I've used it to automate different types of processes. My first project was to automate PDF documents. The process was a bit lengthy for the client. The client actually used to enter the information into the PDF templates and get them submitted to the government websites. And once they submitted their documents, the government released grant payments or other stuff. Previously, they hired people to do the data entry. However, it was taking too long, and some crazy errors. They had to have a pretty formatted, clean Excel sheet.
With UiPath, the bot would choose the data, get the data from there, and then put it into PDF files, save them with the sort of renaming schemes, and then upload them to the drive and then to the portal. That's the first use case I got. I built up workflows in it and automated the whole process.
I keep exploring it and now have other use cases coming in as well. There are more than 150 or 200 use cases for different types of projects.
The process management is great.
The orchestrator is helpful. And they have something called live monitoring. If you have an unattended bot set up on someone's system or in a virtual private server, when the bot gets executed, you can actually monitor it in the live stream. You can open up the live stream, keep checking it, and look at the automation, and how the board progresses, and you can take control of the live stream in between as well if you want to.
The ease of building automation is relatively very good. Most of the programmers and developers get hectic while writing scripts. However, they get bored. Now we can just create a sequence of processes. That way, we can train some colleagues, and it's pretty easy.
I've used the solution for a good cause, for a client trying to gather information from the Internet in Switzerland to reduce carbon emissions. They were trying to get a lot of information to raise awareness regarding emissions and businesses. I helped the organization implement a use case.
The product enables us to implement end-to-end automation. There are certain scenarios in cases where integration is required. It is important based on certain scenarios or use cases.
The user community is great. When I was starting out, I really got a lot of help from the forum. The community is very good. The most common questions are already being answered there, and everyone is engaged. The community is pretty strong. You can just post your question in theory and get a reply real quick.
The solution has helped to minimize our on-premises footprint. You can just get it all done on the cloud. They have recent updates coming in in which you don't need to install any tool on your system. You can just develop your workflow on the cloud as well.
It really helps non-technical people. I don't need to go through the hassle of installation. I just go to the cloud and start developing the basic workflow.
The UiPath Academy is good. I didn't have a chance to do a lot of the Academy yet. I have had one or two trainings for the implementation methodologies. That said, mostly I've learned through real-time projects or through my self-learning, plus the content we have on the Internet.
The AI functionality is used in our automation programs. It has documented understanding. It has built-in trained models that help understand the document. You simply go to the document, scan, install the package, and just train your invoices and the data you have with similar invoices. It helps you to identify the invoices and extract information from the structured data.
UiPath has helped speed up digital transformation and significantly reduced the cost of digital transformation.
It's helped reduce human error. Being able to have RPA enter information again and again really helps solve the problem of dealing with random errors.
UiPath frees up employee time for other stuff. It helps optimize time and make everything efficient. Whether it's attended or unattended mode, it really helps employees. We can save a lot of hours. The automation hub that they offer can upload all the stats. It will take a process and tell you how many hours you could save. The cost savings are directly proportional to the time savings.
I used to have some workflows that were a bit lengthy, and I just see that some of the time, they crash. It's unstable if the workflow is long. Sometimes you'll run an update, and it will make a workflow crash.
They could make it more user-friendly.
I've been using the solution for around four years.
The solution does crash sometimes.
In one instance, I was trying to read a file, and the file itself was a bit larger. It's hard to read a large number of files.
The scalability is good. I would rate it eight out of ten.
I haven't contacted technical support that often. I only reached out to get more information on a certain case.
I did not use any alternative previously. However, since using UiPath, I've also used Power Automate and Selenium. Selenium is not a direct competitor. However, I have used it a lot. Power Automate doesn't have the robust community or forums that UiPath has. That said, it costs less.
I'm an implementor. I deploy solutions for my clients.
The cloud implementation of UiPath is straightforward. If you are knowledgeable of the process and you're good in tech technology, you can handle it. If you are non-technical, then it could be a bit of a lengthy process to learn first and then go ahead and do it.
The deployment can be handled by a single person, depending on the use case. If it's more complex, you may need a team to deploy.
There is maintenance required. If there's a change to the website, process, platform, or data point then you have to go in and adjust.
The licensing cost is pretty expensive compared to competitors.
The community edition, however, is pretty good for developing automation. You can have one unattended product as well, which you can utilize.
A developer license may be around $420 or $450 a month, which is really expensive.
I'm a reseller.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
I would advise others, if they mean to use the product, to be specific and look at the cost structure. A small business will always need to be mindful of the cost structure. For a smaller business, the community version might be an option.
Overall, the orchestrator, the cloud management, and a lot of their features are great.