Blue Prism - Detailed Review
Business Tools
Blue Prism - Product Overview
Introduction to Blue Prism
Blue Prism is a leading provider of intelligent enterprise automation, particularly in the field of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Here’s a brief overview of its primary function, target audience, and key features:
Primary Function
Blue Prism’s main function is to automate complicated, end-to-end business processes that are typically performed manually. It creates a digital workforce that interacts with systems in a way similar to human users, adhering to rule-based business processes. This automation helps organizations streamline operations, increase efficiency, and reduce the need for manual tasks.
Target Audience
The target audience for Blue Prism includes large enterprises across various industries such as banking, finance, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. These organizations often have high-volume, repetitive tasks that can significantly benefit from automation. Blue Prism’s solutions are particularly appealing to IT professionals, business analysts, and operational teams looking to optimize their workflows.
Key Features
- Intelligent Execution Technology: Blue Prism’s platform allows organizations to teach an autonomous engine to run processes based on priorities, volumes, and service level agreements (SLAs). This engine can dynamically adjust and change robot allocation without human intervention.
- Compatibility with Multiple Platforms: The software is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and is compatible with a variety of platforms, including mainframes, Windows applications, Java, SAP, Citrix, and web services. This adaptability makes it versatile for different technological environments.
- Enterprise AI and Automation: Blue Prism offers a comprehensive platform that includes AI-powered automation and orchestration, helping organizations connect their people, business processes, and technology. This integration enables businesses to automate, innovate, and orchestrate their processes more effectively.
- Scalability and Security: The platform is known for its scalability and security, making it suitable for enterprise-grade automation. It also benefits from strong partnerships with technology providers, which enhances its capabilities and reliability.
By leveraging these features, Blue Prism helps organizations achieve greater efficiency, reduce manual errors, and enhance overall productivity.
Blue Prism - User Interface and Experience
User Interface of Blue Prism
The user interface of Blue Prism, a leading tool in the Business Tools AI-driven product category, is structured to provide a clear and organized experience for its users.Interface Layout
When you log into Blue Prism, you are presented with six main modules: Home, Studio, Control, Analytics, Release, and System. These modules are accessible both vertically on the left side and horizontally across the top of the interface, allowing users to switch between them easily.Modules Overview
Home Module
This module serves as the dashboard where you can view key metrics such as workforce availability and total automation volumes. It provides a quick overview of the system’s status.Studio Module
Here, you can design and create workflows. The Studio is divided into sub-modules like Process and Object, where you can create processes and objects to interact with various applications. This module also allows you to manage resources, create queues, and manage user accounts.Control Module
This area is focused on controlling and monitoring the automation processes.Analytics Module
Provides analytical insights into the automation processes.Release Module
Handles the deployment and management of automation releases.System Module
Deals with system settings and configurations.Ease of Use
While Blue Prism offers a comprehensive set of features, its usability can be somewhat challenging, especially for non-technical users. The interface relies on a mix of business and programming concepts, which may require some learning. For example, when interacting with time or Boolean values, users need to understand specific terminology like Date, DateTime, Time, Timespan, Binary, and Flag.User Experience
The user experience is enhanced by several features:Multi-Language Interface
The interface supports multiple languages, making it accessible worldwide.Region Editor
This feature helps in locating and selecting regions, enhancing flexibility in automation tasks.Adaptive Positioning Technology
This technology automates application fields and controls regardless of their on-screen position, improving the speed of RPA bots.Published Dashboards
Provides insights through packaged and externalized analytics data, ensuring visibility within third-party tools.Additional Features
Blue Prism also includes features like Process Intelligence, which offers a no-code interface, making it easier to use and accessible even for users without extensive technical knowledge. This feature helps in creating digital twins of end-to-end processes, identifying bottlenecks, and simulating improvements. In summary, while Blue Prism’s interface is well-organized and feature-rich, it may require some time for users to become familiar with its technical aspects. However, the inclusion of multi-language support, adaptive technologies, and no-code interfaces aims to make the tool more accessible and user-friendly. Blue Prism - Key Features and Functionality
Blue Prism Overview
Blue Prism, a leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platform, offers a plethora of features that transform and automate various business processes, integrating advanced AI and intelligent automation capabilities. Here are the key features and how they work:
Scalability and Flexibility
Blue Prism is built for enterprise-level automation, allowing organizations to scale operations quickly without compromising performance or security. It supports deployment across cloud, on-premise, and hybrid environments, providing flexibility based on business needs.
Plug & Play Access
The Blue Prism RPA technology ecosystem provides plug-and-play access to various business functions such as process mining, document management, workflow, analytics, OCR/ICR, AI, chat, and cognitive and natural language processing. This eliminates the need for coding or development, making it a best-in-class digital operating system for business processes.
Work Queues and Resource Management
Blue Prism uses a queue-centric approach to dynamically regulate the number of robots or resources working on a given queue at any time. This allows for precise control over the number of robots assigned to work in the queue, aligning with the company’s specific needs.
Intelligent Automation Skills
Blue Prism integrates with AI, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) technologies, enabling more than basic task automation. It can intelligently interpret and act on data, including unstructured data from sources like text documents, emails, and customer interactions. This integration helps in automating repetitive business processes, reducing errors, and improving efficiency.
Multi-Team Environments
This feature allows control over business processes and digital workers within a single environment. It enables mixing and matching different processes, resources, and objects, ensuring a high level of scalability and security. Role-based access control ensures that only authorized users can build and access processes, maintaining compliance.
Object Studio, Process Studio, Control Room, and Release Manager
- Object Studio: Enables the creation of reusable Visual Business Objects (VBOs) for business processes.
- Process Studio: Allows designing, creating, editing, and testing business processes developed from reusable VBOs.
- Control Room: Manages the scheduling, running, and handling of processes.
- Release Manager: Streamlines and automates release and change management functions within the platform.
Security
Blue Prism prioritizes security with features like role-based access control, data encryption, and comprehensive audit trails. These measures ensure that the automation processes are secure and compliant with organizational standards.
Easy Integration
The platform easily integrates with a wide range of applications and systems, such as ERP, CRM, and databases. This seamless integration ensures automation across various tools without disrupting existing workflows.
Process Monitoring and Analytics
Blue Prism provides detailed insights and analytics on process performance, helping businesses track automation success and identify areas for improvement. Published dashboards offer unprecedented insights by packaging and externalizing analytics data, ensuring visibility within third-party tools.
AI and NLP Integration
The integration with expert.ai’s Natural Language Understanding technology enables digital workers to harvest language data from different sources, understand it, and deliver previously unreachable insights. This helps in automating processes based on large volumes of unstructured data, such as emails and customer interactions.
Adaptive Positioning Technology
This feature supports automating application fields and controls regardless of their on-screen position, enhancing the speed of RPA bots. It ensures that the automation can adapt to changes in the user interface without manual adjustments.
Multi-Language Interface
The multilingual UI of Blue Prism expands its usability worldwide, as key screens are displayed in local languages other than English. This feature supports double-byte character sets, extending robotic automation support to processes and systems that demand such capabilities, like those in Asian languages.
Generative AI and Intelligent Automation
Blue Prism can leverage generative AI to automate complex processes, such as customer complaint handling. It uses AI to understand the context of emails, personalize responses, and automate follow-up actions, significantly improving customer service efficiency and reducing response times.
Conclusion
These features collectively make Blue Prism a powerful tool for automating and transforming business processes, leveraging AI and intelligent automation to enhance efficiency, scalability, and security.
Blue Prism - Performance and Accuracy
Performance
Blue Prism is recognized for its ability to enhance operational efficiency and accuracy through its robotic process automation (RPA), business process management (BPM), intelligent document processing (IDP), and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Here are some performance highlights:
Scalability
Blue Prism has demonstrated significant scalability, as seen in SS&C Technologies’ implementation, where they expanded their digital workforce from over 1,000 to 3,000 digital workers, leading to a $100 million run-rate cost reduction and improved operational efficiency.
Cloud Deployment
The platform can be effectively deployed on cloud infrastructure, such as Oracle Cloud, which facilitates easy scaling and management of cloud resources. This deployment model helps in maintaining business continuity and resiliency.
Accuracy
Accuracy is a critical aspect of Blue Prism’s performance:
Precision and Reliability
Blue Prism is praised for its precision and reliability, particularly in automating repetitive and rule-based tasks. This precision helps in delivering consistent and accurate outcomes, which is crucial for client satisfaction.
Process Automation
The platform automates tasks by mimicking human actions, ensuring high accuracy and consistency in process execution. This automation helps in improving process quality, efficiency, and compliance.
Limitations and Areas for Improvement
Despite its strengths, Blue Prism has several areas that require improvement:
Resource Monitoring and Co-management
Users have highlighted the need for better resource monitoring, especially when scheduling multiple processes. Additionally, there is a lack of a co-management product to handle multiple developers, which includes features like version control.
User Interface and Usability
The user interface is often described as outdated and not very user-friendly. Users have suggested improvements such as a more modern interface, better administration screens, and the inclusion of a recording feature similar to those in Microsoft and SAP systems.
Integration and Compatibility
Blue Prism faces challenges in integrating with certain applications, such as Oracle’s suite of ERPs, and lacks connectors for some other applications. There is also a need for better support for unstructured data like PDFs and images.
Security
Security is another area of concern, particularly in terms of administration access and data protection. Users have noted that the current security measures are not sufficient, especially compared to other tools like Servicetrace.
Additional Features
Blue Prism lacks features such as attended automation, process mining, and AI Fabric, which are available in competitors like UiPath. There is also a need for better testing tools, exception handling frameworks, and machine learning integration.
Cost and Scalability
Scaling Blue Prism can be expensive due to additional license costs and infrastructure requirements. Users have suggested that it should be easier to expand the user base without incurring high costs.
In summary, while Blue Prism excels in performance and accuracy through its automation capabilities, it has several areas that need improvement to enhance its overall usability, integration, security, and feature set. Addressing these limitations could further strengthen its position in the business tools AI-driven product category.
Blue Prism - Pricing and Plans
The Pricing Structure of Blue Prism
The pricing structure of Blue Prism, an AI-driven RPA (Robotic Process Automation) tool, is primarily based on annual subscriptions and can be summarized as follows:
Annual Licensing Fees
- The standard licensing fees for Blue Prism start at around $3,000 to $4,000 per year, although these prices can vary based on the specific deal and the number of processes or users involved.
- For larger-scale implementations, the annual fees can be significantly higher, with some users reporting costs around $10,000 to $15,000 per year, depending on the number of processors or digital workers used.
Implementation Costs
- In addition to the licensing fees, there are implementation costs to consider. These can include setting up the necessary infrastructure, such as servers, and the costs associated with the people involved in the setup process. These costs can add up to around $30,000 in the first year.
Tiers and Features
- While specific tiers are not explicitly outlined, the pricing is generally scalable based on the enterprise’s needs. For example, larger enterprises with more than 50 bots may find the cost per bot more manageable compared to smaller-scale implementations.
- The licensing model can include different categories such as platinum, gold, and silver customers, which may offer varying levels of support and features, though the exact differences are not detailed in the available sources.
Free Trial
- Blue Prism offers a 30-day free trial, available both on the cloud and on-premises. This trial includes access to training materials and the same level of security as the full product. This allows potential users to evaluate the platform before committing to a purchase.
Additional Costs
- There are no additional fees beyond the standard licensing charges, although users can opt for increased support levels by paying an extra 10% to 20% on their licenses.
- The costs for support are typically included in the annual licensing fee.
Given the variability in pricing based on specific deals and the lack of detailed tiered plans in the available sources, it is recommended to contact the vendor directly for the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information.
Blue Prism - Integration and Compatibility
Integration with Other Tools
Blue Prism offers several features that facilitate integration with other tools and technologies:Plug & Play Access
This feature allows for easy integration with various business functions such as process mining, document management, workflow, analytics, OCR/ICR, AI, chat, cognitive, and natural language processing without requiring any coding or development.
Web API
The platform supports the configuration of third-party connections using Visual Business Objects (VBOs). This enables users to drag and drop VBOs into business processes, integrating with external web services like those from Google, AWS, IBM, and Microsoft.
Web Service Support
Blue Prism can invoke existing web services using WSDL to represent these services as Blue Prism objects within its Process Studio and Object Studio. It supports various web service types, including RPC/Encoded, RPC/Literal, and Document/Literal.
Digital Exchange
This feature provides access to an ecosystem of best-in-class AI technologies from trusted enterprises. It offers pre-built solutions and functions through downloadable resources, enhancing the capabilities of RPA bots.
Cloud Integration
Blue Prism is highly compatible with cloud environments, which is crucial for scalability and flexibility:Cloud Deployment Support
The platform supports full cloud integration, including integration with Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS cloud platforms. This allows businesses to deploy and manage their digital workforce in cloud environments, ensuring scalability and high availability.
Out of the Box API Integration
With cloud integration, customers can access key automation software through RESTful APIs, including Natural Language Processing (NLP), translation, and visual recognition. This integration enables the processing of unstructured data from various sources.
Compatibility Across Different Platforms and Devices
Blue Prism ensures compatibility across various platforms and devices:Windows Compatibility
Blue Prism is compatible with Windows 11, although there may be some minor issues with specific elements when using UIA mode. It is recommended to test automations in a development or user acceptance environment before deploying to production.
Browser Support
The platform offers native support for automating web pages and applications in Chrome through the Blue Prism Chrome extension. It also supports Firefox with a browser plug-in, enabling automation of web-based applications.
Multi-Language Interface
Blue Prism features a multilingual UI, supporting languages other than English, including double-byte character sets for languages like those in Asia. This enhances its usability worldwide.
Security and Compliance
Blue Prism prioritizes security and compliance, ensuring that the integration and deployment processes are secure:Enhanced Security and Accuracy
The platform ensures highly secure and accurate automation of tasks, maintaining data integrity and compliance with industry standards. It uses data security protocols to safeguard sensitive information during automation.
Centralized Management
The Control Room and System Manager components allow for centralized management of user access and system settings, ensuring that only authorized users can build and access processes.
In summary, Blue Prism’s integration capabilities and compatibility across different platforms and devices make it a versatile and reliable choice for businesses looking to automate their processes efficiently and securely.
Blue Prism - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support Options
When using Blue Prism’s AI-driven business tools, you have access to a comprehensive array of customer support options and additional resources to ensure you get the most out of their products.Product Support
Blue Prism’s Product Support team is available to help with any issues or questions you may have about their products. This team manages the Knowledge Base, which is filled with advice, how-to guides, and information on known issues with current versions, as well as service status alerts. You can access the support portal to view the knowledge base, check on existing tickets, or raise new ones. The level of support you receive depends on your subscription, so it’s a good idea to check with your account manager for details.Knowledge Support
The Knowledge Support team provides expert guidance and enablement on automation best practices. These sessions are typically booked in 2-hour slots and can be scheduled online. The number of Knowledge Support hours available also depends on your subscription, so consult your account manager if you’re unsure.Professional Services
Blue Prism’s Professional Services team offers a range of services to help you build and optimize your automation programs. With over 20 years of experience, they can assist in implementing Blue Prism products, optimizing processes, creating custom solutions, and future-proofing your automation program for scalability. If you’ve hired their professional services, they will be in touch after your kick-off call.Account Management
Your Account Manager is your central point of contact at SS&C Blue Prism. They can help with upgrades, additional purchases, accessing services, and more. If you’re unsure who your Account Manager is, you can contact the support team for assistance.Customer Success
The Customer Success team works closely with your Account Manager to ensure you achieve your automation goals. They advocate for your needs within SS&C Blue Prism and keep you updated on best practices. Your Customer Success Manager will be in touch via a series of emails when you sign up.Community Support
The SS&C Blue Prism Community is a valuable resource where you can connect with thousands of automation professionals. Here, you can ask and answer questions, discuss best practices, participate in events and user groups, and engage with local language groups. This community is a great place to learn from others who face similar challenges and to contribute your own expertise.Status Page and Notifications
You can also bookmark the Status Page to view the status of all online services and products, and subscribe to status notifications to stay informed about any service updates or issues.Conclusion
These resources are designed to support you at every stage of your automation journey, ensuring you have the help and guidance you need to succeed with Blue Prism’s products. Blue Prism - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Blue Prism
Scalability and Reliability
One of the significant advantages of Blue Prism is its high scalability. It uses pre-built components and libraries, allowing users to scale their automation solutions quickly without the need for coding. This scalability, combined with its reliability, makes it a favorite among large enterprises.
Security Features
Blue Prism is known for its strong security features, including multi-factor authentication, firewalls, user access control, and audits. These features ensure that the automation processes are secure and compliant with enterprise standards.
Ease of Use
The platform offers a visual designer with drag-and-drop functionalities, making it accessible for business users who have basic logical thinking skills but no coding knowledge. This ease of use enables non-developers to configure and automate processes effectively.
Integration Capabilities
Blue Prism integrates well with various enterprise applications, both on-premise and cloud-based. It supports integration with platforms like Google, Amazon Web Services, IBM, Microsoft, and more, ensuring seamless automation across different environments.
Control Room and Exception Handling
The Control Room in Blue Prism allows administrators to schedule, review, and control process activities and runtime resources. This feature simplifies troubleshooting and managing automated tasks.
Reporting and Analytics
Blue Prism provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities, leveraging machine learning and business intelligence to offer real-time analytics and statistics of each step in the process.
Disadvantages of Blue Prism
Limited AI and Cognitive Capabilities
Blue Prism lacks strong artificial intelligence and cognitive features compared to some of its competitors. This limitation can impact its ability to handle complex tasks that require advanced AI capabilities.
Higher Cost
Blue Prism is generally more expensive, especially in the short term, and operates on a per-bot licensing model. This can be a significant drawback for businesses with limited budgets.
Steeper Learning Curve
While the platform is user-friendly for non-developers, it has a steeper learning curve compared to some other RPA tools. This can make it challenging for new users to get started quickly.
Limited Community Engagement
Blue Prism has lower engagement with its community and is slower in implementing user-requested features. This can affect the availability of certified developers and the overall community support.
No Free Edition
Unlike some other RPA tools, Blue Prism does not offer a free community edition. However, it does provide a 180-day free Blue Prism Learning Edition, which is available with a Blue Prism Digital Exchange Account.
Automation Limitations in Virtual Machines
Blue Prism can automate tasks within its installed environment but faces challenges when automating tasks within virtual machines like Citrix. This requires highly experienced developers, which can be difficult to find.
By considering these pros and cons, businesses can make an informed decision about whether Blue Prism aligns with their specific automation needs and goals.
Blue Prism - Comparison with Competitors
When Comparing Blue Prism to Competitors
When comparing Blue Prism to its competitors in the AI-driven business tools category, several key differences and unique features emerge that can help you make an informed decision.
Blue Prism
Blue Prism is renowned for its strong focus on security and governance, making it a preferred choice for large enterprises with stringent compliance requirements. Here are some of its key features:
- Robust Security and Governance: Blue Prism stands out with its enterprise-grade security and compliance capabilities, which are crucial for industries that require high levels of data protection and regulatory adherence.
- Scalability: It offers a highly scalable architecture, allowing it to handle complex processes across large organizations.
- Integration: Blue Prism has strong integration options, although it may require more technical expertise to set up and manage.
UiPath
UiPath is a strong competitor to Blue Prism, known for the following:
- User-Friendly Interface: UiPath boasts a user-friendly interface and extensive community support, making it accessible for both developers and non-developers. This ease of use allows for rapid deployment and scaling of automation initiatives.
- AI and Machine Learning: UiPath excels in its AI and machine learning capabilities, enabling more intelligent automation solutions. It also provides a wide range of built-in activities and pre-built templates, which simplify the automation process.
- Flexible Pricing: UiPath offers a more flexible pricing model, including a free community edition and tiered pricing for different levels of enterprise needs.
Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere is another significant player in the RPA space:
- Cloud-Native Architecture: It offers a cloud-native RPA platform that supports both attended and unattended automation. This platform is known for its ease of use combined with powerful automation features.
- Bot Store: Automation Anywhere has a comprehensive Bot Store where users can access pre-built bots for various tasks, which can significantly reduce the time to value.
- Analytics and AI: The platform is strong in cognitive automation and analytics, enabling smarter decision-making processes. It also supports end-to-end process orchestration, document processing, and advanced security and governance features.
ElectroNeek RPA and AI Platform
ElectroNeek is another alternative that offers:
- Low-Code Automation: ElectroNeek provides low-code automation tools based on RPA, IDP, AI, and GPT-4 technologies. It integrates AI bots with employee workflows to automate routines and help humans focus on more creative tasks.
- Better Support and Training: Users have praised ElectroNeek for its better support and training compared to Blue Prism.
Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate is a versatile option:
- Seamless Integration: It allows for seamless integration using hundreds of prebuilt connectors, enabling the building of time-saving workflows across various systems. It also offers a no-code guided experience and cloud-based data loss prevention, identity, and access management services.
- User Accessibility: Microsoft Power Automate is known for being more transparent, better at training, and more inspiring compared to Blue Prism. However, it has been noted to have worse support.
Other Alternatives
Other notable alternatives include:
- WorkFusion: Known for its strong machine learning capabilities and AI-driven automation. It is particularly good for unstructured data but has a smaller community and can be challenging to integrate without additional services.
- Fortra’s Automate: Offers cost-effective and easy-to-use automation software that can transform various business and IT processes. However, it is less inspiring, less innovative, and less efficient compared to Blue Prism.
- G1ANT: Provides advanced extensibility, high performance, and world-class support. It is easier to implement and customize but may not offer the same level of security and governance as Blue Prism.
Pricing and Licensing
The pricing models of these alternatives vary:
- Blue Prism: Typically operates on a per-bot licensing model with high initial costs and additional expenses for training and support.
- UiPath: Offers a flexible subscription-based model with options for individual users, small teams, and enterprise solutions.
- Automation Anywhere: Follows a subscription-based model, which can be more cost-effective in the short term but may add up over time.
- WorkFusion: Combines a subscription model with a focus on AI-driven automation, offering packages tailored to specific business needs.
Conclusion
In summary, each of these RPA tools has unique strengths and weaknesses. Blue Prism excels in security and governance, UiPath in ease of use and AI integration, Automation Anywhere in cloud-native architecture and analytics, and other alternatives offer various benefits depending on the specific needs of your organization. Choosing the right tool involves careful consideration of your business requirements, budget, and the level of complexity in your automation projects.
Blue Prism - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Blue Prism
What is Blue Prism?
Blue Prism is a software company that specializes in developing industry-leading robotic process automation (RPA) software. This software enables businesses to automate complex, end-to-end procedures by using an agile virtual workforce that adheres to rule-based business processes and interacts with systems in the same way humans do.
What are the key features of Blue Prism?
- Intelligent Execution Technology: Blue Prism’s software allows organizations to teach the autonomous engine to run processes based on priorities, and it can respond to system changes and business scenarios without human intervention.
- Platform Compatibility: Blue Prism is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and is compatible with various platforms, including mainframe, Windows apps, Java, SAP, and web services.
- High Security: The software ensures secure connections to applications, manipulating the presentation layer in a controlled environment without damaging the program’s integrity.
- Deployment Options: Blue Prism can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment.
How does Blue Prism licensing work?
Blue Prism typically follows a per-bot licensing model, which can be predictable but may become expensive as the number of bots increases. The cost varies based on the scale of deployment, the number of digital workers required, and specific functionalities needed. Licenses are usually available as annual subscriptions and include support and maintenance.
What are the applications of Blue Prism?
Blue Prism’s RPA software is used in various process types, including:
- Rules-based processing: Such as credit card activation or fraud detection.
- Transactional processing: Repeated tasks like SIM swaps or invoicing.
- High transaction quantities: Processes like billing or new handset order processing.
- Process adherence/quality issues: Such as policy renewals or policy migrations.
- Complex or mission-critical procedures: Like pension redemptions and financial reconciliation.
- Changes in demand or backlogs: Such as new product launches or HR onboarding.
What are the benefits of using Blue Prism?
- Automation Speed: Processes that would take months or years to automate using standard methods can be automated in days or weeks with Blue Prism.
- Less Expense: By automating repetitive clerical duties, the need for costly integration and process redesign is reduced.
- Improved Performance: The robotic workforce can be managed and continuously improved by a small specialist team within the IT department.
- Security: The platform is secure, audited, and governed, ensuring compliance with data standards and confidentiality.
How does Blue Prism compare to other RPA solutions like UiPath?
Blue Prism and UiPath both offer robust RPA solutions, but they differ in their licensing models. Blue Prism uses a per-bot licensing model, which can be more predictable but costly with scale. UiPath offers a more flexible pricing structure, including per-user and per-process licensing. The total cost of ownership, including additional services like integration and support, also varies between the two platforms.
What is the history of Blue Prism?
Blue Prism was founded in 2001 by Alastair Bathgate and David Moss, focusing initially on back-office automation. The company launched its first commercial product, Automate, in 2003, and has since been a leader in the RPA industry. In 2019, Blue Prism acquired Thoughtonomy, which was later renamed Blue Prism Cloud, adding cloud capabilities to their offerings.
How does Blue Prism support AI and cognitive features?
Blue Prism introduced the concept of connected-RPA, which includes AI and cognitive features built into the automation platform. This includes a Digital Exchange for accessing and sharing AI, machine learning, and cognitive tools, as well as an AI engine for building connectors to advanced AI tools from other platforms.
Is there a free trial or demo available for Blue Prism?
Yes, Blue Prism offers a free trial that lasts up to 30 days, available both on the cloud and on your local computer. This trial allows users to experience the full capabilities of the platform before committing to a purchase.
Blue Prism - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Blue Prism
Blue Prism is a leading provider of intelligent robotic process automation (RPA) solutions, offering a comprehensive platform that can significantly benefit various types of organizations. Here’s a detailed assessment of who would benefit most from using Blue Prism and an overall recommendation.
Target Audience
Blue Prism is particularly beneficial for large enterprises across multiple industries, including banking and finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and telecommunications. These organizations often have complex, repetitive processes that can be streamlined and automated, leading to increased efficiency and reduced manual errors.
Key Benefits
- Automation Speed and Efficiency: Blue Prism allows businesses to automate processes much faster than traditional automation methods, saving time and resources.
- Cost Savings: By automating repetitive tasks, businesses can reduce the need for costly integration and process redesign, leading to significant cost savings.
- Improved Performance: The platform ensures high accuracy and compliance, enhancing overall operational performance and reducing the risk of human errors.
- Scalability and Security: Blue Prism’s platform is highly scalable and secure, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes and ensuring that sensitive data is protected.
Process Intelligence and Monitoring
One of the standout features of Blue Prism is its Process Intelligence capability. This tool enables the creation of digital twins of end-to-end processes, allowing for the identification of bottlenecks and areas for improvement. It also monitors processes in real-time, triggering alerts and digital workers to optimize operations.
Ease of Use and Deployment
Blue Prism’s no-code interface makes it accessible and easy to use, even for those without extensive technical expertise. The platform can be deployed both in the cloud and on-premises, and it includes tools for data ingestion and transformation, making it quick to get started.
Recommendations
For organizations looking to automate repetitive tasks, streamline operations, and improve efficiency, Blue Prism is an excellent choice. Here are some recommendations:
- Assess Your Processes: Identify areas where automation can bring the most value. Blue Prism’s Process Assessment Tool and Process Intelligence features can help in this assessment.
- Leverage Partnerships: Blue Prism collaborates with various technology partners and system integrators. Utilize these partnerships to get comprehensive support and integrated solutions.
- Focus on Industry-Specific Solutions: Blue Prism offers industry-specific solutions. Ensure you leverage these to address the unique challenges of your industry.
In summary, Blue Prism is a powerful tool for businesses seeking to automate and optimize their processes. Its scalability, security, and ease of use make it an attractive option for large enterprises across various industries. By leveraging Blue Prism’s capabilities, organizations can significantly improve their operational efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance overall performance.