying UiPath, we need at least three to four RPA developers. In general, one person can deploy at any time. The other two to three people are just there on support calls.
Post-production, we have an operations team of eight to 10 members who take care of the automation.
What was our ROI?
There are some automations that save us thousands of hours monthly. These are automations that we run 24/7 as well as some automations that we run every five minutes for installing backups. Depending upon the amount of time the automation is standing, we will manage the capabilities of the server.
To some extent, it has reduced the operations:
- The automation is sending an email whenever there will be an error. Automatically, it is not going to the user. The user just needs to verify their emails.
- Whenever an error is noticed in the code, the automation will fit the address and email the operations team members.
In these ways, it has helped to reduce operation costs, but not completely.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are three types of licenses: unattended, attended, and developer.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also use Automation Anywhere (version 10) and Blue Prism automation tools, but I think most clients prefer UiPath. There are more activities available in UiPath versus the Automation Anywhere version that we use. For example, UiPath has database-related activities, but Automation Anywhere, version 10, does not have this feature. I have tried using mainframe appliances in UiPath and Automation Anywhere, and I found that UiPath is more flexible and has more options available.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is single sign-on, so the authentication is done for us, because it is difficult to remember all our passwords.
We have a ServiceNow ticketing tool for reporting issues related to UiPath.
UiPath is very good for developing web-based applications, especially for SAP and the web. For these two applications, you can go with UiPath without any doubts.
I would rate this solution as an eight (out of 10).
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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.
Robotic and Intelligent Automation Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
A user-friendly solution with good training and is easy for people with C# experience
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is user-friendly."
- "I would like to see more machine learning features and capabilities for more accurate OCR."
What is our primary use case?
I have used UiPath Orchestrator, and we have created both attended and unattended robots for our clients.
We have been using the new AI and OCR technologies with UiPath, and we are currently trying to implement the Citrix log capability that was recently introduced.
We are not running our automations in a virtual environment. When we automate any Citrix-based application, it's all email-based. There is a Citrix receiver and we communicate with that, which helps automate Citrix applications much faster.
Most of the clients I had seen have been running in virtual environments, although I have seen some of our clients running on the desktop. We have also seen hybrid scenarios.
One thing is that virtual environments can be standardized pretty quickly. So, that's an advantage. Normally, the companies, which are leaning towards more cloud now, will be happy with this. So, I think that is one factor. As you move virtual machines to the cloud you can migrate your bots to the cloud faster.
I have worked on various different domains including the public sector, commercial, healthcare, energy, utility, and federal. These are the different customers for which we are implementing solutions. Now, the customers are moving towards AI and natural language processing. They are more into chatbots, how they can use artificial intelligence, making use of data science, and putting more machine learning on board.
With respect to how easy it is to automate our company's processes, on a scale of one to five, I would rate it two and a half. I'd say it is about marketing. You can develop anything. There are very small processes that you can develop with having minimal experience. However, when you start implementing complex processes, I would say you need to be a background developer.
On a scale of one to five, judging how beneficial it is, I would rate the training a five. All of my team members have been using UiPath Academy for training and certification. It's not just with the U.S., but outside the U.S. as well.
From the point that a UiPath license is purchased until the first robot is ready totally depends upon what use case we are implementing. There are different methodologies that people use. Some build the bot without exceptions and it can go to production. Like a very simple process can go to production in two to three weeks. A more complex bot will take eight to ten weeks, and depending upon the process, it can go longer. I have seen tasks when a human is performing the job and it takes him around twenty minutes per transaction. But, when the bot comes in, it actually completed that same transaction in five minutes. But, to develop that five minutes of processing, it was understanding system availability and testing. Then you have to do load testing. It takes ten weeks or so.
Our clients decide to implement RPA for several reasons. The first reason, of course, is to have work completed faster. Second, when there is a workload, you can work on it more efficiently and with fewer people. Consider an open enrollment in October, where the open enrollment starts at 10:00 AM and there are a lot of transactions flowing in. Now you have to hire a human and train them. With the bot, we can just scale up instead. Finally, the bots are errorless.
How has it helped my organization?
In terms of eliminating human errors, it is a one hundred percent reduction. When you implement bots, it's error-free, as long as you have implemented it properly. The robot does not get tired, so the error rate is actually zero.
I would say, more important than saving money, it's more about business growth and client satisfaction. Our clients all serve someone, so it's more about customer satisfaction. The employees benefit because sometimes they have to do repetitive jobs, and they get bored with them. So, they can use automation and apply their brains somewhere fruitful.
Overall, automation is always improving customer satisfaction. Response time is improved, errors are reduced, and productivity increases because work is being done around the clock.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is user-friendly. I was a coding developer, so I know how to write code, and I've also used other RPA tools. This solution is workflow-driven, where you can easily relay what you had written. If someone has to read the code, it is very readable.
Second, I've always been a Microsoft technology guy, and they have provided the facility where we can implement any of the C# code into it. We have .NET code, and that's why I like it. We say it's a tool, but I would say it can also be leveraged as a custom coding tool. We can actually do whatever custom code you want.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more machine learning features and capabilities for more accurate OCR.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
With respect to the stability, on a scale from one to five, I would rate this solution a five. It's stable. The thing is, with the software, we have a few glitches here and there, but what I like is that we have the right support. When we actually reach out to verify, we get a faster response and also a faster solution. The responses are effective and fast.
How are customer service and technical support?
The responses are effective and fast.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have seen some cases where there is backend automation, but it was a series of processes. With this solution, they combine all of it into one. There were few human-interactive automations. Rather, it was batch-job processing of databases, etc.
How was the initial setup?
The complexity of the initial setup depends upon the client.
There is admin access and a whole lot involved. There are safety concerns from client to client with their security policies, and it may take time. I have hardly seen any clients where it's easy to set up, within a week or two. It takes longer because of the client's own security policies. You have to get a lot of clearance because there is a lot of admin access that UiPath needs. If I had to rate the setup, I would give it three out of five.
A dedicated person is required to maintain this solution. The same way humans get sick and need doctors, the bots get sick and you need a maintenance person.
What was our ROI?
I would estimate that our clients see ROI, on average, in one year. It depends on what they are trying to save. If it is FTE then eventually you'll be getting everything. If you are trying to have a faster experience, it totally depends. There is a development cost and a tool cost that have to be considered. It also depends on the complexity of the processes and how long they take to code.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have clients who use almost all of the RPA solutions. The most common ones are Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, and WorkFusion. We don't recommend. We advise. We can implement regardless of the solution.
The choice is dependent on various factors. What we have seen is that most companies have a technology stack. Some have a Java shop, while others have a Microsoft shop, or others will use a different technology stack again. People tend to choose what best matches their technology.
What other advice do I have?
When we started initially, most of the business users were afraid that the bot was going to take their job. That is not the case. The bot is actually helping them with their substantive, day-to-day work, by handing the repetitive work. So, after seeing the benefits, I've seen a lot of users now leaning towards bots, and they are very happy with RPA.
I am looking forward to the new version where they have implemented libraries. One thing they have done is merged the media packages into one.
From a cost perspective, there is a difference between attended and unattended bots. I have implemented both, but most of the plans are moving towards unattended. The unattended bots come at a higher cost. For an attended bot, it is being used while the user is at the machine, and is more like an interactive bot. While there is a huge difference in cost, I still prefer unattended bots. I see less benefit in using attended bots and say that I would use unattended eighty percent of the time.
When I'm implementing an unattended bot, I am actually putting it on a machine. I can run as many unattended bots as I need on that one machine. I can do this with attended bots, but the thing is, you need user interactions. Now think in this way, if the user is not there, the attended bot is waiting for that user. Secondly, I see some of the use cases that are really helpful and suitable for attended, but I would rather go with unattended because it's going to show that I don't need a physical machine and it will be more efficient.
My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to start with the UiPath Academy and do the training. Then, look through some videos, implement a process or two and see how comfortable you are. At this point, you can move forward with it. I would say that it is pretty easy to understand.
This is a good solution, but I'm a hardcore custom developer. I still want that flexibility in my hand to do whatever I can do. With a tool, there are always limitations in terms of policy and rules.
I would rate this solution an eight 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: Partner.
Rpa Systems Analyst at a recruiting/HR firm with 10,001+ employees
Insights feature provides invaluable data on time savings but could improve the updates
Pros and Cons
- "UiPath's most valuable feature is Insights, which provides invaluable data on time savings and AI model performance."
- "UiPath should prioritize improving its updates and user-friendliness, particularly for new team members."
What is our primary use case?
We adopted UiPath to leverage its generative AI capabilities for rule-based automation. This technology enhances the resilience of our automated processes, ensuring continued functionality even when underlying systems or data undergo changes that would typically disrupt traditional automation.
How has it helped my organization?
Our business challenges necessitated a combined approach of AI and automation. While automation initially streamlined processes, its rigidity proved limiting when faced with changing information. AI, with its learning and adaptive capabilities, addressed this by recognizing patterns and adjusting to variations. This synergy allows the AI to handle similar changes without requiring new automation, ultimately achieving the same outcome with increased flexibility and efficiency.
Our automations are now AI-centric, and this focus will expand significantly within the company as our organization refines its AI strategy.
Our company is developing a new AI automation strategy focused on employee engagement, partnering with Microsoft Copilot and utilizing ChatGPT for automation. While our AI policy is still being developed, we plan to carefully consider how to best leverage UiPath's AI capabilities, with a strong emphasis on security, once the policy is in place.
UiPath has helped save our staff time to focus on other tasks.
What is most valuable?
UiPath's most valuable feature is Insights, which provides invaluable data on time savings and AI model performance.
What needs improvement?
UiPath should prioritize improving its updates and user-friendliness, particularly for new team members. Streamlining updates and simplifying the interface would enhance the onboarding experience and overall productivity.
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?
In terms of what we use UiPath for, the stability has been great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We utilize both cloud-based and on-premises automation solutions. Our infrastructure began with two servers and has gradually expanded to four. UiPath has proven to be a scalable platform, provided we maintain the necessary licenses.
How are customer service and support?
UiPath's support is generally good, augmented by the assistance of a Technical Account Manager who helps escalate requests when needed. However, resolving issues without a TAM would be significantly more challenging.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to my joining the team, the organization utilized Automation Anywhere.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment was complex.
What about the implementation team?
We collaborated with UiPath's service provider for the implementation, leveraging their expertise for the intake process and initial setup. Our experience thus far has been positive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate UiPath seven out of ten.
I recommend UiPath due to its robust user community, which provides valuable feedback that contributes to the continuous improvement and development of the product with new features.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Oct 30, 2024
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