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VenkateshGanapavarapu - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
We have automated multiple processes for a client, saving them significant time every month
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature that I like the most is the Document Understanding for extracting information from PDFs."
  • "The main disadvantage that I have identified in the Document Understanding is in table extraction. If the table size is large and goes to the next page, we are unable to extract it with Document Understanding. I hear that there is a solution for that but I have to find it."

What is our primary use case?

We have done a lot of things with UiPath for different customers. I have done Java application automation and PDF automations. We use it for all kinds of automation. For example, for one client, we're working on invoice processing, supply-chain automation, and their technical services.

How has it helped my organization?

Going with automation is really helpful for our customers, saving them time which they can use for other processes.

For example, I'm working for a customer that has 16 different processes to deal with. For every customer, they had to spend at least three days a month to process everything. The bot is processing everything in three hours and our customer doesn't need to monitor it. They are saving many hours for every customer every month. Automation is saving them around 2,000 hours per year.

UiPath is helping us to implement end-to-end automation in many cases and in many ways. We have implemented a lot of ERP automation and we are now working on SAP auto-creation for supply chain and invoice posting, processing, and payment clearance.

It is also helping our clients to speed up digital transformation a lot. They're coming to us with more processes.

What is most valuable?

The feature that I like the most is the Document Understanding for extracting information from PDFs. I also really like the human-in-the-loop concept.

What needs improvement?

The main disadvantage that I have identified in the Document Understanding is in table extraction. If the table size is large and goes to the next page, we are unable to extract it with Document Understanding. I hear that there is a solution for that but I have to find it.

There are other extraction features that Document Understanding doesn't have and clients go for ABBYY Vantage or Google document AI and it becomes expensive for them because they have to purchase a UiPath license and the other solution's license.

With the competition in the market, they have to improve. They can't settle and say, "We are at the top." They have to improve invoice processing, that is the most important thing, and that's where Document Understanding comes in. We need to get to the point where a customer does not look at any other OCR engines. They have to improve Document Understanding for invoice processing.

Buyer's Guide
UiPath
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about UiPath. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using UiPath for the last three and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable product.

How are customer service and support?

UiPath support is very good. I don't think we have raised a technical support question, only deployment support. My experience with the UiPath team is that they have been really helpful. They have connected with me within a short time and have done a lot for me. I irritated them a lot, but they still did a lot for me.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The setup of UiPath is easy. Two months back, we did a server migration where we not only migrated the unattended and attended bots, but the whole Orchestrator setup. We moved everything and we did it within seven days. We had some queries and raised a couple of tickets, and the guys connected with us even after 12:00 AM and 1:00 AM. They stayed with us and helped us complete it. The server migration itself was easy for us, with three years of development experience, even though we had never done anything regarding server migration.

The initial setup itself takes about two hours. In the last three months, we have done that for a number of customers. Depending on one's experience the setup can be done by one person. I do it myself.

Deployment of bots is easier than that. You set up an attended bot and publish it to Orchestrator and it will work. It is very easy. Even if you Google it, you can easily find information on it.

For me, with three years' experience, it's very easy. For a newcomer, like someone with only three months' experience, it will be a little harder because he will need to do some research but everything is available on Google. And even if he doesn't find what he needs there, he can raise a request and the guys will be very helpful. They'll connect with him within eight hours and they'll fix it.

What was our ROI?

The ROI depends on the complexity of the process that a client identifies for automation. The license costs around $10,000 per year, although I'm not very sure about that number. People are buying the license but they're not completely automating everything. They have to identify where they're struggling and give that to a bot. They need to use unattended bots on a 24-hour basis. When they utilize it all 24 hours, it is helpful. If they're going for only one or two bots, the return on investment will definitely be less.

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

In India, where I am from, UiPath is expensive. But customers in other regions, like Europe or the US, will not find it so expensive.

Every time we have a proposal call with a client regarding UiPath, most of our Indian customers are not okay with the cost. They can't afford it. They want alternatives, but they still often end up with UiPath because of the efficiency.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I haven't used any other solution, but I have explored Power Automate. I also opened Automation Anywhere and attended one class for it and I decided I'm not going to go to Automation Anywhere. You can't compare anything with UiPath. UiPath is the top.

What other advice do I have?

It is the customers who have to identify the things that they can automate. We have to promote our tools and RPA capabilities and when they understand these things they can come back to us and use us for what they need. Most customers don't know what automation and an RPA automation bot are. But when I do my first bot and show a demo, they understand: "Oh, this is how it works." And then they come up with more processes for us to work on.

Regarding UiPath Academy courses, I have done some but I haven't had a chance to do the paid certification course because I'm continually working on projects. I did a couple of basic RPA developer courses and then the SAP, Document Understanding, and Action Center courses. I haven't had a chance to explore the new features there.

To use UiPath there are no coding requirements, like knowledge of Python, but you need to have good problem-solving skills. You need to understand loops, flowcharts, and how to develop conditional actions.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Brody Semelroth - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at Wells Enterprises, Inc.
Real User
A broad solution that effectively uses machine learning to automate processes and save time
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's AI technology and machine learning models are the biggest contributor to saving time."
  • "The solution's OCR engine is lagging behind Power Automate a bit."

What is our primary use case?

Our company is in the dairy industry and uses the solution for automating 25 processes. 

We started with financial items such as utility invoices, vendor invoices, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. 

We are also simplifying the processes for creating recipes and food manufacturing. 

For example, we were able to use machine learning to read invoices for utilities at all of our factories and from 50 dairy vendors. All the invoices look different and AI is able to recognize where important data is located. The AI technology is amazing and we use it for three of our biggest processes. 

How has it helped my organization?

We estimate that the solution has saved us 10,000 hours per year. We only have three developers who are dedicated to the solution but have netted huge time savings. 

In total, since implementing the solution we have saved 19,000 hours across 25 processes. We are very happy with the results and will continue to expand. 

What is most valuable?

The solution's AI technology and machine learning models are huge for our company and the biggest contributor to saving time because we teach the model to read invoices. 

We are above a 97% success rate on all transactions. Our company is growing, but we are not increasing staff because robotics allow us to keep up with work flow.  

We use the solution to keep up with demand. Our staff is relieved and happy because robotics handles small but tedious items, allowing staff to free up their schedules and focus on more important things. We used to have to beg for projects but now staff ask us to help. 

What needs improvement?

The solution's OCR engine is lagging behind Power Automate a bit. 

It would be nice to have a knowledge base for C# that includes scenarios specific to the solution. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for one year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable with no problems. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable and depends on the speed of development. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good and has been able to solve issues any time I contact them. There might be a bit of back and forth with support emails, but all problems get resolved. 

The solution's community and forums are important and very helpful. I can reach out at any time to get answers. Everyone I have communicated with in the forums has been great. 

I rate technical 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 was an intern on the company's data management team and was looking for ways to automate my own job out of curiosity.

I started with Power Automate and created a process to show my boss. He indicated that the company was already exploring AI and asked me to create the process again using the solution so I could compare the two. 

The solution was code based and more complicated than Power Automate so I took advanced and fundamentals courses on my own time. There is a learning curve because the solution uses DB strings and C#. But in a few months, I was building automations and ERFs on the citizen developer platform.

The advantage of Power Automate is its ease and simplicity but it is mostly meant for their Office software. 

The solution is more difficult to learn but is extensive and capable of more because it is able to interact with websites and UI elements themselves.

How was the initial setup?

The solution was already in place when I joined the team. 

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

I do not know pricing but the solution uses a licensing model. We have three licenses to manage 25 processes. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The solution is the only one our company has ever used.

The solution has been in place for five years and has expanded across seven different departments. Three licenses are in place to manage 25 processes.

The Academy's courses are used when onboarding new staff to ensure self-sufficiency with the solution.

What other advice do I have?

There are many packages available that are extensive, including the community package. Look at the functionality because it is possible to automate any process that is repeatable. 

You can interact with any broker not just Excel or SQL. The options are wide open. 

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
UiPath
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about UiPath. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Consultant at Cognition HQ
Consultant
Top 20
Facilitates efficient workflow management across industries
Pros and Cons
  • "Overall, I believe UiPath is the best tool available."
  • "I have experienced scalability issues."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution for automating customer processes. I have been working with this for almost seven years and am responsible for automating various business processes across different industries such as finance, telecommunications, and airlines. I have experience working with numerous sectors and do not use it for personal reasons.

What is most valuable?

Document Understanding allows me to track information not only from structured documents but also from unstructured documents through artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. These are excellent tools. Additionally, the process understanding enables me to track and manage document processing effectively. Ease of building automation includes utilizing tools to record the process and generate the initial process design document.

What needs improvement?

I have just generated the default pilot. I believe another option for the tool could be voice interaction. For example, similar to using assistants like Alexa, it would be beneficial to integrate voice commands with the UI to create an Excel spreadsheet and populate a data table.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have experienced stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have experienced scalability issues.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate customer service a ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

The number of solutions we select depends on client needs. My company uses various software platforms without preference, and it depends on client requirements and objectives.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is efficient if all infrastructure requirements are met, faster than Azure's requirement. It could take about an hour.

What about the implementation team?

We have our checklist that describes every document. We ensure everything is checked. We are a consulting company, and we have expertise in this field.

What was our ROI?

If you lose higher Wi-Fi parameters, it saves additional time. The license cost is slightly higher compared to other providers, yet the benefits are justifiable.

What other advice do I have?

The developers are very client-focused, always looking for feedback and adding additional value in every version. I was one of the first UiPath MDPs, and it enables a lot of learning opportunities. If you're keen on learning, you can benefit greatly.

UiPath is accessible with various language options, breaking down communication barriers. Many developers benefit from this, especially since it's free. Fatigue can lead to errors, but automation helps reduce such issues, particularly in financial processes. In terms of digital transformation, UiPath accelerates the process and reduces costs. 

Overall, I believe UiPath is the best tool available. I rate the overall solution ten out of ten.

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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PeerSpot user
David Seger - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Systems & Special Projects at Seaboard Marine
Real User
Top 10
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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reviewer2298912 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Has extensive community support, enabling organizations to efficiently automate repetitive tasks and enhance productivity
Pros and Cons
  • "It's highly effective in pinpointing areas within the organization where assistance is required."
  • "This is because the platform requires a multitude of building blocks even for the simplest use cases and when dealing with newer clients, this can be challenging."

What is our primary use case?

I use UiPath for a variety of tasks, including automating user interfaces, processing documents, utilizing process mining, performing test automation, and even handling natural language processing.

How has it helped my organization?

It contributed to revenue growth by enabling us to maintain a consistent headcount and resource level while expanding our business.

What is most valuable?

Unattended automation, particularly in the realm of UI automation, is the most valuable aspect. 

Its ability to swiftly create automation in UiPath Studio is highly beneficial. It's highly effective in pinpointing areas within the organization where assistance is required.

What needs improvement?

There are several areas where I see room for improvement in the tool. One of these areas would be a more solutions-oriented pricing structure. This is because the platform requires a multitude of building blocks even for the simplest use cases and when dealing with newer clients, this can be challenging. One area where I'd appreciate additional or new features is in the realm of insights.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using UiPath for seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It offers good stability features with minor bugs from time to time.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

When it comes to scalability, UiPath exhibits a high degree of proficiency.

How are customer service and support?

The customer support is quite commendable and we often make use of TAM when needed. I would rate it around an eight out of ten because there is room for improvement.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I've previously used a variety of automation tools, including Blue Prism, OpenSpan, Automation Anywhere, WorkFusion, and Microsoft Power Automate.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

I collaborated with my IT teams to establish high-availability virtual machines in Azure, whether on-premises or in a semi-private environment. I also partnered with my security team to formulate our digital worker strategy, which essentially involved managing identities, and I integrated all these components into a cohesive system.

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

It comes with a high cost, but the value it delivers justifies the expense.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We conducted evaluations of various automation platforms, including Automation Anywhere, Kofax, Pega, and Blue Prism. There were several notable distinctions. Firstly, UiPath stood out because it offered a free starting point, which was not the case with the others. Secondly, UiPath's integration with Visual Studio was more seamless compared to the other platforms. Their open and free-for-all community is an enormous advantage.

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be to keep your problem-solving approach simple and avoid the urge to plan every detail. One common issue I've observed is people tend to overcomplicate the deployment, strategy, and overall decision-making process when adopting a new software platform. Instead, I'd recommend that if you can identify one or two use cases where the tool's benefits outweigh its costs, you have a solid starting point. Keep it straightforward, and you'll be on the right track. 

Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2286168 - PeerSpot reviewer
RPA Specialist at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Has multiple features, many connectors, and good support, but the debugging process takes longer and could be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "I like that UiPath makes life easier through its multiple features. It's easy to use through its Excel functionality, a basic application you need. UiPath also has many connectors available, so using the solution is easier."
  • "Debugging needs improvement in UiPath because I need to do it from scratch whenever I have to debug a code. I have to run the entire code from the start and then check the pointers. If a specific action can be developed in UiPath, instead of running the code from the beginning, it would allow you to debug the code from the point that needs debugging, saving a significant amount of time."

What is our primary use case?

I've worked on many use cases for UiPath, primarily automation use cases, but the most recent one was for the HTS sector.

The customer was inquiring about payments, whether the payment was fully paid, partially paid, or whether there was an outstanding balance or payment discrepancy.

It was for a US client, and based on some validations, checks, and settings, I needed to identify if the payment was on time, delayed, or never paid. I had to commit to determining the information or data for my customer, which included many validation business rules. I had to consider the checkpoints before replying to the customer's query.

The query used to come through email, and I needed to extract the emails, identify what the query was for, and then go ahead and provide the solution.

How has it helped my organization?

Many new improvements in UiPath after 2018 have helped end users stay competitive in the market, such as document understanding and process mining. UiPath has also helped significantly in documenting scanned invoices and restructuring processes. UiPath is continually growing and updating, and that is a big help to organizations.

What is most valuable?

What I like best about UiPath is that it's undoubtedly the leader in the market.

I like that the solution makes life easier through its multiple features. It's easy to use UiPath through its Excel functionality, a basic application you need. UiPath also has many connectors available, so using the solution is easier.

I also found the document understanding feature of UiPath helpful in automating data from PDFs, whether it's to classify or extract information from documents. The document understanding feature also has many extractors, making data extraction easy to apply to the existing company processes, one of the best features of UiPath.

Compared to other RPA tools, such as Blue Prism and Power Automate, UiPath stands out in terms of the scalability of automation that you can do on the platform. UiPath is more reliable and has many actions available for almost every application, which is why the solution stands out.

Building automation using UiPath is simple, but it would still depend on the developer or designer. If you do not plan the process correctly, it will be messy. Regarding the actions for building automation, you can pull and drop into boxes, so it's easy.

My company used UiPath to automate processes dealing with a good cause, mainly giving people more free time to focus on learning new skills and growing professionally rather than spending all the time working on repetitive, mundane tasks. My company automated a process for the customer and delivered that to the customer.

UiPath enabled my company to implement end-to-end automation. Still, there may be a few requirements that would make the solution not feasible, for example, applications where it would be challenging to use UiPath, even with plug-ins.

The UiPath User Community is the biggest out of all communities by other platforms, and I found the community helpful. Many experts in the UiPath User Community are ready to help.

I've used UiPath Academy. Its courses helped me in understanding UiPath in detail. I started learning the solution from the academy itself. It is great because it covers all the basics and advanced topics. UiPath Academy is a one-stop solution for learning UiPath and its products, services, and offerings.

The solution has also helped in speeding up digital transformation.

Uipath has helped reduce human error in any process or task that is rule-based, which doesn't need any human interference or judgment. My company developed tasks on the platform and created code to handle specific situations or scenarios that completely took care of manual intervention or manual efforts plus, the deployment was easy, and the solution saved a lot of manual effort. UiPath reduced human error by up to ninety percent.

The solution helped free up employee time by up to forty percent after the automation by reducing the need for employees to work on repetitive tasks so employees could focus on other, more challenging tasks, including learning new skills.

What needs improvement?

One area for improvement in UiPath is that the orientation could be better.

Debugging also needs improvement because I need to do it from scratch whenever I have to debug a code. I have to run the entire code from the start and then check the pointers. If a specific action can be developed in UiPath, instead of running the code from the beginning, it would allow you to debug the code from the point that needs debugging, saving a significant amount of time.

My company has tested the AI functionality of UiPath, and for complex processes, it takes a lot of time to develop the processes from a development point. When a process is complex, it depends on the end users or developers on how to break the requirement into small pieces. Suppose you do not break it into small pieces and create a single push out of it. In that case, it will become a lengthy code inside UiPath Studio, making maintaining and monitoring that code difficult inside UiPath Studio. Locating the error or actual information would also take more work, so UiPath could be challenging to use in complex process automation.

Pricing for UiPath also needs improvement as it becomes expensive in large-scale implementations.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started working with UiPath in 2018, so from that time, it's been five years of working with the platform.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

UiPath is a stable tool.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

UiPath is a scalable tool.

How are customer service and support?

I found UiPath Support good.

UiPath consultants provide good support and are readily available via email.

It takes about ten to twelve hours to receive a response from UiPath Support.

I'd rate support as eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

My company used Blue Prism before UiPath. I work for a service-based company, with clients choosing the tools based on priorities. UiPath was cheaper than Blue Prism, but when you use it for a large-scale RPA implementation where you deploy hundreds of robots, UiPath becomes more expensive than Blue Prism. However, development on UiPath was significantly faster and more reliable compared to Blue Prism. UiPath also has a larger community offering support versus Blue Prism and even has free training on UiPath Academy. UiPath also offered a free trial, which Blue Prism didn't offer. These are the reasons for switching to UiPath.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up the UiPath infrastructure was a little tricky, but the deployment was much easier. It usually takes one month to complete the deployment if the process is simple, but it could take up to three months for a complex process. Compared to other tools, the deployment and development of UiPath was faster.

What was our ROI?

In terms of manual efforts, realizing the benefits of UiPath was immediate, but for the financial benefits or ROI, it took some time, as the solution has a huge cost. It required you to purchase the UiPath Studio, Robot, and Architectural licenses. You also have to pay for the development costs, so the monetary benefits took time to reflect in the cash flow.

My company did notice between sixty to seventy percent ROI from UiPath, which was calculated around the number of FTEs, mainly how many FTEs were released from a specific task. For example, there was a big project with sixteen FTEs released from a repetitive task.

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

When there's a massive deployment of robots, pricing for UiPath becomes costly, as you must purchase different licenses for UiPath Studio, Orchestrator, etc. I noticed that it would solely depend on how service-based companies negotiate with UiPath and that each client could have a pricing disparity. A client with a more significant implementation could get more discount, pricing-wise.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I had the chance to work with Blue Prism and Power Automate.

What other advice do I have?

UiPath does not require extensive or complex application upgrades and support, at least not for every application. Sometimes, support is needed depending on the project or application, but the chance of it would be very slim.

UiPath was deployed on-premises. In terms of environments or locations, the solution was deployed in three different environments: in the Studio, Orchestrator, and Testing.

The number of users of the solution varies per project, but the maximum number of users I've worked with on a single project is about thirteen or fourteen.

My company has worked with small, medium, and large enterprises using UiPath.

The solution doesn't require maintenance. It just requires license renewal.

My rating for UiPath is seven out of ten. I'd make it a ten if UiPath improves the appearance of the Studio. Its debugging process could also be improved, as it's currently complex. It could be easier.

My company is a UiPath partner.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
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
Surya Avantsa - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder and CTO at SSV AI, LLC
Reseller
Top 10
Enables faster process automation, reduces human error, and improves the quality of work
Pros and Cons
  • "Robotic process automation is one of the most interesting features."
  • "The product does not provide features for chatbot development."

What is our primary use case?

Unattended Automations are the best value from an RPA solution to an organization. It makes sure human employees are now more productive 95X.

What is most valuable?

Robotic process automation is one of the most interesting features. RPA allows us to automate what people do manually. It appeals to me from a technical and a business standpoint.

What needs improvement?

I want UiPath Data Service to be expanded. It must include many more features as an online database. Many online databases like QuickBase and Force.com are 100 times better than UiPath Data Service. Not sure why UiPath is not adding such features to Data Service.

The product does not provide features for chatbot development. It is one of the reasons why people do not use UiPath because they have to use a different tool for chatbot development. Competitors like Microsoft have all process automation capabilities in their Power Platform. They have RPA, attended bots, unattended bots, application development, databases, and chatbots. UiPath has not gotten into chatbots for several years. They are doing many things except chatbots.

I express the need for chatbots in every insider event I attend. UiPath’s team says it will take it to the product management group. But nothing happens after that. I want a product for chatbot development from UiPath without having to purchase licenses from a third-party company.

The documentation needs a lot of work. The documentation is "boring". They just mention a feature and add one line about what it does. I wish the documentation had examples. The document should be associated with a video or sample code. The documentation is too minimal. People give many sample codes and links to their YouTube videos in the forum. The uipath forum is much richer than the documentation.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for the last six years.

How are customer service and support?

UiPath provides support only when we have an Enterprise license. I have contacted support several times.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I use Microsoft Power Automate to develop chatbots because UiPath does not have such features. I have to buy extra licenses from Microsoft for chatbot development.

Although I can use UiPath Data Service's online database, creating forms and screens in it is hard. UiPath doesn't have some preliminary computation features for creating formula fields, so I use third-party tools like QuickBase.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I also evaluated Automation Anywhere, Microsoft Power Platform, and Pega Robotics.

What other advice do I have?

The ease of building automation depends on the developer, the size of the process that is being automated, how many applications there are, and how many systems there are. Compared to high-code environments, we can build the product much faster in a low-code environment.

Automation can be done ten times faster in a low-code environment than in a high-code environment due to the number of syntax errors that we have to encounter in a high-code environment. All these things are completely eliminated in a low-code environment. We drag and drop activities. It's like a prebuilt code. We just have to fill in the gaps. On average, the tool is five to ten times faster than other RPA platforms.

UiPath does not do digital transformation. It works more on process automation. However, it does contribute toward digital transformation. From the face of it, everything looks end-to-end. I have used AI Center to learn machine learning skills and build training datasets and evaluation datasets. I have developed ML skills and used them in bots. UiPath Academy has a whole set of courses on AI Center. I want to complete the courses diligently.

The solution has reduced human error and increased the speed and quality of our work. It reduces the time taken to get things done. I use UiPath Academy courses all the time. If we go to similar content on YouTube or Instagram and try to find videos, the information might be right or wrong. It depends on the experience of the person in the videos. The content in UiPath Academy is official. UiPath creates the videos. We can be assured that the information is correct and reliable.

There could be a lag between the product released and the videos on Academy. Sometimes, video creators on unofficial channels like YouTube and Instagram come out with videos faster than UiPath. However, UiPath's videos are complete, authentic, and reliable. I assume UiPath uses professional training software in the platform. The format of the courses is similar to those of The Wharton School.

The community is excellent. People help each other out. UiPath encourages users by welcoming new joiners, incentivizing answering questions, providing links to external or internal documentation, and celebrating anniversaries. The solution has a wide variety of topics that the forum members can take advantage of.

We can learn about Studio, different parts of the platform, and different functionalities. If we have a question, Google will show all the relevant links to UiPath with just a single word search. We usually find a good answer to our doubts in the forum eight out of ten times. I like the forum and encourage people to use it.

People looking to buy the solution must try it out. They must look into the documentation if they cannot do it with the tool. They must also visit UiPath's forum. The forum is more helpful than the documentation. UiPath also has a search facility to search for activities. They can also look for UiPath Marketplace. If we face bugs, we can go to the forum.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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: Reseller
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reviewer2265945 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior RPA Consultant at a media company with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
Easier to set up than other tools, provides flexibility, and reduces the overall turnaround time for repetitive tasks
Pros and Cons
  • "What I found most valuable in UiPath is that it's easier to set up than other tools. It also helps reduce human error and is a scalable solution."
  • "Governing components in the solution, such as the Orchestrator, and configuring the robots should be easier. The vendor should also come up with more offerings or features involving AI."

What is our primary use case?

Currently, I'm working with the regular UiPath, but in the past, I've worked with UiPath for healthcare use cases.

My use cases for UiPath vary. I've worked with the banking, renewable energy, marketing, and publishing domains. The most recent use case was for data entry, where my company used SAP applications to create orders for the vendor.

My company also uses UiPath to automate processes that deal with courses, such as environmental, employee diversity, sustainable production, etc.

UiPath is set up in my current organization. My organization takes advantage of the vendor's offer for end users to build smaller automation, which is another use case of UiPath.

How has it helped my organization?

Automation through UiPath has improved the quality of work in my organization. Using UiPath helped reduce the overall turnaround time for repetitive tasks. Each staff member can devote time to new tasks or other tasks rather than spending so much time on repetitive tasks.

Implementing end-to-end automation through the solution is essential to the organization because it's cost-effective and time-saving. It also helps boost employee productivity because employees now have the time to learn new things, such as the trends in the market, rather than doing many repetitive tasks that give little value. All these make UiPath beneficial to my organization.

What is most valuable?

What I found most valuable in UiPath is that it's easier to set up than other tools. UiPath, as a vendor, also provides flexibility, which most companies find attractive in the solution.

I would rate the ease of building automation using UiPath as seven out of ten. The gap in my rating would be eventually filled as my company starts using more AI-based solutions. Overall, building automation is relatively easy in the solution.

UiPath enabled my company to implement end-to-end automation. You cannot automate all jobs or tasks, but the solution does at some level, so I like that it provides further flexibility to automate end-to-end.

As for the UiPath user community and its value to users, that community is vast and provides a lot of learning. Users reach out to the community for any questions or doubts about full development, for example, or anything you want to learn in UiPath. The community also has a morale booster for users through the yearly Community MVP.

UiPath helps minimize our on-premises footprint, though it doesn't matter much to me.

I've taken UiPath Academy courses, and I found UiPath Academy beneficial. Back in 2018, when I just started learning from the UiPath Academy, it gave me everything I needed to start using the solution. Later on, I learned advanced development and, just recently, solution architecture, from which I received a certificate. UiPath Academy also gives me information on the latest updates and trends coming from the vendor.

I'm also working with the AI functionality for automation via UiPath, which affects the ability to automate complex processes. Suppose we have a document, in particular, handwritten. In the traditional way of automation, my bot can't read or understand what's written on that piece of paper. Still, with UiPath, you can select any of these features: Document Understanding, Breakpoints, or Automation. The solution's features give my company flexibility and help extend its reach. Previously, my company thought the use cases weren't feasible because my bot couldn't read or understand handwritten text or characters. Still, with UiPath, it is possible to make life easier, especially with the new advances. 

As for the solution's AI functionality enabling the company to automate more processes, my team has not used UiPath in many use cases that require AI, but in the future, when more cases come up, my company will be able to use UiPath more, and it will be beneficial.

I also like that the solution speeds up digital transformation and reduces the cost of the digital transformation. It also doesn't require expensive or complex application upgrades and IT application support. To elaborate further, suppose I'm automating something. I know the application will be upgraded in the next six months; I won't be automating that through my tool because I know it'll be automatically upgraded in six months. I just need to record my use case involving the website or whichever application.

I also found that UiPath helps reduce human error. A human can make mistakes, but your machine won't if you teach it correctly or give it the instruction properly. If you properly provide your machine with data, it won't make a mistake.

UiPath also helps the organization save money overall.

What needs improvement?

I'd say UiPath is on the right track now, but I feel some aspects should improve a bit, and the vendor could be working on the aspects in my head right now. Governing components in the solution, such as the Orchestrator, and configuring the robots should be easier. I also feel that the vendor should come up with more offerings or features involving AI.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with UiPath for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I didn't experience stability issues with UiPath in my current company, but I did in my previous company, where UiPath was down for some time. 

On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest in stability, I'm giving UiPath an eight.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

UiPath is a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

My company purchased a plan where the vendor provides some support throughout the year on whatever UiPath issues the company faces. Getting support is easy, and the team is quite helpful.

I'd rate support an eight out of ten. It's not a perfect ten because the overall turnaround time to solve issues could be improved.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I've worked with other RPA solutions, such as Pega, Power Automate, and Blue Prism, before working with UiPath.

Pega is a legacy solution, so I'm setting it aside. UiPath is far better than Blue Prism. On the other hand, Power Automate is the real competitor of UiPath because it has similar functionalities with the new web apps in UiPath, but UiPath is more lightweight and requires less coding.

How was the initial setup?

I found UiPath simple to set up. The process was very straightforward. As long as I have complete resources and information, I can get it ready in about two hours.

What about the implementation team?

My company implemented UiPath via our in-house team.

What was our ROI?

I've seen some ROI from UiPath.

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

UiPath has a very costly AI automation license compared to Power Automate. After discounts, it costs around fifteen thousand euros, while Power Automate gives you the same features for only a thousand euros, so there's a huge difference in the licensing costs. Pricing for UiPath isn't very competitive.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a solution architect who does UiPath consultancy.

UiPath is currently deployed on-premises and on the cloud, so it is a hybrid environment.

One admin is enough to deploy the solution, provided the developer and the responsible teams provide the admin with all the resources. UiPath can be deployed through a single resource only.

The solution only requires a little maintenance to keep it up and running. A more significant challenge only occurs if you have to migrate from one version to another; otherwise, maintaining UiPath is very straightforward.

In my company, UiPath is deployed across the globe in multiple countries.

I'd advise others looking into implementing UiPath that it is the best tool to automate repetitive tasks. Whether to use UiPath on the cloud or on-premises depends on your environment. For just a few use cases that you want to automate, go cloud-based, but if you have more than ten use cases, I suggest you go on-prem.

I'd rate UiPath an eight out of ten as a solution.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
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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