Automation Anywhere Reviews

Jersey STEM is an all-volunteer organization, which means that we have interns doing development using donated systems. The beauty of donated systems is they're free. The challenge of donated systems is that there's a lot of data that isn't correlated, and the systems don't talk to each other, so we use RPA to establish some communication between the systems and gather data into a central coherent location.

Automation Anywhere has helped our organization by giving us a relatively easy way to gather all the data we need. We have data from HR, volunteer-matching systems, and grants systems. Automation Anywhere has enabled us to automate data gathering and posting that data into usable forms.

Before implementing Automation Anywhere, we processed these tasks manually by getting data from websites, putting them into spreadsheets, and going from spreadsheets to databases. Attempts to automate that using other tools were pretty onerous. 

Automation Anywhere enables us to simplify the process and see results much faster. Previously, it would take six to eight weeks to get results. With Automation Anywhere, we're getting results in two to four weeks, which makes the business happy. When I say business, I must remind you that these are all volunteers with little time on their hands. They're doing this with full-time jobs. Our goal is to make their lives easier with Automation Anywhere.

Jersey STEM primarily uses Google, so we use tools like Google Sheets and Google Docs. The automations all have to do with the Google ecosystem. Additionally, we must integrate with all donated systems, including HR, volunteer-matching, and grant systems that are donated to us. Jersey STEM is building the data warehouse as we gather all that data.

In a volunteer organization, employee capacity and compliance are not the primary metrics. Because we have an all-volunteer crew, we don't have them eight hours a day. We only have them for a couple of hours a day. We want to do anything we can to better utilize those two hours a day so that they're not spending them moving data around in spreadsheets. 

I have some metrics at the top of my head, but they're a little abstract. Accomplishing what we've done so far with the bots in production would take 40,000. It's not a direct correlation of full-time employees because that's all work that would not have gotten done because they don't have time for that kind of nitty-gritty work. 

Automation Anywhere has saved us a lot of time but not so much cost because everything is donated. If you have volunteers and they're giving you two hours a day, it is better to spend time on intellectual work rather than repetitive mundane work. That's the big bang that Automation Anywhere gives us.

Automation Anywhere's ease of use is the most valuable feature. We have interns doing RPA development, and it takes them about four weeks to get advanced-level certification. And within four weeks, they're productive. It's user and developer-friendly, robust, and scalable. We started in March with four bots in production. We have four more bots about to go online, which is pretty quick in the RPA world.

At Jersey STEM, we haven't put Automation Anywhere directly in front of business users. We don't have citizen developers because most processes we tackle are back-office automations. In the fullness of time, we will put citizen developers to work. I'm confident they will pick it up fast because Automation Anywhere does a great job of simplifying the process of building automations.

The learning curve for Automation Anywhere is quite simple. I had four interns do some basic training online. We did a three-day course with them to get them the advanced training, and they were productive within four weeks. They are in the process of building more bots. At this stage, we may be in danger of having them run out of work because they're working so fast.

Integration is the primary reason that Automation Anywhere process-building is so simple. All the building blocks are handed to us. It removes the guesswork of what has to be connected to where. We can pay more attention to the logic of the process rather than the mechanics and infrastructure of the process.

The only thing I would advocate for is making Automation Anywhere's developer environment Mac-enabled because many of our graduate students are coming out of school with Macs. Everything else in the Automation Anywhere world is built for Windows.

We've only been using Automation Anywhere at Jersey STEM since March of this year.

Automation Anywhere has been rock solid for us. We have had no issues.

We have yet to find out the limits of Automation Anywhere's scalability because we're only starting. We have a control room with one attended bot runner. I can imagine that within the next year or two, we'll need to scale up. Given the way Automation Anywhere is architected, I am confident that scaling up won't be a problem. 

Deploying Automation Anywhere was relatively seamless. I've been using Automation Anywhere since version 10 and was a solution architect for version 10 and version 11. An on-prem deployment requires a computer science degree to understand because there are so many factors involved. With a cloud deployment, everything was done for me. The only thing I had to do was provisioning and configuration. It made life a lot easier. I could complete it on my own in about two weeks.

It's too early, but the ROI will not be measured in dollars and cents. It will be measured in our ability to get data faster. For example, if we have a base of volunteers waiting to connect with us, we can connect with them much faster. If there are grants to be had, we can get to those grants a lot faster. 

The difference between a volunteer organization and a typical business organization is that our funding has to come from outside. We have to find it. Help comes from outside. We have to find it. The return on investment is getting there quicker.

We purchase Automation Anywhere through a service partner that's also helping us with those costs.

I rate Automation Anywhere nine out of 10. It's a solid nine and a half because I don't give out tens. 

The Imagine event has been highly informative and useful for me. It's informative because I'm learning all about the generative AI coming down. That's been the focus. It's useful in that I've made lots of connections this year. When folks find out about Jersey STEM's goal, they're interested in volunteering. I have a whole bunch of new people to talk to who will help us with our future endeavors.

The Imagine experience is a full-on fire hose of automation, but it's a lot of fun. All the presentations have been geared to keep people's attention and to be entertaining. It's a brave new world, and there's a wow factor here.

I would invite folks in my field and other volunteers. It would be self-serving because our volunteers would make more connections, get more people to help, and also learn about the possibilities of where we could take Jersey STEM from a data infrastructure perspective.

Through Automation Anywhere RPA, we have been able to save thousands of hours of AP invoice processing each year.

Automation Anywhere RPA has enabled a lot of our employees to have their valuable time freed up to do other things, ranging from the Treasury department, the Revenue department, General and Cost Accounting. We had lots of manual processes, no automation whatsoever, and the automations are able to automate those things, such as document processing, PDFs, and ERP system navigation, enabling our employees to focus on other things that require more critical thinking and decision making.

As far as what could be improved with Automation Anywhere, I think they have a really wonderful product. There have been things in the past that I have asked them to improve or submitted a ticket to them to improve, and I've seen results from that. 

They have implemented something that makes the product better. 

If there was anything that I would ask for improvement on, there were times in the past where through submitting a ticket for support, it seemed that some of the engineers who were helping me did not understand the product that they were supporting. That felt difficult because I felt I was almost explaining the product to the company. But again, isolated and for the most part, it's been a really good experience.

Before we implemented Automation Anywhere, we were not using any automation or RPA solution back in 2018.

Their support team is really great, and they also have a really robust online community, the Pathfinder Community, where developers and automation leaders can go and have discussions, submit use cases or issues, and get support from others as well. I have also had Automation Anywhere staff respond and reach out to me through a Pathfinder community post that I've made. Their ticketing system is also good, and they recently implemented an artificial intelligence agent in their email responses that has helped guide the ticket through the escalation process.

Neutral

We didn't have anything in place before adopting Automation Anywhere.

For others who are looking for an RPA solution and considering Automation Anywhere, I would encourage you to choose Automation Anywhere if you are hoping to have any level of citizen development involved. 

They make it very easy for anyone to learn and pick up the skills required to develop bots. Beyond citizen development, I think that they have a very reliable platform that is very robust in functionality. 

They can integrate with many applications, and they make it very easy to create automations that scale and are able to automate a wide array of business processes.

When we were looking to implement an RPA solution, one of the other prospective vendors that we looked at was UiPath. One thing that stood out to our company was how approachable Automation Anywhere was compared to UiPath, which seemed to be more developer focused and more technical focused, not as low-code as Automation Anywhere. 

With Automation Anywhere, you could come from anywhere, any level of experience, and any industry. You can learn from their Automation Anywhere University and become a bot developer, which is what we did, since all of our team is composed of accountants who are in the industry first and technical second. Automation Anywhere really provided a solution that let us make that work.

I don't have the exact figures regarding the hours we reduced, but I can say that it is thousands of hours. It's less clear in other departments whether we have seen benefits, as it's more focused on quality of life and relieving pain points. 

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Automation Anywhere as a nine, really because I believe that they're a very fantastic RPA company. Any company has bumps and bruises, but with Automation Anywhere, it's been a very reliable solution that has been able to achieve anything that we need. 

It's been easy to learn for developers who want to pick it up and easy to manage from a Control Room perspective on the back end. As a company, I just really think that they do a very good job at delivering on the customer's needs.

Our main use cases when using Automation Anywhere involve a lot of end-to-end processing with a human in the loop. With the GenAI features and capabilities, we are now exploring and extending or expanding our use cases further.

We haven't done anything with AI agents just yet. We've just tapped into the GenAI aspect. We're excited to explore AI agents and how they can impact our existing and new processes. We have ideas, but we haven't delved down that path just yet.

The biggest challenge for our company is getting the correct information from an end-user regarding what they're trying to accomplish. Getting that information from one point to another is our biggest challenge. We're excited about the generative aspect of it because we know that it can listen to the end-user, pull relevant information or regenerate what it needs to, and provide it back to them as an assistant. We're excited for this capability.

We haven't tapped into AI agents, but everything else with the platform has absolutely helped, such as its basic RPA capabilities, Co-pilot, and human in the loop. It's definitely made our work jobs a lot easier because of those capabilities, and the same thing is with our end-users.

Automation Anywhere has helped us to achieve our automation goals. It's made our lives significantly easier to be able to tap into that environment with the ease of development and the ease of use. It's made things much simpler, much quicker to develop, and scale up.

We utilize Document Automation in our current processes. That was one of our biggest draws to Automation Anywhere when we first invested. We looked at a bunch of different IDP tools initially before Document Automation. Automation Anywhere had the IQ Bot tool. That's what we first invested in, and then we were excited when they did the upgrade to Document Automation. The capabilities there are a lot easier to use out of the box. It's a lot easier to scale, and there are AI benefits to it.

Document Automation has absolutely impacted our efficiency and productivity. We had one process specifically that drew us to this use case and then expanded it much further out, where we're essentially inputting invoices that don't go through our normal procurement system. It used to go through our AP team for manual input. It used to take a full person's time a year to do that. We're saving essentially a full FTE through Document Automation. That was our first use case with it, and we have a couple of others in various other accounting operations and tax bases that save significant hours. We also have some hard dollar savings along with it. It has had a huge impact so far, and we see it being a huge impact going forward.

We've used a couple of different tools, and it just has the best end-user experience. Among everything we've tried, it's the easiest one to pick up from the product perspective. They're doing everything right.

What I appreciate the most about Automation Anywhere is that the end-user experience is superior to any of the other tools on the market that we've looked at. We've shifted platforms a couple of times, and Automation Anywhere is the one that stuck based on end-user experience, the ease of development, and trainability with the tool.

Automation Anywhere has definitely made a significant impact in terms of hours saved to scale up. We've had to re-platform a couple of processes from other tools to Automation Anywhere. We are doing the exact same process, but the hours saved have been more because of the end-user experience and ease of development. The time it takes to get it up to scale has been a lot quicker than everything else. It has made a significant improvement for new and existing processes that we've shifted over.

I don't have an example of how Automation Anywhere can be improved. This definitely isn't a negative. One thing I loved about Automation Anywhere compared to some of the other tools out on the market is that there are constant improvements and constant updates, and they're letting us know of those. Anytime we see a challenge and bring it to the attention of the team, they always let us know that it is on the roadmap for future releases. A lot of the issues that we've had, we've been able to wait a little bit of time, and whatever problem they're trying to fix has been deployed in future releases.

We've had some technical difficulties connecting, but that's more on our environment and how we have the machines and everything set up. It's not specific to Automation Anywhere. However, it's pricier than some of the other tools. 

We are coming up to year four.

We were using one of their competitors. We started our automation journey about seven years ago with a consulting partner that helped us pick the right tool for us. At the time, Automation Anywhere was still on the market, but they weren't one of the leaders that they are now. Over time, that solution has been very helpful for us, but it never progressed the way Automation Anywhere has. There wasn't a leap and bounds progress in terms of investments in the tool and the new capabilities and features. That's what drew us to the Document Automation or IQ Bot. The other tool we were using did not have the same success rate, ease of development, and user experience. We looked at Automation Anywhere, amongst two or three others. Automation Anywhere was by far the best of those tools. While we were using that, we explored the RPA and other features. RE before it became Co-pilot and other functionalities drew us to it. We started investing more heavily in Automation Anywhere, and now it's our primary automation tool.

Our team has specifically only used Automation Anywhere and one other tool. Other businesses may have used it, but they don't have the same structure set up that we do now. We are the automation team within our organization, so we're the ones who are doing it on a consistent basis. If any other team has done it, it hasn't been problematic.

For the most part, it's been fairly seamless. The biggest struggle on our end seemed to be with just the technical connections. It's just how we have the infrastructure set up. We're housing an on-prem solution. We're exploring the cloud and shifting there because I know it'll be easier management from our side. There'll be fewer technical issues. It will be a lot easier to get newer updates from the tool itself. That's one thing that we're looking into now.

It's unique compared to certain other tools that we've used. It's somewhat pricier than some of the other tools that we've used, and the breakout between the different applications is also somewhat costly. If they can make it a little more cost-effective or bundle packages a little bit more, that would be beneficial.

AI governance is very important in my company and in general. Before we even tapped into the AI infrastructure, that was one thing we made sure was set up beforehand. We have a whole AI governance policy and a committee. Anytime there's an AI project, it needs to go through that committee. They need to understand all the data that's going to be processed through it, what tools we're going to be using, and what the project is as a whole. It needs to get approval before we can build it out.

We had an AI committee and a governance structure in place before we delved into the AI space. All of our data is in a secure cloud. We can't have anything touching the public environment, just based on the sensitivity of the data that we have. It's very secure and strong as a governance structure.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten. I don't think anything is a perfect ten. There's always room for improvement. Out of everything that we explored and learned, and used previously, it's made a huge impact. We're excited for what's to come, and we're definitely going to be using it for a long time.

I work for a healthcare company in the pharmacovigilance sector, where we are automating business processes. One key process is case processing, which involves identifying adverse events from drugs, vaccines, or medical devices. These adverse events are reported through various channels like call centers and emails. Currently, data from these sources is manually entered into a drug safety database. We are automating this data entry and the subsequent quality and medical reviews. This automation aims to reduce the workforce from approximately 5,000 to 1,000 employees, primarily by streamlining these processes using Automation Anywhere software.

To reduce maintenance and streamline operations, we have transitioned to a cloud-based subscription model. We are utilizing Automation 360, a subscription-based automation solution, and have also adopted RPA as a service, leveraging pre-built bots offered by Automation Anywhere, some of which are free while others require payment.

Implementing Automation Anywhere has brought significant improvements by automating repetitive processes previously handled by a large team. This automation has reduced the workforce requirement and allowed for attended and unattended bot implementation. Consequently, human errors have decreased, the quality of deliverables has improved, and timelines have been accelerated. Previously, delays in task completion resulted in penalties for the company, but this issue has been resolved. Automation Anywhere has enabled faster processing of cases, marking a significant positive change in the company's operations.

AI is being used to automate the case intake process, which involves analyzing structured and unstructured documents like emails, articles, and scientific papers. Previously, this task was time-consuming, requiring staff to manually search documents for key information. The process has been significantly accelerated by implementing Automation Anywhere's IQ Bot, with its cognitive automation, AI integration, and natural language processing capabilities. The software automatically highlights crucial details like patient information, product specifics, and adverse events, enabling reviewers to assess document relevance quickly. This automation has reduced review time from 30 minutes per document to five to ten seconds, allowing a greater volume of literature to be processed. Furthermore, the NLP feature automatically identifies and justifies the presence of specific criteria within the documents. By integrating Automation Anywhere into their internal tool, the organization has reduced the workforce needed for this process from over 100 people to 12-15, resulting in increased efficiency, faster turnaround times, and a more manageable workload.

Automation Anywhere offers a user-friendly platform with a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for business users with limited technical skills to implement RPA solutions. The platform provides a complete suite of tools, including task automation, cognitive automation using IQ Bot, and bot insights and analytics. While embedded with AI capabilities, the platform remains accessible to users without deep technical knowledge. Users should familiarize themselves with the available features, including built-in AI capabilities for handling various document types, and explore the Bot Store marketplace for pre-built bots that can accelerate development. Automation Anywhere enables rapid scaling with cloud-hosted architecture and prioritizes security with GDPR compliance, audit trails, and role-based access.

Initially, integrating Automation Copilot with our daily applications proved challenging. However, subsequent updates have simplified the process. While it previously functioned with attended bots but not unattended ones, expanded API capabilities now allow for greater compatibility with third-party applications. This enhanced functionality enables us to emulate various tasks and seamlessly integrate with systems like Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. We have successfully implemented Automation Copilot for data entry, updates, and, most significantly, report generation, resulting in improved efficiency and productivity.

Automation Copilot has significantly increased our productivity. Integrating our systems will allow for seamless data transfer, eliminating the need for manual intervention and preventing quality issues. Tasks will be completed automatically and in real-time, increasing productivity and reducing the time spent on manual work. This eliminates the need for batch processing and ensures that everything happens instantly.

Over time, we have integrated numerous products with Automation Anywhere, leveraging their REST API for seamless data flow. This has enabled successful integrations with Salesforce, SAP, Oracle's Argus, and five of our seven internal products, particularly with Automation Anywhere's cognitive automation capabilities. As long as Automation Anywhere provides the REST API, we can integrate any application or third-party service, facilitating effortless data transfer between various tools.

The time savings are valuable.

The learning curve for Automation Anywhere is steep, especially for advanced features like IQ Bot and API automation, which require technical expertise. While basic automation is relatively easy, the platform's documentation and training materials are not comprehensive, making it challenging to master the more complex functionalities. Compared to UiPath, which offers extensive resources and support, Automation Anywhere's limited resources contribute to a steeper learning curve for those seeking to utilize its advanced capabilities.

From a business perspective, Automation Anywhere is expensive compared to other tools like UiPath, making it unsuitable for small or medium-sized businesses. It requires robust systems to run efficiently and previously had limitations integrating with legacy systems, though they are improving this with REST API support. Additionally, community support is slow and unhelpful for critical issues. While they offer IQ Bot for unstructured data, it can only automate around 50 percent of such processes, requiring manual intervention. Although Automation Anywhere supports customization, it is limited. These are key areas where Automation Anywhere could improve.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for four years.

Despite Automation Anywhere being resource-intensive, in my four years of experience using it, I have found it to be a highly stable system that has never crashed.

Automation Anywhere offers impressive automation capabilities at scale. From a product standpoint, it is highly effective and achieves its purpose well. Automation Anywhere is a strong choice for enterprise applications due to its robust functionality and cloud-based version. While the portal could be improved, the product itself is excellent and, if chosen strategically, can streamline numerous processes.

Technical support response times are slow. While we can escalate critical issues, their carelessness with other matters, especially those impacting business priorities, is a concern. Their slow pace and occasional irresponsibility demonstrate a lack of respect for our time.

Neutral

As a UiPath certified architect and business analyst with extensive experience in UiPath and Automation Anywhere, I find UiPath to be the superior solution for most companies. While both offer cloud-native capabilities, UiPath boasts a more user-friendly interface, requiring less coding knowledge. Its AI Fabric platform provides extensive machine learning capabilities, surpassing Automation Anywhere's limited AI integration. UiPath also excels in bot management and orchestration, offering a user-friendly approach and robust capabilities. Furthermore, UiPath provides stronger security and compliance features, superior third-party integration, and greater pricing flexibility, making it accessible to companies of all sizes, unlike Automation Anywhere, which is often only affordable for mid to large companies. Although Automation Anywhere offers decent cognitive automation, UiPath's ease of use, AI capabilities, and flexible pricing make it the more versatile and comprehensive choice.

The initial deployment was complex, requiring determining the bot type, attended or unattended and bundle handling strategies for multiple bot deployments. This process, driven mainly by configuration and orchestration, can be time-consuming for those without a technical background. Familiarity with the system streamlines deployment, while newcomers or those with limited technical expertise may find it more challenging.

Automation Anywhere is expensive, making it more suitable for enterprise organizations.

I would rate Automation Anywhere eight out of ten.

The benefits of Automation Anywhere projects aren't immediate. Building and implementing a successful automation system involves several stages: proof of concept, pilot process, and finally, production rollout. This process typically takes two to three months due to the necessary development, testing, and refinement. However, once automation is in production, the improvements will be significant and immediately apparent.

In a highly regulated industry with over 10,000 employees, traditional RPA faced strong resistance due to concerns about headcount reduction. To overcome this, we adopted a cognitive automation approach, integrating machine learning capabilities from Automation Anywhere into existing applications. This minimized disruption and ensured a smoother transition. By embedding cognitive automation within familiar and validated systems, we achieved production with minimal resistance. This strategy also allows the system to learn user input through reinforcement learning, adapting to expectations based on feedback and a reward/penalty system. Therefore, we prioritize cognitive automation integrated within our existing products rather than relying solely on a separate RPA suite, especially given the challenges of implementing RPA in a large organization within a highly regulated industry.

Because we use Automation Anywhere in the cloud, they manage all upgrades and provide a defined schedule. We receive regular emails about upcoming upgrades, including the specific date and time. We can communicate any concerns about potential business impacts, and they provide clarity and assurance that upgrades will not disrupt deployed bots. This ensures our work remains unaffected during the upgrade process, which they handle very efficiently.

The bots require maintenance on our end to ensure smooth operation. This includes monitoring their uptime, examining audit trails for failures, and periodically checking their performance. While Automation Anywhere handles regular software updates and maintenance, we are responsible for maintaining the business processes the bots support. This involves ongoing support and ensuring the bots function correctly. If a bot fails, we are responsible for investigating the cause and restoring it to functionality, as we understand the critical role each bot plays in our operations.

To successfully implement Automation Anywhere, prioritize hiring an experienced consultant to provide initial training and guidance. This expert can efficiently onboard other team members, ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing the software's potential. Their expertise will be invaluable in identifying suitable bots from the bot store, even if they require some customization to align with the company's unique processes. This approach saves time and resources compared to developing bots from scratch and leverages existing solutions for faster and more effective automation.

I have been running Automation Anywhere since 2017 at Experian. The main use cases for it primarily focus on citizen development. Back then, Power Automate was not mature, and Microsoft did not offer the features that Automation Anywhere provided. We aimed for self-service automation for business units, unlocking citizen development across various company areas, like HR, finance, auto, and health. We implemented it as part of our continuous improvement mindset, akin to our Six Sigma, called the empowered program. When exploring improvement opportunities, automation naturally fits in. We use it for our mailing processes to assist those familiar with macros or scripting. Automation Anywhere has become the preferred tool for seasoned developers, enabling them to build their automation. I report to the Smart Automation CoE, the intelligent automation program at Experian. We govern the technology and train citizens to build their automations.

Nowadays, the tool is unique as it offers various automation capabilities in one platform, which once required different vendors. Even with Automation Anywhere's acquisitions, like FortressIQ, users can directly access features for document automation, process discovery, or RPA. From a technical standpoint and an end-user perspective, the platform is user-friendly and doesn't require complex setups like IDEs, unlike Power Platform. I've also observed changes in processes, as people are now more familiar with interacting with bots. This familiarity changes the way they do business.

As a customer, not just a user, I desire a better understanding of translating traditional RPA into newer features like Copilot and Majentik, leveraging API tasks. We've been running the program for eight years, with team members having their own frameworks. Helping them transition to advanced features is crucial. With over four hundred bots live in Experian, requiring recoding for Copilot involvement would lead to pushback. Automation Anywhere could assist in this transition.

I have been running Automation Anywhere since 2017 in Experian.

It is pretty stable. Especially with SaaS, it is always available and up and running. I can't think of any disruptions in the environment.

My impression links back to the initial point about integrating agentic AI and process automation features. I'm eager for the upcoming summit to see advancements towards scaling the product. Currently, Power Platform already offers seamless GenAI integration. I look forward to Automation Anywhere achieving similar seamless integration for broader-scale automation.

I think that customer service is a question because we didn't have the Orange plan previously. Last year, we gained access to this tier, simplifying case resolution. Previously, resolving issues required navigating through various layers before reaching an architect or expert. Now, support quickly assigns technical resources, improving the experience.

Positive

Thank you for that. You mentioned experience with other RPA solutions like Power Automate. We don't own the Power Platform program at Experian, but it's accessible to all employees under the Office 365 licensing. This includes Power Automate flows and Power Apps. It's common for Copilot agents to be utilized, providing full capability and access to these features.

I would say setup is straightforward as long as full access to prerequisites and features is available. We don't have access to spin up databases or servers, relying on different teams, which delays deployment or upgrades. For companies where the COE has full control, setup is straightforward.

Usually, our team involves one or two people as the process is straightforward. We plan maintenance outside business hours and coordinate with groups owning the database or servers. This organizational structure may differ for other companies.

Absolutely, we classify ROI as time saved. It doesn't generate revenue directly, but focuses on unlocking productivity, allowing businesses to concentrate on value-adding activities. Automation Anywhere aids in handling repetitive tasks, contributing to productivity and enhancing customer service, especially when combined with methodologies like Six Sigma.

I don't have visibility on setup costs, but renewal discussions are underway. Currently, costs involve paying a fixed amount for licenses rather than a consumption-based model. This contrasts with other providers like Microsoft, which uses a subscription model.

For instance, Microsoft already has Microsoft Copilot Studio, making them key players in this realm. If someone wants an RP bot connected to CoPilot or GPT, Automation Anywhere requires setup and authentication. In contrast, Microsoft offers seamless connectivity, integrating RPA to GenAI with minimal effort.

Good things aside, on the other hand, what would I like to see improved or enhanced in Automation Anywhere apart from the AI functionality that we discussed previously? I'll give it a seven as they are among the top competitors. Their offering of diverse automation capabilities in one platform is notable, but there are still areas for improvement.

I use Automation Anywhere for a range of automation tasks, including desktop, web, and SAP automation, as well as handling PDF exceptions and facilitating application-to-application automation. Additionally, I establish database connections to perform database automation.

Automation Anywhere is easy to learn and use, even for individuals without technical skills, due to its user-friendly interface.

The learning curve for non-technical users of Automation Anywhere is relatively gentle, allowing them to grasp the basic functionalities and build simple automation quickly.  

Our goal is to reduce manual labor by 200,000 to 300,000 hours over the next five years. We are currently saving approximately 20,000 hours each year through automation, which will result in a total of 100,000 hours saved over five years. The benefits of using Automation Anywhere can be observed within two weeks of implementation.

Generative AI is used in some of our automation processes to eliminate paperwork within a three-hour timeframe.

I have integrated Automation Anywhere with various applications, including SAP, MySQL, and numerous desktop and web-based applications. My experience spans desktop applications, web-based applications like SAP Ariba and other portals, and automation of buying processes. I am confident that I have worked with the full spectrum of applications available in the current market, from desktop-based to cloud-based solutions.

Automation Anywhere can be easily integrated into our automation workflows.

Automation Anywhere saved directors five to seven hours of manual work daily and, from a business structure perspective, more than five times the savings.

Automation Anywhere is easy to use and user-friendly due to its intuitive interface and straightforward implementation architecture, making it accessible even for those without a technical background. Its community edition and clear process workflow make it easier to learn and develop on compared to UiPath or Power Automate, requiring less technical knowledge overall.

The AISense recorder in Automation Anywhere needs improvement in resilience and OCR capabilities, particularly in comparison to UiPath's superior OCR functionality. Furthermore, expanding the Automation Anywhere packages to include a wider range of desktop-based applications would enhance its utility.

Automation Anywhere needs to expand its reach across more industries by strengthening its sales team and increasing its market presence in India and globally. This broader approach will allow them to capture diverse sectors, increasing demand and creating more job opportunities within the company. This expansion is crucial, especially since the current client base utilizing Automation Anywhere remains limited.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for approximately five years.

Automation Anywhere is highly stable, and I rate its stability a ten out of ten.

Automation Anywhere allows for automation at scale, and I rate its scalability as a nine out of ten.

Automation Anywhere has good support features.

Positive

Before using Automation Anywhere, manual methods were used.

The initial setup was easy and took about a week. Two to three people were involved in the deployment.

The deployment was handled by the IT department which involved two to three people.

Automation Anywhere offers competitive and affordable pricing. However, a slight adjustment to align more closely with Power Automate's pricing structure could help them capture a larger share of the market.

I would rate the price of Automation Anywhere a six out of ten, with ten being the most expensive.

Other solutions evaluated include UiPath and Power Automate. UiPath provides better OCR and capture capabilities.

I would rate Automation Anywhere nine out of ten.

When I first became interested in the automation market, Automation Anywhere held a significant presence, especially during its expansion into India. While they continue to grow in the Indian market, they need to increase their market share compared to UiPath. From a developer's perspective, UiPath offers far more job opportunities. To be more competitive, Automation Anywhere should proactively expand its presence in industries like healthcare, telecom, and energy. This would lead to increased adoption of their product and create more job opportunities within the Automation Anywhere sector, ultimately benefiting the entire automation industry.

We have over 25 users of Automation Anywhere in our company.

The maintenance is done automatically by Automation Anywhere.

I would recommend using Automation Anywhere to others. It is a user-friendly tool, and developers can learn it quickly. Implementing automation often requires proof of concept, and Automation Anywhere is a viable option.

We have a lot of use cases for Automation Anywhere. We have some use cases at the customer experience department, we have some for the HR team, and we have more than a few for our billing department. We have quite a few across our different business units.

We have not yet used Agentic AI. One of the main reasons I wanted to come to AA Imagine was to see the demo. What has been stopping us from choosing AI is our company's governance aspect and getting the approvals.

AI governance is quite important for my company in general because I work for a government contracting company. That is one of the challenges that we would need to solve before we integrate any AI capabilities.

What I appreciate the most about Automation Anywhere is how easy it is to use. One thing I noticed in the beginning when we first started using Automation Anywhere was how quickly we were able to learn it. It is very simple and straightforward to use, which is probably the main advantage.

The simplicity of Automation Anywhere has benefited us as we have been able to train our internal employees. It has been very easy to train someone internally versus hiring someone outside of the company.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with Automation Anywhere. The UI is pretty straightforward. However, the customer service could be improved.

I have been using Automation Anywhere in my company for two and a half years.

It can be improved. When we have issues or problems with the software, which is not common, that is one area that could be better. We have had issues in the past where we have had problems with the application, and it has taken a while for someone to get back to us. Overall, we are pretty happy with the application.

Neutral

We were not using another solution prior to Automation Anywhere. This was the first automation tool that we integrated at our company.

My experience with the bot deployment is pretty straightforward. I have an RPA admin who takes care of the deployment. While I cannot speak on his behalf, I would say that the deployment process, from what I know, is pretty straightforward. It is not anything too complicated or complex.

The main challenge we were trying to solve by bringing Automation Anywhere was automating different processes and manual tasks that our employees do. We wanted to help the company save money, and we have been able to do that.

It's justified because we have saved quite a bit of money at the company and many manual hours. Overall, it justifies the cost.

When I joined, my company had already decided on Automation Anywhere. I do not know what other tool they had in mind, but this was the only one.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten. I am happy with the company and my Automation Anywhere journey. There have not been any major issues or problems since we started using it about two and a half years ago. Our leadership at the company is very happy. Our RPA team always gets recognized, and it is because of this tool. This tool has helped us significantly.

We mostly started using Automation Anywhere for RPA projects. Now, we have a lot of intelligent automation. A few of our cases are using document automation since we have a lot of technical documentation in our engineering enterprise. 

Automation Anywhere brings a lot of value, not only via automation but with citizen developers. People who do not have the ability to create technical solutions are now able to do it. We are doing some things like hackathons with Automation Anywhere. It's another way of adding value to the business.

The document automation is the most valuable aspect of the solution. The new enhanced version is a game changer. We have gained lots of improvements by extracting data, including unstructured data from images to structured data. With the quality and accuracy, we are now able to bring lots of value. We've using generative AI with this data and making the automation more intelligent.

The processes and tasks automated by Automation Anywhere versus how they were done prior to implementation are much more streamlined. We get a lot of efficiency. We get precision. We're able to free up labor tasks and gain efficiency and productivity. There are some processes that need special attention or there are concerns about governance. In finance, an error can be an obstacle. It can be a pitfall also. Confidence is always a thing we are looking for. We must be confident there are no errors. With Automation Anywhere, we can remove mistakes.

It is easy for business users who don't have technical skills. When we communicate properly the opportunity or challenge to people, and when we can show the value of automation, they embrace it. It brings those even without technical skills a lot of opportunities. Even we are surprised with what people can do. People know best what they need to do with their tasks. If they can automate a solution by themselves, it brings a lot of value. 

The learning curve is very short. We have started a few hackathons. We've noticed, in one week, that we were able to do 40 cases. We did it twice. So in two weeks, we have almost 80 cases from idea to construction. We did it in two different cities in Brazil, and it was an amazing opportunity to bring value to people who did not have technical skills in such a short time frame.

We are starting to use Automation Co-Pilot, and we are very enthusiastic. We are very happy with this new tool and expect many more use cases from it in the future.

Co-Pilot helped accelerate automation adoption. It's an easy way to do more with the automation. People feel free to focus on the problem and not on the technical skills. This is a big game changer when there's a person without technical skills. 

Co-Pilot has also helped increase productivity. Even those without technical skills can automate tasks and develop things very quickly. They can have an idea and come up with a solution in a very short timeframe. It can free up staff time. They can automate tasks to free up time to work on other things. It helps speed up work significantly.

There are applications we can embed Automation Co-Pilot into a few websites. We have a lot in the enterprise. Things like Salesforce and Teams can be integrated. We can do a lot by activating Co-Pilot from Teams. We can use it as an assistant in Teams for our team. We've also integrated Google Cloud and AI to add in more AI solutions. 

The integration is helpful. We have quite a few use cases where we've integrated with Microsoft tools and local record systems, such as SAP and Vertex AI. 

The labor costs have been lowered. It's always a concern and the proper use of our staff, and their capacity and competency, is important. With automation, we can help them focus on more high-value tasks. Automation gives them the ability to move away from repetitive and boring tasks and move them to more important areas.

We've been able to save a lot of time and costs by replacing repetitive and boring labor tasks with more important ones. 

We're leveraging other Automation Anywhere programs. There's a lot of value when using professional services. We can look at similar use cases and learn from those. 

Automation Anywhere can be improved by offering more integration with many more applications. While it is very integrated nowadays, the complexity is a key issue. Common users must have the opportunity to integrate it with many more environments. 

We've been using the solution for four years.

The stability is very good. It is a robust solution. We haven't faced any issues within the four years or use. Stability, combined with innovation, has been invaluable. The product is never static. We always have access to more enhancements and products with updates within a very short timeframe.

Automation Anywhere provides automation at scale. It's realized mostly when we combine many technologies and use them in the same process. When we use it in conjunction with other things, we can gain the most value out of each technology. The limits nowadays are almost zero as there is so much integration possible. 

We have Gold Service with Automation Anywhere. Support has been a big advantage for us. We have many assets and 8,000 employees. It's a big operation. That's why we need proper support that can help us with multiple automation. Any change or mistake can be rapidly managed with the level of support we are provided. 

We did not previously use a different automation solution. We started from scratch with Automation Anywhere.

We've been able to deploy the solution easily. We've been able to integrate it with our systems of record and other tools. 

The experience has been good. It's important to do it with the proper partner and proper team. When we merge product and project teams, it helps make the deployment process seamless.

We do have some partners that help us with the deployment. 

We've witnessed an ROI not only on the automation but in the integration with Google, Microsoft, and other platforms. The net value we receive is across many aspects. Now, we have an average of more than 30,000 hours saved per year on labor costs. We've also seen more cost reductions related to automation. 

The pricing of the solution is okay. We've bought licensing via a big bid. It was hard to define as it was the first time we were using the solution. Of the second round, we were very focused on what we needed. We understood the process better. It's provided a lot of value these days. 

We did evaluate other options, including solutions from Microsft and SAP. The difference is that Automation Anywhere can integrate different platforms. That way, we are not limited to just one platform. We can combine many different technologies while having the liberty to scale across many different processes. 

The Imagine Conference by Automation Anywhere has been helpful. It's a good event for everyone - for both technical and business people, as well as students. It helps everyone realize the opportunities of automation and unlock value in the face of challenges. We're seeing automation become simpler and user-friendly, which is allowing us to be more productive. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. It brings a lot of innovation to our company. It's great for technical and non-technical people.