Fortra's Automate Reviews

My use case for Automate is for scheduling and automating repetitive business processes such as file transfers, report generating, and data integration between internal applications and external partners.

The best feature of Automate is its drag-and-drop workflow designer, which allows me to build automation tasks without deep coding knowledge. I have no technical skills, but I am easily able to create features and do automation tasks.

Automate also provides strong error handling, logging, and scheduling capabilities, which makes it very reliable for enterprise automation. In terms of error handling capabilities, I would say it segregates out the features that are causing issues, and it uses built-in error triggers as well as task-level error handling. Each task is separated into one major task with sub-tasks, and if there is an issue with a sub-task, an error log is created, and we receive the error. Global error handling is employed, similar to nesting in coding.

My thoughts on the intuitive interface of Automate are that it is good, and in my organization, most people are using it. There is ease of use with minimal scripting required, and it is designed for both technical and non-technical people.

Areas for improvement in Automate would be a more modern web-based workflow designer, an enhanced real-time monitoring dashboard, and built-in API integration tools for REST and SOAP. My major recommendation would be for easier upgrade paths between major versions.

I have been using Automate for a year.

I would rate the stability of Automate as nine.

I would rate the scalability of Automate as nine.

The reason for my rating of eight in technical support is that while they were able to handle issues, there were sometimes access issues, and the SMEs were not always that proficient. They could contribute around fifty to eighty percent, and everyone has ups and downs while learning.

The return on investment I have seen with Automate is good. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the ROI as nine.

I am comparing Automate with UIPath, Power Automate, and ActiveBatch.

I think the analytics features of Automate are the best in the market.

For my business, the metrics I appreciate about the analytics are necessary metrics such as usage analysis and breakage of usage. I can see how every service that I have been using is getting consumed and how much, all through the analytics dashboard. This helps me understand my business, where it is lacking behind, and where it is growing.

I measure success in reducing manual efforts through manual operations.

Automate helps me reduce manual work by automating tasks such as access keys and security rotations that we were not able to automate before. It reduces our manual processes, diminishing human dependency, and helps minimize errors.

I would compare Automate with other products or solutions and find that it has better stability and error handling, a simpler licensing model, and lower technical overhead for setup.

My thoughts on the pricing for Automate are that it is medium and costs a little, which I would say slightly impacts my budget.

In my team, there are ten people, and all of us are using Automate.

Regarding ease of deployment, when I asked my seniors, they said it is easier and much better than others. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it an eight.

I would recommend Automate to other users because it reduces manual procedures, automates everything, allows for scaling, has better stability, provides error handling capabilities, and features simpler licensing models. You do not need high technical knowledge to deploy it.

I would rate this product an overall nine out of ten.

Public Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

My use case for Fortra's Automate involves repetitive tasks and streamlining file transfer across multiple systems and multiple team members as it serves as a centralized file-sharing platform.

The best feature of Fortra's Automate is that it allows me to build workflows without heavy coding through an interactive user interface, which saves significant time for automating tasks.

Fortra's Automate's intuitive interface is easy to use, user-friendly, and minimalistic, making the learning curve straightforward without any special skills required to handle or create workflows.

Fortra's Automate's compatibility with existing IT infrastructure has impacted my business operations significantly by saving us considerable time. Since we have not integrated Automate with other systems, it functions as a standalone application primarily for automating workflows, file sharing, and Excel operations.

The areas that have room for improvement in Fortra's Automate include the reporting and analytics functionality, where the analytics could be more detailed. Currently, it is difficult to get deep insights without exporting data first to feed it into another system.

I have been using Fortra's Automate since last year, for around one and a half years.

Fortra's Automate has a stability rating of nine.

Fortra's Automate has a scalability rating of nine.

I would rate the technical support for Fortra's Automate an eight or eight point five.

Positive

We have not utilized Fortra's Automate's analytics features extensively because we found room for improvement, and the analytics are not at the level we are currently expecting. We are using different tools for data analytics rather than Automate.

I compare Fortra's Automate with other solutions and vendors such as SAP, which we have used. While we have integrated Fortra's Automate with SAP for standard integration, we have not deeply integrated this solution with others because we are still exploring this tool.

My advice for others looking to implement Fortra's Automate is that if you want a solution that is easy to implement and you do not come from a major coding background, this solution is the best fit. Creating automations does not require heavy coding, making it ideal for non-coding professionals.

The return on investment I have seen with Fortra's Automate is greater than sixty percent, as it significantly improves our workflow and our team's capabilities.

The metrics I use to measure success in reducing manual efforts is the final output. When I create automation for a particular workflow, I expect the output to match my expectations and for the test cases to be satisfied. Fortra's Automate's success metrics are primarily based on these test cases.

My assessment of the pricing for Fortra's Automate is that it is moderately priced—not expensive, yet not inexpensive either.

By using the documentation, we have realized that there is no precise count for how much it has reduced errors, but it saves our efforts. I estimate that approximately seventy to eighty percent of error handling is accomplished through the documentation base.

Our relationship with the vendor is that we have implemented this solution in our infrastructure, positioning us as customers.

Fortra's Automate's error-handling capabilities in complex automation tasks can be assessed by noting that currently we have not encountered errors. Our technical teams handle error management by reviewing the documentation to manage bugs and errors in automations.

I rate this review a nine.

Hybrid Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

I use Fortra's Automate for IT operations as an automated repetitive workflow task, handling tasks like file transfer, job scheduling, SAP data pools, and system notifications.

Fortra's Automate has a user-friendly interface that is quite easy to understand for new use cases.

Regarding error handling capabilities in more complex automation tasks, I find it excellent for automating scripts. The error handling allows me to get manually involved when minor errors occur. I make a script, use the product, and I am ready to go. I can handle more parts of those errors in less time, making the error handling superior.

Fortra's Automate is good overall, but the advanced logic is somewhat challenging. Some of the more complex branching and error handling require digging into documentation or trial and error before I got it right.

I have been using Fortra's Automate for around nine months in my career.

I have never experienced any lagging or crashing in Fortra's Automate. However, in the error handling part, I might find one or two instances of digging required.

Fortra's Automate is highly scalable, and I can deploy it on multiple infrastructures such as cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid model.

I contacted the technical support for Fortra's Automate once, and they are very knowledgeable about their product and helpful as well. They handle customers like me to get to the exact issue, detailing where that issue originates from a technical point of view, the resolution, and the summary they provided. They are on point. I would give them a rating of 10 out of 10 for the support.

Positive

I have never used any other product exactly like Fortra's Automate. However, I did use AWS Lambda to code and automate a few things at an AWS level.

The initial deployment of Fortra's Automate is easy, as we had three to four people deploying the same thing.

It took around five days for the first time to deploy Fortra's Automate.

Fortra's Automate does require maintenance on my end, but the maintenance part does not fall under my team's responsibility. Therefore, I am not fully aware of how frequent maintenance is or how long it takes.

I am somewhat aware of Fortra's Automate's pricing, and I can say it is budget-friendly—not too cheap or too high. The pricing is on point.

I am a customer of Fortra's Automate and do not have any partnerships with them. My overall review rating for this product is 9 out of 10.

Hybrid Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

We use Fortra's Automate to handle a variety of tasks, such as moving files for FTP and pulling files from AWS S3 storage. The solution is also utilized for web scraping. It provides multiple functionalities that we need for efficient operations.

By implementing Fortra's Automate, we wanted to automate so that there are fewer manual processes. The more manual processes there are, the higher the chance of failures or errors. By automating something, we make it more consistent.

It enhances my workflow by allowing both static scheduling and dynamic job execution. It allows us to schedule things based on a static schedule, but we also use the feature where it watches for files to be available or delivered. That makes it more dynamic. If we cannot predict a schedule to run, it allows us to dynamically run automation jobs when files become available.

We run it in a Windows environment, and it integrates with everything we need it to, whether it is an API call or Python code. If there are certain things that we cannot do with Fortra's Automate, we call it a secondary piece of Python code. It gives us the ability to communicate with the entire environment.

The most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities. We also use it for decompression and encryption.

I would like the updates to be easier to deploy. Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking. I know they are working on improving this with Amazon S3, which would greatly benefit my use case since I rely heavily on it. Improving these aspects would make the solution more seamless.

I have been using Fortra's Automate for around five years.

The stability of Fortra's Automate is excellent. I would rate it a nine out of ten. It is very reliable.

We have not done any scaling with it. 

We are currently using it in one place. Its users include myself.

Their support definitely has your back in getting things sorted out. They are very responsive and have been able to resolve any issues I have encountered. I would rate them a nine out of ten. 

Positive

Before switching to Fortra's Automate, we used more code-based solutions like WinBatch. It was older and required a strong knowledge of coding, which took too long to develop. Fortra's Automate is easier to use, allowing new users to pick it up quickly.

We just migrated to AWS. We had it on-premises in our data center, and now we are using it in AWS on an EC2 instance.

The initial setup of Fortra's Automate was very straightforward and easy. Migration was also very easy. We just needed to purchase a second license. We were able to back up all of our jobs and import them into the new environment. It took less than a day.

In terms of maintenance, it only requires updates. We have to update occasionally. The updates are fine. It would be nice to do in-place updates, but we have to uninstall and reinstall the application to apply an update.

Fortra's Automate has effectively replaced the workload of an entire employee, saving us significant time and money.

It has gone up in price. The price of Fortra's Automate has increased since we first started using it. It does a lot but also costs a lot. It was a lot more affordable before Fortra owned the software.

The standard fee includes a yearly license with support. Although its cost has risen, it remains an essential application for us.

Fortra's Automate is very easy to use, and the robust support makes it a reliable solution. I would definitely recommend it to others.

I would rate Fortra's Automate a ten out of ten.

Public Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

I work as a cybersecurity analyst with multiple AWS accounts containing servers. In our basic use case, we have servers in the AWS account that do not need to be active at night from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM, so we use Fortra's Automate to keep those servers shut down during that specific time. The second, more advanced use case involves GuardDuty, which detects alerts for malicious traffic coming to servers. We utilize Fortra's Automate to pull the details from GuardDuty, such as IPs and instance information, and we have automated it to check the IP in VirusTotal to determine if it is malicious or not. Based on the findings, we shut down or quarantine the affected servers.

The feature I prefer most about Fortra's Automate is that it offers no-code or low-code automation, which is essential for me as a cybersecurity analyst because we do not have time to code and automate everything. Additionally, the drag-and-drop workflow feature allows us to simply drag and drop actions to complete our tasks, making it one of my favorite aspects.

The interface of Fortra's Automate is easy for any newcomer to handle. I did not find anything complex; I did not need to refer to documentation or seek guidance, so the user interface is perfect and easy to use.

The unified dashboard is extremely easy to use because I have employed the drag-and-drop functionality, which makes it straightforward and actually saves a lot of time, as it is not complex compared to other tools.

There are newer AWS services such as Lambda or Security Hub that security analysts use to detect malicious traffic or alerts, but the integration is not available for these, so we still rely on custom scripting because there are no options for drag-and-drop with these newer services.

When performing larger workflows to get all details of alerts from multiple AWS services, I occasionally find the interface becomes slow, which could be improved; however, this does not significantly impact our productivity.

I have been using Fortra's Automate for the past three months.

I have never encountered maintenance requirements because, in my tasks, the basic and advanced use cases do not require maintenance.

Fortra's Automate is highly scalable, as it can be used by smaller teams to larger enterprises, allowing everyone to automate repetitive daily tasks rather than repeating them manually.

I have not had a reason to contact technical support, so I cannot comment on that aspect.

Neutral

I previously used UiPath, which was a similar kind of RPA tool, and in comparison, while there were things in UiPath that were not as good as Fortra's Automate, we ultimately moved to Automate.

The initial deployment of Fortra's Automate was straightforward because there is a feature that allows us to create a direct connection with the AWS account by providing basic details such as the AWS access key and secret key, creating one role, and giving necessary permissions, which can all be done in a few minutes.

I was not responsible for the deployment, but from what I understand, it involves basic steps such as creating an account in Fortra's Automate and linking it to the AWS account using an access key and secret key, creating roles, and giving permissions. These steps do not take much time; roughly one hour is sufficient for this setup.

I do not have much detailed information about the pricing, but I understand that it is favorable from a pricing perspective for smaller or basic tasks. It is priced per bot. Smaller enterprises may not utilize it much due to the cost. However, compared to UiPath, which has more cost and complexity, Fortra's Automate is definitely better from a cost perspective.

I give this review a rating of nine out of ten.

Public Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

I use it for OCR, grabbing text from PDFs, grabbing data from CSVs and Excel spreadsheets to populate other spreadsheets. I use mail merge, utilizing PowerShell for the mail merge, and RPA to handle the mail merge process. I also use APIs to update and import data.

I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable. The ability to walk through and find issues if needed is a great feature. I really like the API functionality; it's a slick aspect of the solution when I'm using it. Overall, the whole product is really nice and provides significant benefits.

I currently have three bugs open with them that I don't know if they are addressed in the new release. I have not seen the documentation, which could also be improved.

Additionally, I would prefer not having to log in to update a ticket but being able to respond via email would be beneficial.

I have been using Automate for one and a half years.

There is really no instability. The processes sometimes run slow when debugging on the server, even though resources seem fine. I'm not sure what causes the slowness.

I haven't had a chance to really evaluate scalability yet. We only have one server and one agent, so everything runs from one location.

In terms of quickness, they are pretty responsive. However, I'm unable to respond to support emails to update tickets, which requires me to manually log in. It's manageable but slightly inconvenient.

Explaining to support what I'm trying to do can be challenging. They don't always understand the processes I'm trying to implement. This affects the customer service rating.

Neutral

I have not used any alternatives.

The initial setup was easy.

The deployment was handled by me. It works well with Automate without needing a team.

Pricing was one of the reasons we chose Automate. It offered what we wanted at a good, competitive price.

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

On-premises

I am a consultant and I am making a lot of processes in human resources, payroll, certifications, trainings, web scraping, pre-reporting, and many processes that need to be automated on the web. My focus is to pick up and transfer the data automatically.

Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities. Another important feature for me is its compatibility with MBI, the Power that is ISEQUADO Centers. I appreciate the ability to scale and increase the number of bots or studios without additional expense. Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.

I find that most important features are strong, however, there is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning. In this area, the solution is not as advanced as it could be, which can be complicated as there is increasing demand.

I have been using it for about six years.

The stability of the product is very strong. It has very robust features, and it is not prone to instability.

I find the scalability to be very good. It is easy to increase one bot or one studio without needing to buy another orchestrator, which can be quite expensive. Processes can be made in parallel, provided they do not use the same elements.

I would rate the technical support as a nine out of ten because it is quite fast and courteous. Overall, I find it very good.

Positive

The initial setup is very simple. Unlike other large systems like SAP or UPath, Automate does not require consultants with extensive expertise. It is easy to understand through a training course, and within ten hours, users can get up and running.

The pricing is quite good compared to its competitors. Competitors are often more expensive than Automate. 

I would rate the pricing as an eight out of ten.

I compared normal alternatives with Automate including UPath, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, and Power Automate. Power Automate is relatively simpler, especially given the research advancements with Microsoft.

The general mark for the product is a nine out of ten. I have a very good collaboration with them and they have a good product. I would recommend it to other users. 

On-premises

We used the platform primarily for task automation, including transmitting EDR files. Additionally, we've utilized it for repetitive tasks, such as downloading web-based reports using the browser and programming it to perform them automatically on a scheduled basis.

The solution's most valuable features are reliable task execution and ongoing development, which brings continuous enhancements. 

We were waiting for the product's FTP capabilities to be updated as they needed to catch up in some areas for which ciphers were permitted. The module for those file transfers or communications had issues with partners tightening their security and turning off certain cyber suites. We stopped communicating until we could resolve some problems. A part of it may have evolved into an actual version upgrade. They've recently made some release notes and added enhancements regarding that topic. I'm glad to hear that attention is still being given to getting the required changes.

The product also has a limited use case in some respects. However, it offers vast more capabilities than what we're utilizing.

The only thing they can improve on is its marketing sales. The costs have become exponentially more than what we used to apply it for. It was only about 200 to 300 bucks when I first purchased it. Now it has become five grand receipts.

We have been using Fortra's Automate for more than 20 years.

We rarely encounter stability issues. The platform works well.

The product effectively handles all the tasks we require. While I cannot confirm with certainty, other customers are likely testing its capabilities more extensively than we are. Nevertheless, it is scalable and meets the requirements of our environment.

I can reach the support team easily via email or phone calls. The resolution process varies depending on the complexity of the issue. For some problems, the support team provides straightforward solutions, such as trying different approaches. They are consistently available to address queries.

My most significant challenge involved agreeing on FTP ciphers between the host and server or client. The support team assisted in resolving this issue, which was the most prolonged troubleshooting engagement I experienced.

Positive

We are about to start with a proof of concept for Power Automate. Additionally, a few lower-cost solutions are available, but they are not feature-rich enough.

The initial setup is easy to work with, involving no code to create automation scripts. The time taken depends on the complexity of the task. Simple tasks can be done in minutes, like setting up a script to move files between two locations.

Maintenance is minimal. There are periodic updates, generally at least once a year, and intermittent releases for patches or enhancements as needed.

One person can handle the implementation if they have the time to learn and are diligent. Much of it is intuitive, like writing code without actually writing code. Before using the tool, one must have a high-level idea of the workflow and the steps needed to accomplish the end goal.

In general, if you want to use any process automation tool, don't just duplicate what you're doing by hand; instead, rearchitect the process to be more efficient. Have a high-level series of steps mapped out before you start coding.

For somebody who just started using Fortra's Automate, they would see the benefits fairly immediately. Once a task is set up, they can immediately observe its performance and reliability.

It can be configured to inform you of an error message. It could indicate a success or a failure, depending on the expected outcome. At least we are kept aware that the tasks are running regularly. A lot of bigger control can be utilized to ensure the tasks function properly.

If the product functions aren't broken, there is nothing to fix. However, it is crucial to complete updates quickly as they could make system upgrades difficult later.

As mentioned before, I advise ensuring they have a well-thought-out process for how they will build your tasks. They shouldn't attempt to automate a poor process; ensure it is optimized or tuned before starting. It applies regardless of the platform they use.

I rate it a nine out of ten.

On-premises