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it_user1180215 - PeerSpot reviewer
Advisory Council Member at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Reduces turnaround times. Exception and error handling could be much better.
Pros and Cons
  • "We saw a 70 percent decrease in manual steps. If something took 10 steps to do, we are doing it in three steps today."
  • "We would like a better coding interface for developers. We would also like to have a user interface which reduces the time to learn the product so more people in the organization can use software, like Automation Anywhere, quickly automating processes."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it in all departments: management, sales, human resources, IT, and customer service.

How has it helped my organization?

These are some of the benefits that we have seen using RPA:

  • We saw a 70 percent decrease in manual steps. If something took 10 steps to do, we are doing it in three steps today. 
  • We see 100 percent accuracy in whatever we do, which wasn't something we could expect from a human worker. 
  • We see a reduction in turnaround times. Something that used to take two hours to do, today takes 20 minutes to do. There is a 40 to 50 percent reduction in whatever is being automated in comparison with a human doing it. 

What is most valuable?

Three features that came up when we chose the product:

  1. The user interface.
  2. The Bot Store.
  3. IQ Bot, which other RPA don't have.

What needs improvement?

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

As an organization, we feel the exception and error handling could be way better.

We would like the software not to change as often. Architectures were radically reinvented without informing the customer. This wasn't something we appreciated. 

Some of the stuff being used internally in the product, like Elasticsearch or open source, did not pass vulnerability ability assessment. This is another issue. 

We hope Automation Anywhere takes internal component security seriously as we are looking forward to the Automation Anyway A2019 launch. We hope it addresses some of these issues with error handling as well as component security.

Buyer's Guide
Automation Anywhere
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Automation Anywhere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
847,625 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability works fine. 

One of the key features that we chose, the bot as a service or the BotFarm, when they launched version 11.3, they decided not to have the BotFarm anymore. This put us in a situation because we expected to have bots on demand, just like our cloud software. This would have been cost efficient for us to use. We hope to see this again being realized with A2019. I hope the scalability from an on demand basis improves.

How are customer service and support?

A lot of the technical support is done by my teams. I do not have great visibility. As far as what my team has told me, it was a tedious process before. They have relaunched the entire support portal. It seems to be a lot more user-friendly to log tickets and reach out to people there.

Their customer success team are a great bunch of folks who try to support and get things done for you.

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

I have personally used RPA before. It is just the buzzword now. 

At the time, we were looking at or looking at replacing our complex, legacy platform which had a lot of steps. Our multiple, previous software tools that had a lot of Python, Perl-based scripting, and Perl website scrapping plugins.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was extremely complex. Version 11.3 came with multi-forest Active Directory support and version 11.10 did not have that support. We had multi-forest Active Directory and it took us one month to resolve when we started implementing it. Again, this information wasn't communicated to us.

I hope going forward I see Automation Anywhere being faster, more transparent, and communicating more in advance than right now.

What about the implementation team?

We had a terrible experience with a local integrator. I don't think that they were ready for the integration/deployment process. We spoke to Automation Anywhere who has implemented more stringent partner qualification schemes to take care of this issues.

What was our ROI?

We have not seen ROI at the present moment.

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

Our costs are approximately between $5,000 to $10,000 per license.

They have a ridiculously expensive bot licensing structure, especially for the Asian region.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Currently, we use Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, and UiPath in my organization.

What other advice do I have?

Start small. Conduct proof of concepts, then choose a process with a quick return on investment.

There are product issues. They have a reckless product roadmap. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
ETL Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Extracting unstructured data through IQ Bot is a game changer
Pros and Cons
  • "Automation Anywhere has a Bot Store. E.g., you can download the bot from the Bot Store and utilize it's data extraction capabilities. You can extract unstructured data through IQ Bot. Getting unstructured data is not difficult. I once obtained an 84 page PDF file using an IQ Bot. This was just the trial version, and it was really good. I was able to get all the circuit IDs and properties that wanted in a simple CSV format. I had not seen anything like this before. When compared to other platforms, such as UiPath, they don't have these capabilities right now. They have activities like PDF extraction, but that's not good enough."
  • "I would like more cognitive abilities, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. E.g., if I see you, your facial recognition has to be there. If I send your picture, it should tell me your name, where you are from, and when I met you because we forget people. It should have these type of capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is data extraction: How to extract the data and run the components alongside it.

I have been using version 11 Community Edition, which is good. After coming to Bangalore and this morning session, they showed an example of A2019, which is the latest version. That is a game changer. What we did not have in the previous version has included in this version. I had a little preview of all the changes, and I'm pretty impressed by it.

What is most valuable?

Automation Anywhere has a Bot Store. E.g., you can download the bot from the Bot Store and utilize it's data extraction capabilities. You can extract unstructured data through IQ Bot. Getting unstructured data is not difficult. I once obtained an 84 page PDF file using an IQ Bot. This was just the trial version, and it was really good. I was able to get all the circuit IDs and properties that wanted in a simple CSV format. I had not seen anything like this before. When compared to other platforms, such as UiPath, they don't have these capabilities right now. They have activities like PDF extraction, but that's not good enough. That is a reason I'm referring Automation Anywhere as a game changer.

What needs improvement?

I would like more cognitive abilities, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. E.g., if I see you, your facial recognition has to be there. If I send your picture, it should tell me your name, where you are from, and when I met you because we forget people. It should have these type of capabilities. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is a key factor. It is pretty stable. After they launch the cloud version, whether you are in my country or I'm in your country, it won't matter. You can access it anywhere. You won't need a version to download or install. 

Right now, I have it on my laptop, but when it is on the cloud, it will be more stable. Anybody will be able to access it. That's the beauty of it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is pretty impressive. You can scale it from one computer to hundreds of computers. You don't even need Citrix. Once it is on the cloud, you can access it from anywhere. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Automation Anywhere technical support is pretty good. I would rate them as an eight out of 10. I'm giving them an eight out of 10 because this community is still developing right now. I will not say it's fully developed. We are in a market where other contenders are also there. It is a very neck and neck competition between UiPath, Blue Prism. and Automation Anywhere. Between them, somebody is good at some things, and somebody is good at others. That is why I cannot give the support a 10 out of 10. However, because of this product's features, I would rate Automation Anywhere as a 10 out of 10.

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

My sales team did the decision-making. We are in negotiations for some other clients, as well.

What was our ROI?

Our previous programs have run successfully with it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I've used UiPath as a developer. Now, I'm using Automation Anywhere as well. When I compare both, the biggest point is cognitive abilities. The IQ Bot is the best in class. You won't find that even in UiPath. 

What other advice do I have?

All the available versions of competing automation tools are available, UiPath or Automation Anywhere. Download them and think about it, then decide for yourself. 

Cost cutting is the primary reason to look at getting an RPA solution. Humans are not intended to do just manual work. If I give that manual work of 14 minutes, 30 minutes. or one hour to some bot, and it can do the work without any problems. That time is now yours, and you can do something else. You can build relationships, you can have a friendship with somebody, or you can do something nice. This is what we humans were intended to do.

I'm certified in a UiPath, and now I'm going to gain my certification in Automation Anywhere.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Automation Anywhere
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Automation Anywhere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
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ProcessAb41f - PeerSpot reviewer
Process Architect at a media company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
It returns hours, time, and money back to the business
Pros and Cons
  • "From a developer perspective, the user interface is user-friendly and easy to use."
  • "At the most granular level, automating people's daily tasks has been helpful by freeing them up to do higher value-add activities, which is definitely beneficial."
  • "Anything that can be done to increase the stability from a system standpoint in regards to large-scale systems, which are being used by a number of applications, e.g., Salesforce or Workday."

What is our primary use case?

I have worked for two companies in the past who have used Automation Anywhere. Both primary use cases have fallen under finance and accounting, with a lot of finance and accounting based functions primarily for data processing: 

  • Extracting data from different systems.
  • Aggregating data.
  • Doing analysis on data.
  • Porting data into other systems.
  • Doing accounting based functions, such as reconciliations and transaction uploads.

How has it helped my organization?

  • At the most granular level, automating people's daily tasks has been helpful by freeing them up to do higher value-add activities, which is definitely beneficial. 
  • On a larger scale, the tool is improving processes overall by making systems and processes more stable. It returns hours, time, and money back to the business.

What is most valuable?

  • From a developer perspective, the user interface is user-friendly and easy to use. 
  • From the admin side, the Control Room is simple to use. There is a lot of functionality with a lot of analytics and oversight that you can draw from just simple web pages. It is definitely the most useful.

What needs improvement?

Integrating this solution with other application has been good for the most part. A lot of the issues that I have are related to the actual applications than with Automation Anywhere. Any additional functionality which comes out in regards to integrating it better with more widely used applications, like Salesforce, Oracle, or Workday, is definitely beneficial and helpful at the end of the day.

I have been hearing great stuff in terms of upping the product's cognitive game. Anything that can be done to work with unstructured data sets would be helpful, like increasing the subjectivity of bots, and moving away from solely rules based processes to anything which actually requires subjective judgment. If Automation Anywhere could code that into the bot design and framework, having it sort of act like a human, that would be helpful. 

Anything that can be done to increase the stability from a system standpoint in regards to large-scale systems, which are being used by a number of applications, e.g., Salesforce or Workday. This would help us, as well.

Automation Anywhere should work to continue maintaining its ease of use.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

My current and previous companies have had stability issues. 

I started on version 11 of Automation Anywhere, then when I joined a new company, they used version 10. Therefore, I have seen both versions. With version 11, some of the development stuff was a bit clunky in terms of the tasks that we were performing. They didn't perform as expected, or perform properly, when we were developing the bot. Then, once we deployed it into production, the bot would run for a specific process and work properly about 10 times, but on the eleventh time, it would break. It was always random. Nothing had changed at all, in regards to our system, architecture, or infrastructure.

On version 10, things had been a bit more stable. We made sure that we build code which effectively captures all use cases and exceptions, but stability is key. When you're building automated solutions using bots, people are already skeptical and hesitant to adopt them. Anything you can do to improve the stability is definitely helpful. Ultimately, it depends on what your goal with RPA is. If you're using RPA as a stop-gap to build large-scale system integrations, then it's very helpful. If you're using it as a be all, end all, then stability is your number one concern. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is definitely scalable. A lot of it will depend solely on the architecture of the organization who is implementing it. If you are using on-premise servers, it is much harder to scale up versus if you are using cloud-based architecture. Automation Anywhere provides the tools and expertise to make it scalable.

At the previous company that I was with, we had a pilot in September 2017 with approximately 20 bots. Then, in production, it took nine to ten months. With the organization that I'm currently with their process took a little longer, but they were standing up their COE initially. So, they went from pilot to about 30 bots in production. This took roughly a year and a half to two years. 

With regards to process, there is a lot involved. If you want to have a successful RPA and Automation Anywhere implementation at the ground level, you need to lay the foundation and the framework. Therefore, you need to build your center of excellence, and make sure you have dedicated people who will focus on whatever their role is: People related to support, governance, development, architecture, oversight (who will work with your security teams to get your reviews done), and IT personnel (who will provision servers and licenses and do Control Room administration). There is a lot involved to take it from inception to a successful program. 

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support has been helpful from what I've used. Initially, when we were exploring solutions and using Automation Anywhere, as a vendor, their technical support seemed to be lacking a bit. It seems like in the last few months or year, they have been stepping up their game, in this regard. They are very prompt to follow up with issues and want to make sure issues are thoroughly resolved before they close tickets and move on, which has been helpful.

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

At both companies, we never used a different solution before Automation Anywhere. 

We had individuals working at the companies who spent years going to school, but could not necessarily download reports nor input data into spreadsheets, and this was something that could be easily automated. We wanted to free up users and people to perform higher value-add activities, exercising analytical and critical thinking, as opposed to being cogs in the machine.

How was the initial setup?

Certain aspects of the initial setup were complex, but that's a given when you're talking about technical architecture and getting the infrastructure you need in place for a successful rollout. Though, some aspects of the initial setup were simpler. 

The simpler aspects are designating roles for people based on what it is they want to provide to the center of excellence for RPA and how they see their fit in the organization. The more complex piece of it is working with all the stakeholders, internally and externally, to get all the infrastructure in place that you need in order to develop, deploy, test, and run bots in production. 

What about the implementation team?

For deployment, at the first company that I worked for, that was all in-house, as we were deploying our own bots. The architecture, development, and deployment were all in-house. 

At the company that I currently work for, we have a managed services company who does development for us, and we still handle deployments. It is more like a segregation of duties, where we handle the full deployment on the end once code is ready for production.

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI, otherwise we would have stopped using the product.

At a base level, for ROI, we equate a dollar value out to the process owner, or the business user, and multiply that out by the number of hours being saved. However, that is really base level. There are other factors involved that will help:

  • If you reduce the number of errors.
  • If it's related to month-end or quarter-end close for a business cycle. 
  • When automating a base level process, that saves time, but it doesn't always account for the additional time given back to the user to perform another higher value-added task, as well.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

On the shortlist were some of the largest players in the industry: Blue Prism, UiPath, and Automation Anywhere. This was in 2017, when I was involved with the PoC. We chose Automation Anywhere because of ease of use and overall functionality. I think the cost was also a big factor, but I don't have much insight into it.

People seem to be a bit skeptical about the cognitive document processing. I don't know if they see the power that IQ Bot provides relative to other world leading software products, such as ABBYY, which is another big OCR technology that I have used. If Automation Anywhere is stepping up its game in the cognitive aspect, this will help guide adoption in the future.

What other advice do I have?

Consider all relevant factors before making a decision on a provider. Don't just randomly decide to choose one provider over another. At the end of the day, it comes down to what you are trying to achieve by implementing an RPA solution, what you're looking for in an RPA service provider, and who is willing to best address that and meet the needs of what it is you're hoping to achieve. You should consider RPA as a solution, and there are a whole host of other automation software solutions across the spectrum, as well, which are relevant for different things, but RPA has its place in any organization. Just know exactly what it is you are hoping to achieve. Based on that, you'll be able to find the best provider for you.

For developers, it's relatively easy to use. I know some developers are hesitant to use it because they come from traditional technical backgrounds. The product is counter-intuitive to everything that they have studied. If they studied computer science, they're really reticent towards something that can just automate what they learned. For someone with a nontechnical background, it's relatively easy to use and easy to build tests out. It takes a bit of effort to master and build sustainable solutions, but it is easy to use from a development perspective.

I have not been able to take courses in Automation Anywhere University for the new platform. I started using Automation Anywhere back in 2017, and the Automation Anywhere University wasn't available. There was another platform, at that time. We did the online training center for it, and it had eight different sections. Back then, it was a little clunky. You had to go through one section and complete it before moving on another. From what I've heard about Automation Anywhere University, it's much better and more functional. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, since I haven't really needed to use it. However, I do plan on exploring it in the future.

I don't use Citrix automation.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2536941 - PeerSpot reviewer
Digital Transformation Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides good operations efficiency and speed, but many finance applications do not support it
Pros and Cons
  • "The benefit of using Automation Anywhere is the efficiency of operations and speed."
  • "There should be a way to avoid recoding everything whenever there's an upgrade to the latest version."

What is our primary use case?

We use Automation Anywhere for all R2R processes, including reconciliations, journal entries, and fixed assets. Our systems are set up in a way that requires a lot of manual processes. We redesigned the processes so that we could move to some rule-based ways of working. Then, wherever we could make it rule-based, we implemented RPA.

What is most valuable?

The benefit of using Automation Anywhere is the efficiency of operations and speed. Humans cannot work 24/7 on a task, but a machine can work continuously on it. The solution saved us a lot of time on various processes. We needed fewer people to work on those processes, which resulted in cost savings. For every one bot, we were able to save the effort of one and a half STE.

What needs improvement?

There should be a way to avoid recoding everything whenever there's an upgrade to the latest version. A lot of finance applications do not support Automation Anywhere. Many ERPs and finance tools do not talk to Automation Anywhere directly. If there are any updates or changes on the UI, you have to recode everything, which used to be a big concern area.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Automation Anywhere for seven to eight years.

How was the initial setup?

We faced challenges while implementing the solution because we were probably among the first to do it in the R2R space. However, we were able to work through and overcome those challenges.

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment with Automation Anywhere.

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

The solution's pricing is pretty decent. We get good rates since we work with platinum partners.

What other advice do I have?

We have a development team, and our business users do not do the coding. I think it depends on how simplified your design is. We try to make things quite dynamic. If there is a matrix behind the automation that defines the rules, then the business users will handle that matrix.

However, the technical team will handle the coding of how that will translate into an RPA automation. We focus on the design to ensure that it doesn't get stuck.

AI is definitely the future, but it depends on how well you can integrate it with your processes. From a financial perspective, it is still evolving. I don't think anybody has cracked the code for end-to-end automation using artificial intelligence. However, we are using AI in bits and pieces and intend to expand on that.

I don't think we have integrations because Automation Anywhere works more on the UI. Essentially, you'll create a bot ID, which is a mirror of a human user ID. Any access that that human has is replicated to that bot. You don't necessarily need to integrate Automation Anywhere with your systems. It just sits in your VDI, and then it works like any human user would work.

Upgrading the solution was a challenge because it required a whole project and some coding.

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

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Sunilkumar Venugopal - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of RPA Team at Olam International
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to learn, low-code, and good for creating automations
Pros and Cons
  • "It's very easy for business users to learn Automation Anywhere."
  • "Automation Anywhere should have more Excel-related functionality."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for doing automation inside of Citrix. It's for image-based automation.

What is most valuable?

It's very easy for business users to learn Automation Anywhere. You do not need to have technical skills in order to leverage the product. It is pretty easy to learn how to use it.

The learning curve in terms of making automations is low. It's a low-code platform. People are finding it very easy to learn how to do things. 

It might take six to eight weeks in order to train non-technical employees to use Automation Anywhere. 

It has been good for our financial management reporting. 

Using RPA bots and APIs is easy. It's easy to integrate.

Automation Anywhere has helped us increase automation consumption. We do a lot of financial reporting, even on SAP. We've done a lot of automations around ERP and our SAP database.

What needs improvement?

Automation Anywhere was difficult with certain applications with respect to Java platforms. For these, we'd likely use UiPath instead. Handling Java-based applications or browser-based applications could be better. 

Automation Anywhere should have more Excel-related functionality. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for four or five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is not at all stable. They should improve the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution scales enough. We haven't faced any scaling problems. 

How are customer service and support?

The product has a very good support team. We have not had any major challenges with them.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We also use UiPath.

How was the initial setup?

We migrated to a gateway situation. It was challenging as the architecture was different. We faced a lot of issues and it took time to migrate. There were a few functionalities that were not working and we needed to recreate the workflows. When we started, most of the ports were not working. The migration did not go as expected. Then, there was a new version of my initial VPN. It took more than a year to migrate.

The solution does require some maintenance. You do need to maintain the bots. 

What was our ROI?

We have witnessed an ROI while using Automation Anywhere. 

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

The pricing is still high. For every new feature, there is an additional charge.

What other advice do I have?

I'm an Automation Anywhere customer.

We have not yet started using Co-Pilot.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten. It's good for automating processes. 

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
Aishwarya  Khanna - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Helped our organization increase its automation consumption
Pros and Cons
  • "It's easy to use for business users. Everything is good. It's a nice product."
  • "The integration in UiPath is much better. Automation Anywhere's latest version has improved. It's fine but not as good as UiPath."

How has it helped my organization?

We could automate BPO processes, and people were shifted to other tasks because we could automate the manual tasks.

It has helped our organization increase its automation consumption. 

What is most valuable?

It's easy to use for business users. Everything is good. It's a nice product. 

What needs improvement?

The integration in UiPath is much better. Automation Anywhere's latest version has improved. It's fine but not as good as UiPath.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for two to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable, but it also depends on how the development is done.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. We have plans to increase the number of users in the future.

How are customer service and support?

Their support is good. They take a day to get back. It also depends on the severity. I'd rate them 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 haven't used any other solution. I am comfortable with Automation Anywhere. I know about Blue Prism and UiPath, but I haven't worked with them. UiPath also has many features. The new version of Automation Anywhere is similar to UiPath.

Every tool is good. Every tool has its advantages and disadvantages. There are benefits to using any automation tool, such as Automation Anywhere, UiPath, or Blue Prism. It depends on which tool you are the most comfortable with.

How was the initial setup?

It's very easy. They have changed it in the latest update. The latest update does not need any kind of preparation. There are just basic requirements of RAM that should be met. You just need to log in on the web browser, and it gets installed. It isn't an issue.

What about the implementation team?

It was deployed by our team because Automation Anywhere doesn't help for the latest version. It can be deployed by one person.

In terms of maintenance, you do require a support team because the bot sometimes stops. It isn't error-free. Sometimes, the site is down, so you need maintenance. You need a support team for it. Every RPA tool requires some support. The number of people required for maintenance depends on how many bots you have. If you've deployed 100 bots, you would need five to ten people. The maintenance time also depends on the issue.

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

Based on what I've heard, it's costly, but I don't know much about its pricing or licensing. I'm not a part of that.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend this solution to others. 

It's easy to use for business users and it's easy to learn. 

It's easy to learn for non-technical employees, but you should approach it with a logical mindset. Only then can you learn it. The tool is easy to use, but for applying rules and other aspects, you should address it logically.

It takes a while to realize its benefits because you need to train people. It takes four to five months to see the actual results.

Overall, I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

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
Head of Applications at Hays
Video Review
Real User
Can scale rapidly with a range of flexibility
Pros and Cons
  • "The ability for it to be able to be scaled rapidly. For us, it has certainly provided a range of flexibility that we hadn't appreciated before we started. This means that in times of high demand for processes to be completed, we're able to quickly scale up on demand. That gives us that additional flexibility without the need to potentially consider contingent labor increases. So, it's sort of a head count avoidance increase. So, that's proved very useful for us."
  • "One area where I think there's an opportunity to do things a lot better is in the analytics function. They do have a concept or product called Bot Insights. It hasn't worked for us. It isn't as plug and play as we were led to believe, which is unfortunate. I can absolutely understand the value, and the demonstrations that I've seen of Bot Insights are sensational. But, we just haven't been able to make it work. We've invested a lot of time and effort trying to make it work to no avail."

What is our primary use case?

For us, it was about driving process efficiencies. 

We have an awful lot of processes that need to be completed when we are placing candidates in roles to ensure that the engagement for both the candidate and the client is successful. So, that might include compliance activities, ensuring candidates get paid, and ensuring that work places are safe for people to turn up to so they can go home to their families safe at the end of the day.

How has it helped my organization?

There are instances where use cases and opportunities have arisen as a result of having Automation Anywhere and RPA in place that have come about through very casual conversations and have actually resulted in increased revenue opportunities that we didn't realize. Though, those have now proven to be very worthwhile and are something that we hadn't realized could contribute to us, which is making us very happy, obviously.

What is most valuable?

The ability for it to be able to be scaled rapidly. For us, it has certainly provided a range of flexibility that we hadn't appreciated before we started. This means that in times of high demand for processes to be completed, we're able to quickly scale up on demand. That gives us that additional flexibility without the need to potentially consider contingent labor increases. So, it's sort of a head count avoidance increase. So, that's proved very useful for us.

What needs improvement?

I sound like a promoter A2019 with the attended bots and some of the new features coming in with the partnership of Microsoft will be a game changer. We work predominantly within an Office 365 environment. I think there are some real opportunities there for us to do things differently.

One area where I think there's an opportunity to do things a lot better is in the analytics function. They do have a concept or product called Bot Insights. It hasn't worked for us. It isn't as plug and play as we were led to believe, which is unfortunate. I can absolutely understand the value, and the demonstrations that I've seen of Bot Insights are sensational. But, we just haven't been able to make it work. We've invested a lot of time and effort trying to make it work to no avail. So, for us, that's one side of it that has been a bit of a disappointment, but not enough to detract from the overall success story of using Automation Anywhere.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is one of the challenges with the platform. At the moment, we're going through a number of changes with their network and some of our infrastructure. That is impacting the way our platform is running and the stability of it. In the early days, we certainly had some difficulty making sure it was stable and that was impacting the productivity of the automation of the robot.

What makes me very happy is the announcement today of A2019, which is the web-based cloud offering, or basically RPA as a service. This will overcome a lot of the infrastructure challenges that we've been encountering. I am very excited about that because it'll enable us to really drive the benefits that we know RPA can provide.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technically, we may not get answers the first time but we do get answers eventually. The customer success managers, without them, I do wonder how quickly we might get some of the responses from the technical help desk. I can appreciate the reasons why it takes long. Everyone doesn't know everything, but the fact that we have a customer success manager who has been really critical, a key to our success, has been, and an invaluable resource in helping us drive and get those answers through the help desks.

Could it be improved? Always, yes. But with the customer success manager supporting us, it has been invaluable and certainly something that we can live with.

How was the initial setup?

It's certainly straightforward. For us, it was a bit of a test and learn approach. There are certainly guidelines published by Automation Anywhere for the recommended infrastructure. We found that they weren't completely applicable for us, and we've had to tinker with the infrastructures as we've got along. Without getting into the technicalities of it, the out-of-the-box approach that was suggested to us didn't suit our environment. So, we did need to be a bit more creative about how we did the deploy.

Again, this is why I'm excited for A2019 because I think that we will just overcome all those problems and it will allow us to really drive through and scale a lot quicker. Infrastructure is probably our biggest challenge at the moment.

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI factors. I'm not able to quantify them right now. With the number of our bots, we have been able to let go contingent workforce that has been brought into the organization to cover certain operational processing, simply because we needed to supplement that permanent workforce to do those roles.

We've now gotton to the point where we don't need to hire those people or employ those people anymore, so there's cost-saving driven there. Our bots are helping with some increased revenue opportunities by acting on signals from the market for both our clients and candidates. Cumulatively, I think within the first year, I'd be very surprised if we weren't closed to ROI, which is a great story to be able to tell.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There were a number of key reasons why we went with Automation Anywhere.

  1. I think when we started on Automation, and looking at RPA, we recognized that we didn't know anything. Like the first time, we saw a robot in action was when we had a demo from their sales director. So, in recognition of that, we wanted to make sure that we were going to be working with someone who was able to nurture the relationship, provide deep support to us, be highly flexible, and was patient.
  2. We were considering a direct engagement model versus a partner model. We wanted a direct engagement model. This was one of the key reasons why we went with Automation Anywhere because they offered that.
  3. The concept of the customer success manager was very appealing for reasons that I've mentioned earlier, but they would also support us in nurturing that relationship and helping us drive through our RPA journey.
  4. The Bot Store. I love that concept. We've used the Bot Store. It's helped us expedite delivery and achieve benefits. 
  5. The plugger, the drag and drop, and the scripting meant we could resource internally a lot quicker because you didn't need that deep level of coding understanding in order for our dev team to be productive as fast as possible. 

Those were some of the key reasons why we went with Automation Anywhere.

What other advice do I have?

I don't want to fan girl it too much, or even fan boy it. But, I'm a massive fan of AA. I've been in technical delivery for about 15 years. There are probably one of the best vendors I've worked with. I'm not giving them a 10 (out of 10) because then they have nowhere to go for improvement, but I certainly would put them as a seven and a half or eight (out of 10). I think the new evolution of the platform with things that I've already talked about will start to nudge it towards that nine (out of 10). They will still not get to a 10 because you know they need opportunities to improve. But, for me, they are a very good partner and a very good vendor to work with.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Vatsal Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Nine A Business Connect
Real User
Top 20
It's easy to scale bots and implementation is simple
Pros and Cons
  • "Manual efforts have been reduced and the accuracy has increased. In the processes I have done, the accuracy has reached 100 percent, and manual load and time has been reduced."
  • "More and more innovation is going on, and they'll have to keep adding features to keep up with the market. They have generative AI on their platform, but that's a new part. They are working on it. It's not 100 percent foolproof, but eventually it will get better. They need to work on their AI capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

We have automated PO processing, PO-to-order booking, and various website flows, such as ticket generation, timely uploads of files on the website, and report generation. We have also automated report delivery to all end-users.

How has it helped my organization?

Manual efforts have been reduced and the accuracy has increased. In the processes I have done, the accuracy has reached 100 percent, and manual load and time has been reduced.

What is most valuable?

Object cloning and Excel operations are what we use most.

The ability of Automation Anywhere to provide automation at scale, on a scale of one to 10, is a nine. Integration of its RPA bots using APIs is an eight out of 10.

What needs improvement?

More and more innovation is going on, and they'll have to keep adding features to keep up with the market. They have generative AI on their platform, but that's a new part. They are working on it. It's not 100 percent foolproof, but eventually it will get better. They need to work on their AI capabilities.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Automation Anywhere for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The new version is stable now. When we first started, the platform was not stable, but it became stable when we shifted to A360.

How are customer service and support?

If we are stuck anywhere, their technical team is always available. We have raised one or two issues with them and they were able to help us out and turn them around.

We haven't required them very much, but they are available if we need them.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I've worked with Microsoft Power Automate, but at a very basic level.

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment is easy. The documentation is clear. Implementing A360 on-premises, a complete end-to-end installation, takes four hours. We just need the server team for administrator passwords.

I had already tested and tried it on a development server, so I had all the steps written that I had to follow for deployment to production. It didn't take much time. I read the installation guidelines and documentation from Automation Anywhere and it was easy for me to do it.

We have about 25 end-users of the solution in our organization, and three of us take care of maintenance. In terms of bot maintenance, not much time is spent unless and until there's a change in the process or the environment.

For business users who do not have technical skills, it is easy to use the product. They understand what is possible with the tool over time. Within a year, they understood what needed to be automated and what not. Training non-technical employees on Automation Anywhere usage takes three to six months.

What about the implementation team?

I did it myself.

What was our ROI?

It's an ongoing process. I have done more than 400 processes for our client over a four-year period. The time a process takes to automate depends on the complexity of the process. Within three or four weeks, a process is generally completely done, from development to production.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We tried UiPath at the time, but Automation Anywhere was more promising. It was easy to scale the bots in Automation Anywhere, and the implementation using Automation Anywhere was simpler compared to UiPath. However, I've heard from people working with UiPath that it's faster compared to Automation Anywhere. The execution time for Automation Anywhere might be 10 seconds, whereas with UiPath it might take six seconds.

What other advice do I have?

If someone is considering an API integration instead of an RPA solution, that means the API has to be available. Using Automation Anywhere, you can automate any process completely, end-to-end. It doesn't need an API. We can automate front-end, Excel, Word—anything. That is more helpful compared to an API integration.

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
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Automation Anywhere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Automation Anywhere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.