Robotic Process Automation (RPA): the battle for vendor supremacy

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a disruptive technology that can improve workforce productivity by freeing up employees from routine, repetitive tasks so they can concentrate on instances which require human strengths e.g. reasoning, judgement or interaction with a customer. Robots can often complete tasks more accurately and tirelessly which accelerates process execution and improves customer satisfaction. Organisations which are swift to identify the massive benefits of automation are in an advantageous position to have substantial cost advantages and organisational agility. However with a variety of RPA vendors in the marketspace, it can be a challenge for business leaders to understand which type of automation is best suited to their company’s needs. Below are some of the most popular RPA options available on the market.

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Blue Prism

Blue Prism is built on the battle hardened Microsoft. NET framework, which automates all applications and supports a plethora of platforms such as Windows or Java, which is presented in multiple forms e.g. Citrix, web browser, thick/thin client or terminal emulator.

Blue Prism’s Release Manager module is designed with a purpose to be repackaged for multi-environment deployment, which includes a centralised release management interface and process change distribution model, which provides high levels of visibility and control. Additional control can be provided to the organisation through a centralised model for process development and re-use.

WorkFusion

WorkFusion is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) crowd computing platform, which makes use of crowdsourced workforces to impart algorithms in order to automate a large amount of work, predominantly in sectors such as eCommerce, retail and financial services. SmartCrowd empowers organisations with the ability to distribute workloads between teams, sourcing workers with niche skills from across the globe to support workforce capacity. Its Smart Process Automation platform also allows complex processes to be easily configured with drag-and-drop templates.

WorkFusion automates the observing of sources and data feeds and leverages statistical quality control (SQC) to guarantee the accuracy of work. The solution combines into one platform the core competencies needed to digitise complex business processes: business process management (BPM), RPA, workforce orchestration, and machine learning-powered cognitive automation.

WorkFusion’s RPA platform lets fall to many obstacles which could hamper innovation by allowing clients to increase the scale and productivity of their workforce flexibly.

UiPath

UiPath is a free RPA tool for automating any web or desktop application. It enables global enterprises to design, deploy and control a robotic workforce capable of administering rules-based tasks.

UiPath also provides deployment management, change management, access control, remote execution, process modeling and scheduling, execution monitoring, auditing and analytics in full compliance with enterprise security and governance best practices. Like with WorkFusion, UiPath has a user-friendly drag-and-drop system which requires minimal knowledge of .Net making it more accessible to novice users.

Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere’s Enterprise combines typical RPA with cognitive components e.g. reading unstructured data and natural language processing. Automation Anywhere is flexible enough to be implemented within a variety of settings such as public, private or cloud, by utilising both front and back office support robots to undertake a variety of tasks. The tool can mechanically scale the robotic workforce to meet the demands of workloads.

Automation Anywhere however does lack in some areas. For example the platform is script-based which does reduce the accessibility of the product to novice users, due to the lack of visual process designer capabilities.

Pega

Pega is a unified and model-driven platform that enables app building without code. Pega uses .net framework and is versatile enough to be used solely or integrated by visual studio by using its plug-in. The platform uses an organisation rule-management system and a predictive-analytics decision management engine to undertake numerous tasks which include rule processing, data handling, rule processing, cross-platform user interfacing, content and case management and application integration.

One of Pega’s tools is OpenSpan Desktop Analytics, which captures user desktop activity, recognises opportunities for Business Process Improvement and creates an audit trail for performance observing.

Above are simply some of the most popular RPA vendors available in this extremely competitive marketspace.