As a consultant, I have worked with various clients, including banks, insurance companies, healthcare providers, and different tech companies. Each company has distinct use cases. RPA tools are capable of automating any task. We usually automate processes that are repetitive. Automation is always rule-based.

Co-pilot certainly makes the job easier if the client has a subscription. It allows me to analyze desktop flows and activities and create flows using natural language. Natural language processing using LLMs has become an integral part of IT. This tool lets me create flows using natural language, repair automation errors, and answer product-related questions. It is there to assist us in creating automation tests, CI pipelines, etc.

There are many areas for improvement, especially in the developer environment. Providing a desktop version rather than focusing on the cloud is essential. Only UiPath offers a studio environment for desktop application development. Automation Anywhere lacks a desktop version and is solely web-based and cloud-based.

Automation Anywhere is not so easy for business users who are not technical. It is at the medium level. UiPath also provides UiPath StudioX to enable business users to automate easily.

I have used Automation Anywhere for four years. I have also used UiPath for four years.

The support is good. I have faced difficulties with every RPA tool. Automation Anywhere has a good support system but has room for improvement. UiPath has a huge online community for support. They have a lot of active users.

The solution we use depends on the client and their budget.

UiPath is exceptionally more expensive than Automation Anywhere. UiPath is far ahead of its competition, but in terms of finances, Automation Anywhere offers better value and is more effective for organizations seeking cost-effective solutions. Small clients tend to go for Power Automate or Automation Anywhere, whereas large clients go for UiPath.

RPA solutions like UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Power Automate, and Blue Prism can be learned through their academies. When I graduated, I did not know what RPA was. I joined as an intern and was told to go to the academies for these solutions and do the courses. They have developer fundamental and RPA fundamental courses. They also have advanced-level courses of 30 hours, which are free of cost. It took me about two months to learn these solutions. I might have had an edge because of my technical background. For a non-technical person who is willing to put in two or three hours every day into learning, three to four months would be good to take themselves to a level where they can start developing automation at a medium scale. Complex automations happen from experience when you are working with different types of clients. Generally, two to four months is a good period for someone to get a grasp of RPA.

The focus is shifting from RPA to IPA or Intelligent Process Automation. For example, I have done automation for a website task. Previously, when the website changed, such as when a button was shifted, the automation would fail. With Intelligent Process Automation, the bot is intelligent enough to realize the changes that have occurred. It understands what my flow is and what I am trying to achieve. It is then able to modify itself in such a manner that it still works. This is something that RPA has been transitioning toward.

Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere a seven out of ten.

First, I tried to automate the process for surface automation, and it was mainly in a Citrix environment. At that time, I think no proper solution or feature was available with Automation Anywhere. Then, I tried it for some web applications and Windows applications, and there it worked perfectly.

It saves time. It has saved 4,000 to 5,000 hours for one large complex process. If we break it down, it has saved 1,000 hours per process. The time savings vary based on the complexity of the process.

It is simple to learn. It is straightforward. You can learn about Automation Anywhere from their university or YouTube. Lots of YouTube channels are there. They provide you with all the information you need. Non-technical employees would need one month to three months to learn it. It also depends on their grasping and learning skills.

With Oracle and ServiceNow, there seem to be challenges. With SAP, it worked very well. We first tried Automation Anywhere with Oracle but had to go for Blue Prism. With Oracle, Blue Prism was easier and a little bit more stable than Automation Anywhere. Even with ServiceNow, the automation was very unreliable. It did not work as expected.

Business users face difficulties with Automation Anywhere setup. As an administrator, even if I provide any license or features, they would not be able to use it on their local individual machines. The client sometimes does not work perfectly. There are difficulties when we install the Automation Anywhere client. It can be hard to know what is causing issues. They might have a different Java version or other software installed on their machines. Automation Anywhere clients sometimes need clean machines or virtual machines where we deploy the bots. Such difficulties are there, but it does not happen with just Automation Anywhere. I have also observed this problem with other solutions.

Automation Anywhere does not provide API integration. You have to design everything on your side. It does not have an inbuilt API tool like Postman. They do not provide a virtual interface to execute GET, PUT queries. It is very difficult in Automation Anywhere, but in other solutions, this feature is very good.

It is not stable with the Microsoft Edge browser. They have to develop or integrate lots of things. It used to work very well with Internet Explorer around five years ago, but Internet Explorer is gone now. People have moved to Microsoft Edge. If you are using Google Chrome, it is easy. With Microsoft Edge, sometimes processes fail, and you do not always know the reason. You have to debug it entirely.

I have been using it for a total of five years, but in between, I used other tools as well. Overall, it has been around two years with Automation Anywhere. I have used versions 10.2, 11.3, and 360, and a little bit of 2019 as well.

The product is overall stable. With lots of normal applications, you can use it without any issues.

Automation Anywhere is 50% to 70% good in terms of scaling. For business users who want everything on their machines and do not want to use different virtual machines, it is not scalable. Management also worries about deployment costs.

I contacted their technical support. Their L1 support is just normal, and you can get that information on Google or YouTube. They do not have a solution a lot of times. Their L2 support is quite expert. They know how to address things that are happening, and they will try to understand and find the root cause.

I am also using other RPA tools such as Blue Prism and UiPath, and I prefer them over Automation Anywhere.

In API integrations, Automation Anywhere is way behind other tools because its interface is not simple to use for business users. If someone is using Automation Anywhere as the first RPA tool, they will understand it, but if they have used any other RPA tool in the market, they will feel the need to improve Automation Anywhere's UI and API integrations. Additionally, in the API integration part, companies are nowadays using scripting with SAP and others. Automation Anywhere can also improve in that area.

UiPath's design structure is quite powerful and straightforward. It is easier to work with when you have a complex process with multiple load items. API integration is quite powerful. We can easily use that.

If you are deploying the client on a virtual machine, it is very simple and straightforward. If you are going to do it on a common machine for normal development purposes, it can be a bit complex if you are using other software on the same machine.

Upgrading is easy. I have migrated some processes from versions 10 to 11, but the newer version requires some time and cost because sometimes the processes designed in the older versions cannot be migrated to the newer version. Instead of migrating, you can redesign the same process in the newer version. That would be better.

Usually, all developers are involved in the bot maintenance at a later stage. If only considering support and maintenance, you will require two people there. If your team has around ten to fifteen people, you will require two people for support.

Cost-wise, it is fine. A lot of medium businesses prefer Automation Anywhere. The development cost is also lower.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a seven out of ten.

There are two main use cases. We are working to complement their RPA capabilities. They have quite a strong position in the RPA market. Instead of trying to face them on the RPA market, we complete what they do. They are especially not good in the attended space. They are good in unattended but not in the attended space, so we kind of complement them.

The second thing we are working on with them is FortressIQ. Automation Anywhere has a task mining solution. We have a process mining solution, so it is a good completion. We have a product that is doing all the process mining stuff. When we need to investigate further into one precise process, dive a little bit into the details, and understand the number of clicks, the number of screens, and basically all the details of the process, we need a task-mining solution. That is where we have integrated with FortressIQ from Automation Anywhere.

The benefits include a reduction in tedious tasks and manual handling of tasks and time savings. This transition moves processes from several hours to a few minutes or even seconds, ensuring that money is saved. Furthermore, it secures the process, facilitates better execution, eliminates errors, and establishes a standard process, which is much more than just saving money.

The ease of use depends on what you want to do. What we do is quite simple because we are mainly using it from an unattended perspective, so we do not have any human interaction. With humans, you need to do a lot of error management. Automation is precise and simple. If the use case is A, B, and C, and you know how to treat A, B, and C, it will always be that, which is simple. If it is not A, B, or C, then you park it aside and do error handling. In the end, 98% of what you have done is good, and the remaining 2% will be manually handled. You still save about 98% of the time. It is quite easy to use as long as we stay in the unattended space.

We mainly integrated it with non-SAP applications. It is not difficult to integrate Automation Anywhere in the workflow.

It is quite strong in the unattended space.

I never use Automation Anywhere in the attended space because they are bad at that, at least compared to other players like us or UiPath.

I have been working with them for about four years.

I have not contacted them, so I cannot judge them.

We are working with UiPath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, and Power Automate. These are the four ones we are working with.

Automation Anywhere and Blue Prism are very close in terms of market perception, and they are very unattended-oriented. They are quite strong in the unattended space and are more IT-oriented than others, especially UiPath. They are strong in terms of integration.

In terms of ease of use, it is probably one of the best because they are doing a lot of screen scraping. It is more based on the screens and less on APIs, which makes sense from an unattended perspective. However, when you want to have human interaction, it could become a bit more difficult. It is a more techie product than others but also deeper in terms of what you can do with it in terms of integration, etc.

I do not think a perfect RPA tool exists. Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere as a six out of ten. I would rate UiPath higher.

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.

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 have experience using Automation Anywhere to automate various processes, primarily in the banking domain. I've worked on credit card reconciliation for Citibank in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, as well as loan services and contract renewals for CIMB Malaysia. Additionally, I've utilized IQ Bot to analyze Twitter sentiment, identifying positive and negative comments to create service tickets. My experience includes working with ServiceNow, SAP, and mainframe environments, specifically IBM SQL Server.

Automation Anywhere has significantly transformed its platform. Previously, tasks were created and managed locally through the control room panel. However, with the introduction of cloud technology, users can now build and deploy tasks directly in the cloud. By installing a bot agent runner on their systems, tasks can be executed automatically. Furthermore, the platform now integrates with Git and Azure repositories, enabling version control and collaborative development. This means multiple users can work on a single project simultaneously, enhancing efficiency and promoting agile methodologies. Additionally, the platform offers automated code review capabilities, allowing users to track changes and identify contributors. The control room manager also receives email notifications for any modifications made. This transition to the cloud has been a gradual process, spanning two to three years, and has significantly improved the platform's accessibility and functionality.

Automation Anywhere has a two to three-month learning curve.

Integrating Copilot into our system is straightforward. From a chatbot perspective, we can use it for tasks like sending emails or completing daily assignments. By utilizing Automation Anywhere, we can build an agent that functions as a Copilot, automating tasks for us. Copilot is also integrated with machine learning models, providing prompts and responses that can be modified as needed. Its user-friendly interface and ability to integrate with existing applications make it a valuable tool for streamlining daily tasks and improving efficiency.

Copilot has helped to improve our productivity by up to 30 percent.

With the use of Automation Anywhere, the organization has seen improved efficiency, particularly with the introduction of IQ Bot and Metabot for tasks such as extracting data from invoices and purchase orders. The combination of RPA with AI and cloud solutions has considerably transformed our processes, allowing for intelligent document processing and seamless system integration, thus streamlining operations.

I use a variety of AI technologies for our research and development, including generative AI, custom bit models, GPT-4, and LaMDA. We've also built our own product for GPT-4 called Thor, which utilizes intelligent document processing to extract data from contracts, purchase orders, invoices, and receipts. This data is then integrated with our machine-learning models and downstream systems. Our focus is on transforming our processes using RPA, AI, and cloud technologies, migrating existing systems to the cloud and enhancing them with AI and ML capabilities.

I have integrated Automation Anywhere with numerous applications, including Salesforce, ServiceNow, ITSM, SAP including S4/HANA and Fusion, Oracle including Oracle Fusion, Java Technologies, .NET Platform, Maple's Web Platform, various databases including QLS with dual database configurations, and Power Platform. I am also familiar with backend systems like Data Lake.

I enjoy using applications and API integration tools to efficiently connect systems. Our organization favours API automation, so we developed an ML-based automation product. We prioritize API integration for all applications, leveraging our back-end team and custom APIs for seamless connectivity. While UI automation can be time-consuming, API integration, especially with back-end services, is significantly faster. Our strategy involves collaborating with IT business partners to prioritize API development.

Automation Anywhere helps us save at least 85 percent of our costs.

I find the terminal emulator feature very valuable, particularly in how it interacts with IBM mainframe automation. The Control Room and credential vault are also noteworthy features. Control Room ensures security and access management by keeping credentials within a secure vault. The variable panel, with its comprehensive variety list, array, Boolean, and string types, is quite efficient. Additionally, Metabot stands out as an efficient tool for applications that change frequently.

Automation Anywhere's Metabot and IQ Bot have become increasingly efficient tools for automating tasks. IQ Bot, in particular, has evolved significantly since its launch. Initially, it struggled to effectively extract data from various document types like invoices and purchase orders. However, with the integration of built-in machine learning models, IQ Bot now excels at data extraction and processing. Furthermore, users can build custom models to suit their specific needs, leveraging Automation Anywhere's pre-trained models and readily available tools. This continuous development has made IQ Bot far more user-friendly and efficient than its earlier versions.

There are improvements needed in error handling processes, as currently, they rely on start and end error commands. A more strategic approach could enhance efficiency. While the implementation of a structured development approach has been introduced, further enhancements could be made to accommodate non-technical users better, perhaps by making the platform more accessible and user-friendly through a flowchart or diagram-based setup.

Automation Anywhere can be moderately challenging for business users without technical skills. While the platform offers some drag-and-drop functionality, building automation requires a strong understanding of logical operations and scripting. To become proficient, users may need to invest time in learning basic coding concepts or pursuing relevant certifications. This learning curve can mean that users typically require a few months of training before they can effectively build and implement automation.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for approximately eight years.

I would rate the stability of Automation Anywhere as eight out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of Automation Anywhere as eight out of ten. Automation Anywhere is capable of scaling to automate multiple processes and tasks.

Support for Automation Anywhere includes L1, L2, and L3 tiers, which respectively handle various levels of issues from preliminary checks to development challenges.

I have used various other automation solutions including UiPath, Blue Prism, and NICE. Each of them offers different strengths, but Automation Anywhere stands out for its terminal emulator and credential vault.

The initial deployment of Automation Anywhere is straightforward, conducted through the Control Room, where understanding task scheduling is vital for effectiveness. While verifying production readiness takes one day, the actual transition to production is a simple switch.

The implementation of Automation Anywhere has yielded substantial financial and time savings, effectively reducing the workforce by approximately 16 full-time equivalents within six months.

Automation Anywhere's pricing falls within the mid-range, but the long-term benefits outweigh the initial investment. After a year, significant cost savings and efficiency gains become apparent, justifying the expense.

I would rate Automation Anywhere a seven out of ten. The process of building a script is difficult due to the lack of clarity in identifying the problematic stages. While the code highlights issues, the studio's interface is not user-friendly, especially for those unfamiliar with scripting languages. This lack of intuitive design can make it challenging to utilize the solution effectively.

I started using Automation Anywhere during its beta version and continue to use the latest version for both cloud and desktop deployments. One challenge I faced was the extensive number of default commands, 545 in scripting, 2,565 in web and the need for scripting knowledge, particularly when interacting with other services or adjusting system settings. While Automation Anywhere promotes itself as scriptless, understanding coding concepts is beneficial, especially for tasks like connection manipulation. Although the platform offers a vast array of pre-built commands and drag-and-drop functionality, creating custom activities requires building DLLs, which can be complex. Overall, despite some tricky aspects, Automation Anywhere remains a robust tool for both scripting and scriptless automation development.

Upgrading Automation Anywhere can be complex because its products rely on the .NET framework. When namespaces, components, or libraries within the framework are updated, the entire system isn't always fully adjusted to these changes. This necessitates careful analysis of the specific modifications and their impact on the overall system, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of the upgrade's effects.

Our organization has over 45 users of Automation Anywhere.

Automation Anywhere requires monthly maintenance. While patching the virtual machines only requires a reboot with minimal impact on the production environment, any changes to the environment itself, such as modifications to personal systems or processes, will significantly impact production.

The time spent on bot maintenance varies based on the complexity of the tasks. Simple cloud server or production changes require minimal time, approximately two to three hours. Application changes are more involved, with L3 or L2 tickets potentially taking three to four days depending on the service level agreement and impact. Minor L1 tickets, such as troubleshooting malfunctioning ML or server downtime, can involve either small or large changes. Migrating environments, like transitioning from on-premise to cloud, constitutes a major change that can take a month or even a couple of months.

Automation Anywhere offers a robust infrastructure with advanced features like Metabot, IQ Bot, and seamless integration capabilities with AI technologies, making it a commendable choice for automation needs. However, users should have some technical knowledge before using the platform.

It can simply reduce the time taken for various tasks. People get tired of doing the same mundane and repetitive work. They also end up working beyond work hours. With a product like Automation Anywhere, you can develop automation that can work after office hours and assist you 24/7. It provides ease to a company.

When it comes to integration, Automation Anywhere and all other RPA tools majorly work through the user interface. I have used Automation Anywhere with some Microsoft products, cloud-based products, and desktop-based applications, so I have used it in all the fields. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to roll it out to the whole organization. However, I have done RPA implementation for many organizations, and I have been working for more than eight years in this field. The basic structure of all the RPA tools is the same, so I know that this tool can be used in production for all types of applications, such as ERP applications like Oracle EBS or Fusion, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and other Microsoft tools, and, lastly, the desktop applications or terminals. I have done the training of Automation Anywhere. I am certified in Automation Anywhere, and I have experience working with all applications and tools using Automation Anywhere. The integration is very simple. One should only know which feature of Automation Anywhere is to be used to integrate with any of these applications. With the help of the training, one can automate any document or application process using Automation Anywhere.

For me, the best feature of Automation Anywhere is that it is totally cloud-based. We do not need to set up anything in VMs or other machines. It can directly work on the cloud. The orchestration and the control room are well-defined. For development, it provides drag-and-drop activities and automated workflow. In a nutshell, two things that are very helpful in Automation Anywhere are the control room and drag-and-drop activities.

If someone honestly and sincerely completes the basic training available on the portal of Automation Anywhere, one can be a good RPA developer, architect, or engineer. The training available on Automation Anywhere's portal is very helpful for getting someone started with it quickly. One can start using it within one week of dedicated learning.

A standardized improvement area for any RPA tool is making it more user-friendly. This can be done by allowing users to give instructions in their language. For example, one should be able to say in his or her language to automate the login page of the XYZ application. It should be able to create a flow based on the information or screenshots that the user provides. This is the next step that Automation Anywhere should be able to achieve. Based on the information given by a user in the dialog box, the tool should be smart enough to prepare a workflow that the user can simply play and test. It is more related to AI than RPA.

Its stability can also be better.

I started using it eight to nine years ago.

I would rate it a seven out of ten for stability. Sometimes, things are not updated in real-time.

I know companies that are using Automation Anywhere in a global environment across different countries. It is a very good product in that aspect.

In our organization, there are 10 to 15 people working with Automation Anywhere. For maintenance, there are around three people, but they are also doing the development. There are weekly meetings to manage the bots and target applications.

I did not get a chance to work in the production environment, but for my personal grooming, I requested help a couple of times, and I got a good response from them.

I have experience with other products such as UiPath, Blue Prism, and Power Automate.

Previously, Automation Anywhere was not very user-friendly in comparison to UiPath, but now, it is totally cloud-based. It has all the drag-and-drop features, and any nontechnical person can work with Automation Anywhere. However, at that time, this was not the case. We had a team from the fields of IT, accounting, and business consultants. We wanted a product that could be used by everyone instead of just a technical person. That was why we selected UiPath, whereas now, Automation Anywhere has improved a lot. It has all the features and functionalities of other RPA programs, and it is quite easy to use. At the time, Automation Anywhere required a bit of query writing, whereas UiPath was simply drag and drop. Now, Automation Anywhere is a good product, and it has all the features that other RPA products have.

Among all these three products, UiPath is the most stable and has the least number of bugs. Automation Anywhere is at the second number. It has the same functionalities and features as UiPath, and it can do all the things in the same way as UiPath. Automation Anywhere and UiPath are almost on the same page.

I am not sure about the cost of Automation Anywhere, but UiPath starts from $420 per month. I believe Automation Anywhere is more expensive than UiPath, so UiPath has an edge over Automation Anywhere.

Microsoft Power Automate has almost all the RPA features. It can automate semi-complex robots, but it is not suitable for more complex processes. However, its cost is not even a quarter of other products. It has a cost of $15 per month. It is the best tool. If a company wants to buy a product with the lowest cost, I would always recommend Microsoft Power Automate. As the head of automation, I handle the automation strategy. I do a comparative analysis of all the products. I also inform customers or vendors about what they can achieve from the RPA technology.

The deployment is straightforward.

Process Automation takes from one week to six weeks depending upon the complexities of the process to be automated. In terms of maintenance, whenever the interface of any product or website changes, it is a nightmare for the developer. When you automate your tasks, there should be a maintenance activity at least every month so that no complaints come from the business users.

I first used it to do a PoC. I had to do a comparative analysis of the leading RPA products such as Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, and UiPath. At that time, I decided to go with UiPath. UiPath was cost-effective compared to Blue Prism. Automation Anywhere was a bit lower in cost than UiPath, but UiPath was more user-friendly, so we decided to have UiPath in our organization.

We first explored the functionalities and features of the product instead of doing some kind of use cases. Later on, when we selected the product, we developed the use cases in different areas, such as in the area of master data management for the recording of transaction authorizations in the ERP system. We tested Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, and UiPath. The use case was related to master data. At that time, in 2016 or 2017, Automation Anywhere was not that user-friendly in comparison to UiPath. Since then, I have seen a lot of improvement in Automation Anywhere. In some aspects, I feel it is far better than UiPath.

If you are starting with RPA without any prior knowledge, you should focus on the training available on Automation Anywhere's portal. Previously, UiPath's training material was the best, whereas now, Automation Anywhere's training material is the best. It is like spoon-feeding a baby. Anyone who is new in the field of RPA can easily learn from the Automation Anywhere website. It would take you a dedicated one week to learn Automation Anywhere.

I have not used the Automation Co-pilot feature. I believe that the future of any RPA or AI product is where a business user can give requirements in his words or language, such as English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, German, or Norwegian, and the product is smart enough to develop the code for the user. The user can simply use that code. I see this feature in some of the RPA products, but they are not very good at it now. They can understand some of the things, but the output is not very good and impressive.

I would recommend other RPA solutions because of the stability part. It sometimes does not update itself in real time. Sometimes, there is also a factor of cost. I would then recommend Microsoft Power Automate.

Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere a seven out of ten.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

We have seen a return on investment with Automation Anywhere.

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

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.

Coming from a startup background, we lack a formal administrative structure. This means we operate without established procedures and often tackle daily tasks, such as Excel updates or attendance tracking, on an ad-hoc basis. To address these challenges, we develop internal proofs of concept and present them to clients. In my previous role, I automated approximately ten web- and Excel-based processes using Automation Anywhere.

We implemented Automation Anywhere to address the challenge of manually entering data, such as transferring thousands of rows from Excel to a web application. When performed manually at a rate of 200 records per day, this process typically takes five days. By utilizing RPA technology, we can drastically reduce this timeframe to a matter of hours. Our primary goal is to minimize labor hours and enhance efficiency, enabling employees to focus on higher-value tasks like logic and content development instead of repetitive data entry.

The generative AI is helpful for jobs that fail. It will try to redo the same operation by implementing different numbers, and if it succeeds, it will automatically continue the process.

The task process, before and after Automation Anywhere, requires a series of actions performed by either a human or a bot. Previously, without automation, the process was identical. Rather than having employees sit at computers inputting the same data daily, automation allows for their redeployment to other areas such as administration, cash flow management, or payments. The goal of RPA is not job elimination but to enhance efficiency. While automation platforms can handle many tasks, they are not infallible and require human oversight. Regular maintenance and monitoring are essential for any automated process.

The initial learning curve for Automation Anywhere will be challenging because the drag-and-drop interface differs significantly from traditional coding. While packages are used, the underlying logic is expressed visually rather than textually. This transition may take one to two months as users acclimate to the new terminology and approach. Once familiar with the platform, developers will find it easier to construct automation processes due to their existing programming knowledge, which includes concepts like string operations, conditions, loops, and other programming language constructs. Although the terminology will be unfamiliar, the underlying logic remains consistent, making the platform more accessible over time.

The training takes at least four months for technical employees to learn, understand, and implement what they learn.

Automation Copilot is a valuable tool for streamlining daily tasks, but human oversight is essential during execution. For instance, if a sales representative quotes a package requiring managerial approval in a tourism scenario, the process should automatically route to the manager for confirmation via email, message, or another preferred method. While Automation Copilot is beneficial, it's crucial to incorporate a mechanism within the process to handle this manual intervention.

Organizations can benefit from Automation Anywhere's document, web, and Excel automation capabilities.

Automation and AI used to be a frightening prospect for our clients, who feared job displacement. However, they have embraced the idea after experiencing how these technologies can free up their time for more critical tasks.

Our organization has integrated Automation Anywhere with Epicor, Aurora, Dynamic 365, SAP, and Power BI.

Due to the numerous internal teams and domains, Automation Anywhere has been implemented across various IT departments within our organization. Multiple processes within each team have been automated using Automation Anywhere, from account management to application maintenance. These automated processes often involve handling documents, APIs, Excel files, or web-based interactions.

The most valuable feature is the back-end process automation. I primarily encountered this issue in back-end operations. To illustrate, consider the medical industry where I previously worked. ICD codes, a critical component, must be mapped by the administrative department. Traditionally, reconciling a single report was a manual, ten-hour task. Automation Anywhere offers a clear advantage over other market solutions by streamlining these time-consuming back-end processes.

Although the UI and elements are user-friendly, it is still difficult for business users without experience to understand how to use Automation Anywhere.

Automation Copilot has generated a strong foundation, but its analytics capabilities lag behind competitors. While Automation Anywhere offers numerous built-in dashboards, its data visualization options are limited. In contrast, Microsoft Power Automate provides extensive data manipulation and visualization flexibility, allowing users to create various chart types and formats. To remain competitive, Automation Anywhere must significantly enhance its data visualization features.

Licensing fees could be a barrier to entry for many potential customers interested in using Automation Anywhere.

A major drawback of Automation Anywhere is the lack of notification for all customers when upgrades occur. Without any information about these upgrades, it is difficult to determine specific details.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for five years.

I contacted technical support for problems related to the in-progress tab. In 2021 or 2022, numerous tasks appeared in the in-progress tab despite not running on the machines in real time. This led to the development of an API to address the issue. However, a new problem arose: when triggering the bot on runner machines, the bot was not actually triggered on those machines, yet it still appeared in the in-progress tab. This discrepancy persisted despite multiple reports, but the issue was resolved recently.

The initial deployment is straightforward.

BotCity is a newcomer to the RPA market, currently holding ninth place on the top ten list. They are rapidly expanding and offer a unique advantage: no additional software is needed as long as the system supports Python.

I would rate Automation Anywhere seven out of ten.

Maintenance is required for server-based environments but not for cloud-based architectures since Automation Anywhere is self-hosted and managed by them.

We have implemented Automation Anywhere for 2 finance use cases: recurring collections and payment forms processing. To achieve this, we leveraged the platform's invoice-tracking capability and built our bots around it.

We implemented Automation Anywhere to explore more automation possibilities.

We are happy with Automation Anywhere and the good experience it has provided. Automation Anywhere has successfully allowed us to implement our use cases.

We have identified several areas where we could potentially optimize the AI within our automation processes. However, the ultimate decision depends on the cost-effectiveness of automation. While we have a couple of significant use cases that seem well-suited for automation, others involve lower volumes that may not justify the investment. Currently, we're considering Microsoft's automation solutions due to their existing integration with our other Microsoft products. However, we might also explore Automation Anywhere for specific, complementary automation needs.

Someone with little automation experience can still create a bot using Automation Anywhere.

The learning curve of Automation Anywhere is adequate.

The time it takes to train someone to create a bot with Automation Anywhere depends on their existing technical background. For individuals with no prior technical experience, the learning process can take two to three months. However, if someone simply needs to become a casual user of a pre-built bot, a few weeks of training might be enough to get them comfortable navigating its features.

Automation Anywhere has significantly reduced our error rates, particularly in areas like allocating payment receipts and collections. Before implementing it, human error was a major issue. Automation Anywhere has effectively addressed this problem. Of course, reducing human involvement is a natural consequence of automation. However, a surprising benefit we've observed over the past two and a half years is that data quality has also improved significantly. Allocations have become much more accurate, which is an incredible advantage. Initially, the existing data was riddled with errors. Consequently, the automation rate was far lower than anticipated. However, as we progressively corrected the database, the automation rate steadily climbed, and error rates began to decline. It took roughly six to eight months to see the benefits.

Our organization has a defined AI automation strategy. We recognize its importance and have prioritized its development over the next two to three years. This focus on AI, particularly in customer service, will help us gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Automation Anywhere is integrated with our ERP, human portals, supplier portal, and CRM.

Automation Anywhere has been instrumental in saving us both time and money. It serves as a core strategy in our efforts to streamline operations and reduce our reliance on manual labor. This has allowed us to handle multiple workloads with increased stability. We are committed to continuing on this path of automation to further optimize our processes.

While we initially implemented Automation Anywhere due to its inherent strengths, the software landscape has evolved significantly in the past two and a half years. Several competing products now offer superior functionality compared to Automation Anywhere's current capabilities. Microsoft's automation solutions are particularly compelling. They integrate seamlessly with the wider Microsoft product suite, which is often the core software environment for many businesses. This integration advantage isn't present with Automation Anywhere, which operates independently of Microsoft products.

The price has room for improvement.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for 2.5 years.

Automation Anywhere is a stable product.

Automation Anywhere is known for its scalability. This means that financial institutions can leverage it to automate large processes without worrying about the platform's ability to handle the increased workload. In simpler terms, Automation Anywhere can grow alongside our automation needs.

In the past, we relied on other automation applications. However, these applications lacked the flexibility and adaptability of a bot.

The deployment process was successful thanks to the contributions of the third-party implementation team.

The full deployment took eight months to complete.

For the implementation, we leveraged a third-party vendor with expertise in Automation Anywhere.

The positive return on investment for Automation Anywhere is clear after two years of successfully automating a few business processes.

Automation Anywhere, once a competitively priced option in the RPA market, has seen a shift in its pricing strategy. Currently, it stands as one of the more expensive RPA tools available.

In our evaluation of RPA tools, we've considered Microsoft Power Automate and UiPath. Automation Anywhere, while a strong contender, appears to have a steeper technical learning curve compared to the other two options.

I would rate Automation Anywhere six out of ten.

We rely on an external company to handle the maintenance of our Automation Anywhere software.

Companies considering an Automation Anywhere solution should approach it with a long-term perspective. Ideally, they should be prepared for a ten-year commitment. This allows them to understand how the product will evolve and adapt over time. A ten-year timeframe, or at least eight years, provides a significant advantage compared to a two to three-year outlook. By taking a long view, companies can ensure they are well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing development and reshaping of the Automation Anywhere platform.

The use cases depend on the group functions that are in our business units. They are related to finance, procurement, and marketing spaces. This is where we are heavily utilizing it for productivity gains in terms of FTE realization.

It is an enterprise-grade tool for us. At the COE level, we are using it for automations related to the group functions. We have a comprehensive team of around 30 to 40 people supporting it. It is not used for one or two use cases. It is a proper enterprise-grade automation mechanism for us for different areas. On average, we do a couple of million dollars of automation engagements annually with it.

It meets the productivity targets that we have set for ourselves. The customer service that they provide is also quite efficient. They try to keep a close eye on our key problem areas and how they can be a partner in solving it. It has always been a very positive collaboration with them.

The integration of automation into our workflows, APIs, business applications, and documents with Automation Anywhere is quite good. It is quite seamless and scalable. They are certified. We can only adopt it if it is a certified integration.

Automation Anywhere has helped save time and cost. The savings are tangible and recorded with us.

The core RPA service that it provides and the stability that it has in maintaining that as a cloud service solution is a key enabler for us. Its stability is good, and the low-code/no-code setup that it has is very user-efficient.

The AI centricity is a bit behind compared to the way we see Microsoft and AWS doing it. This is the feedback that I have also given to them. They need to expand themselves to provide more services than just RPA. Only RPA may not be enough for us, and it would not be our preferred choice for an automation tool.

I have been using Automation Anywhere for around three years.

It is quite stable. I would rate it an eight out of ten for stability.

Its scalability is quite good. It is much better and improved now. I would rate it a seven out of ten for scalability.

It is being used by multiple departments at one location. It is being used purely at the group functions level such as finance, supply, and marketing, but not for the asset-centric operations with mining and other things.

They are quite good. I would rate them an eight out of ten.

We are using both Automation Anywhere and Power Automate Desktop for different purposes. Automation Anywhere is our COE tool, whereas Power Automate Desktop is our citizen developer tool. We have good experience with both of them, but we are trying to make a switch from Automation Anywhere to Power Automate Desktop as a part of our cost-efficiency drive. We are doing a competitive analysis to see whether we are ready for it or not.

Overall, Automation Anywhere has been stable, especially the latest versions, but its usage is expensive for us. Power Automate Desktop is our preferred tool.

Our business users who are not technical are more comfortable with Power Automate Desktop than Automation Anywhere. Automation Anywhere is a COE-grade tool. It is not for citizen developers. Automation Anywhere is easy for professional developers or someone who has experience with automation technology. It would take a non-technical person a month of hands-on experience to learn it.

The deployment was good, but the migration to the cloud was a bit tedious. It was an extensive engagement.

The upgrades are quite seamless now because it is now in the cloud, so the effort is quite less. We have a team set up for maintenance.

A team of around 20 people was needed because it was a big-scale implementation. In migration, 25 to 30 people were involved. We have a DevOps team for operational support with almost the same number of people.

We have seen ROI for our original automations. They were mostly low-hanging fruits with savings of a few FTEs, but the moment any automation has an ROI of only one FTE, it is not an economical solution for us to use. Power Automate Desktop is cheaper for us to use.

Its usage is expensive for us because my user base is mostly in Manila and KL. The unit cost of labor is cheaper there than in the U.S. or Australia, which puts a bit more stress on how to get a positive ROI while continuing to use it.

I would rate it a six out of ten for pricing.

I would absolutely recommend Automation Anywhere. It has great potential. The people who provide services are quite professional. They want us to succeed in our journey. They are not only interested in profits. They want us to do well.

When it comes to automation and AI, there is a huge appetite at the group functions level but not much on the asset side of it. We are more focused on health and safety, and from the functional or transactional aspect, we have a keen interest in the overall automation and AI.

Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere a seven out of ten.