What is our primary use case?
We started using it to automate manual processes from other departments. We service other departments, to begin with, including the media between the business and the IT departments.
We started automating very repetitive manual tasks that the business side typically had. For example, if they had to open an application early in the morning to try to process transactions. Then, late in the afternoon, they would have to do the same thing as well. Now we have a robot that does that in the morning and the afternoon, which saves a lot of overtime since it has to be done at six or seven at night, and previously sometimes people would be forced to stay. Therefore, this way, we save that time and overtime.
Another example would be we use it to download ATM transactions from a webpage. The robot downloads those transactions and then uploads them into our data warehouse, which reports for them. Normally, we don't have that information there.
Another use case would be in a department that would print a bunch of wires late in the afternoon. The department would print them out physically and store them somewhere where they review everything later. Now, with UiPath, we scan the transactions from the Fed, and we just print in PDF and send it to them via email, and it saves a lot of time.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has saved us not just in automating but also in updates. For example, all these service charge codes for these particular lists of credit card accounts. We let the bot run. It ran for a really long time. I can only imagine how much longer it would've taken with humans.
What is most valuable?
I'm not sure of the exact cost savings. We just started asking about time savers. Some customers have told us it saves about 45 minutes a day. There's another process that only runs once a month. To put it in general terms, it reviews all of our credit card accounts and itemizes them, and makes them into a lot of reports. That saves about eight hours a month. Also, when it comes to helping us avoid overtime, there are 15 minutes of actions to be done, yet we are saving an hour or two of pay every time.
The ease of automation is great.
The unintended robots are very useful. Just letting it run and having visibility, and controlling how everything works is definitely helpful. Sometimes they want it to run a certain way. Sometimes they'll tell us, "Oh can we tweak it a certain way?" And they do that more often than would I thought they would. It's simple to handle.
I really like the user community. When I go online to search for help or anything else, it's very valuable. Everyone's so helpful online. Whenever I'm stuck, and I'm basically self-taught when it comes to UiPath, I turn to the community. I've learned everything through the community. It is easy to learn.
While we haven't really taken any UiPath Academy classes, we were basically given the platform and just told to learn it ourselves. I did start doing the academy courses however, right off the bat, we had to develop already. I kind of had to do both at the same time, and that's where the online community comes in handy. The courses definitely taught me the basics, at least. And they helped me expand on that.
What needs improvement?
While UiPath works super well with other applications and browsers and app pages that we use in the RedLINK wires, when it comes to experience, sometimes it doesn't detect what it's supposed to be doing as easily. I have to do a workaround and so sometimes it can be tedious.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using it for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've never had an issue with performance stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We currently have 20 to 30 processes, and less than ten are via developers. We initially hired developers to help, and then they left, and now we are working on it ourselves.
I see the potential of its scalability. We're still at a very small scale with it.
How are customer service and support?
I've used technical support once. They helped me. When the developers set up UiPath for us, it ended up being kind of faulty. What we really needed was the enterprise edition, and some other settings weren't configured for our purposes. I contacted them for help, and we had a Zoom call. They were very friendly. They helped me set it up correctly in the way we needed it. While there were some communication issues, they helped us in the end.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not previously use a different solution.
How was the initial setup?
I was not directly involved in the initial setup. However, the setup was not exactly right, and I contacted support for help. It seemed pretty straightforward in the end.
What about the implementation team?
We had third-party developers from Peru that helped us to install it and then they just left. We were just given the platform, and we had to teach ourselves how to use it.
What was our ROI?
We have witnessed an ROI. The company has mentioned the hours saved, and I'm not sure about the money saved.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options.
What other advice do I have?
While we could use UiPath for good causes, like sustainability or the environment, we do not use it in that capacity yet.
We do not use the AI functionality just yet.
I'd advise other potential users to get a partner. We didn't have one. That's what we're doing right now. We're shopping for a partner so we can learn as we develop. Again, we were self-taught and it would've been much easier to dive in with a partner.
I would rate it ten out of ten as it does have massive potential.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.