RPA is a process where routine, mundane, or repetitive and boring tasks are undertaken by a software called robots, replicating the humans executing tasks.
RPA is increasingly becoming a key element of future Digital Transformation journeys. As many realise in recent times, RPA is a process where routine, mundane, or repetitive and boring tasks are undertaken by a software called robot/s, replicating the humans executing those tasks manually.
Let’s take a look at the top 3 products offering RPA services to help an organisation efficiently automate their business operations.
UiPath:
The UiPath platform is typically composed of 3 modules: the UiPath Robots, UiPath Studio and UiPath Orchestra.
The UiPath robots can operate in attended mode – in cooperation with business employees who intervene in the processes when there is such a need, or in unattended back office mode in which the robot operates without human support. The bots are trained to constantly balance priorities, requirements and ongoing demand with the availability. They are equipped with the Computer Vision systems relying upon Optical Character Recognition processing algorithms and enabling them to locate screen images in less than 100 milliseconds.
The UiRobots are automatically configured to the UiOrchestrator – the controlling body centralising the enterprise operations. Thanks to the synchronisation, different business units can work privately from one server, which is a huge advantage especially for companies with departments distributed across the globe. It minimises the operational costs of the business, and also ensures better resource utilisation. The last module is designed to help modelling all the business processes regardless of the user’s skill level.
One of the competitive advantages of the UiPath services is that the company offers free trial version for their potential users.
Blue Prism:
Blue Prism is another top provider of the RPA solutions. Its digital workforce is built on the Microsoft. NET Framework and is compatible with any platforms and applications, enabling the automation of many different processes within an organisation. The configuration of Blue Prism is code-free, meaning the processes may be created and managed not only by IT specialists. Blue Prism provides its customers with online training platform and an access to accredited training partners. The platform is equipped with the Control Room through which the distributed robots are controlled and monitored, and the processes execution is scheduled. Blue Prism has been appreciated by its users for its simplicity in working with structured data.
Automation Anywhere:
Automation Anywhere offers bots that can automate even very complex applications and can be created using intuitive drag and drop commands, screen recorders and AI-based intelligent automation. Admin user can monitor the work of bots through the Control Room, just as in the other platforms mentioned previously. What makes the enterprise stand out from its competitors is the marketplace with ready-to-deploy bots. Among the enterprise products there is the IQ Bot which with use of very advanced cognitive technologies is able observe and learn from human behaviour.
Since the companies operate in the same sector and all of them offer core RPA capabilities, they profiles are very comparable.
A brief comparison of 3 top RPA vendors is as below:
| Feature | UiPath | BluePrism | Automation Anywhere |
| Scalability | Limited; debugging features frequently crash in large projects | High; good capacity of handling large scale robot deployments | Limited |
| Security | RBAC Data encryption All code Veracode tested | Active Directory Data encryption Secure storage of network and software credentials | CyberArkTM Integration Locker Management RBAC Data encryption |
| Trial version | Free trial version | No | 30 days trial version |
| Unattended bots | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Attended bots | Yes | No | Yes |
| Industries | BPO, Finance & Banking, Insurance, Healthcare, Telecom, Manufacturing | BPO, Telcom, Utilities & Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Capital Markets, Logistics | Finance & Banking, Manufacturing, Aviation, Utilities & Energy, Oil & Gas, Networking hardware |
| On-premise | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| In cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Access | Browser/Mobile | App based | App based |
| Cognitive capabilities | Low | Low | Medium to High |
| Architecture | Web based | Client-server | Client-server |
| Certification & Education | UiPath Academy: Free online training Certification Programs | Academia Program Online training platform, accredited training partners | Automation Anywhere University Online courses |
When it comes to cost, it is very hard to compare and choose which RPA solution is the best, since all platform use quote-based pricing model, which is specifically tailored to the customer needs. However, the main difference is that Automation Anywhere offers pricing per process while the two others pricing per bots.
Application of RPA solutions – Examples in various industries:
BPO
- 95% of BPO customers use Citrix solutions. Thanks to the UiPath intelligent computer vision and image recognition Citrix automation speed may be up to 10X faster and more reliable.
- The multitenancy and multi-robot residency would enable the RPA users to develop centralised automation teams in few global centres and manage the digital workforce in the Cloud.
- Since the BPO services usually rely on big customer bases and focus on high volume transactions, the UiPath’s Intelligent Operations Platform enabling the management of large volumes of work could be a big advantage for them.
Finance & Banking:
- The RPA solutions may have application to Credit Underwriting processes, both to retail credit assessment and retail fraud prevention. RPA products, such as BluePrism which is equipped with great features to extract text and data will be very useful in this case. One of the operations that could be automated with use of the bots is checking information about the credit applicant and presenting it to the credit analyst who will then assess its viability.
- Through an identification of transaction patterns, the RPA product could help detect potential frauds.
- The Optical Character Recognition technology enclosed in UiPath products enables the interpretation of scans of paperwork which can be later transfered it into digital formats. Since many finance institutions still use paper invoices and purchase orders, they may find this feature very helpful.
Healthcare:
- Software robot’s expenses is typically one-fifth the cost of a full-time healthcare staff member
- There is a great compatibility of RPAs systems with existing healthcare software and applications. Around 90% of large healthcare providers use Citrix solutions which UiPath works exceptionally well with.
Manufacturing
The RPA bots provide real time reporting which helps manufacturers to determine the optimal inventory levels and to modify current operations based on patterns in demand
Sales & Retail
- Automating sales operations eliminate the risk of human error and improves the operation speed through, for instance, quicker invoice issuing, which in turn leads to earlier payments collection from the customers
- Customer onboarding may be completed almost instantaneously with use of OCR or cognitive automation which is provided by the Automation Anywhere services.
References:
- Internet
Disclaimer Note: The insights above are for basic awareness and information purposes only. We DO NOT hold any responsibility for the features & functionalities provided by respective RPA products whatsoever.