Fortra's Automate vs OpCon comparison

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Fortra Logo
1,953 views|997 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
SMA Technologies Logo
2,411 views|927 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortra's Automate and OpCon based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Microsoft, Automation Anywhere and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
To learn more, read our detailed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Report (Updated: June 2024).
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It's very easy to use. That's a big selling point for it. It has got a drag-and-drop interface, so you can quickly deploy bots.""Fortra's Automate performs the job effectively and has the capability to alert us of any issues.""Compared to other vendors, it's the scheduling tool because a lot of vendors want to charge you extra for their enterprise-level license to have a scheduling tool built in to give you the ability to set up regular schedules to run and do certain data checks.""The pricing is excellent. I would give them perfect marks in that regard.""This product is quite easy to install, learn, and use, with our new employees being able to start using it in projects for clients after only two weeks of internal training.""The most valuable feature is the drag-and-drop interface, which is very Windows-like.""The most valuable features for my client are timing and scheduling.""The ability to connect to websites and pull data is the solution's most valuable feature."

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"We haven't freed up a full person's job using it, but there are a good handful of people for whom it has freed up about half of their time. And those employees love it. A lot of tasks are based on certain times, and they're no longer stuck doing those things at those times. We don't have to have anybody coming in early anymore. They can focus on the processing part of their jobs instead of the file moving and downloading.""It allows us to organize everything into a process flow throughout the day for our different tasks that we have to run. So, it keeps everything organized. It is easy to monitor and adjust, if we need to.""I find OpCon's ability to monitor files and folders, and its integration with other software to be the most valuable.""There are three features which are valuable: the automated calendar functions; the notification process for failed jobs or unscheduled events occurring, via email and text messaging; and the ability for the scheduling package to communicate across multiple platforms.""The automation part of OpCon is the most valuable for us, with all the core processing. It's really mostly hands-off unless we have failures. In our old days, we'd spend a good part of the day doing processing via manual tasks. We don't have to do any of that any longer.""Previously, we would receive a file from a vendor, then we would have to go through and make changes to individual accounts in our core system. There are probably between 10 to 20 accounts any given week. It probably took around five minutes for it to run through the report and make all the changes, and that was if there was nothing complicated with all very straightforward changes. Now, that is done in 30 seconds.""The greatness of it is the flexibility of the scheduling and the integration of all platforms and processes. We have integrated it with everything from AIX to Microsoft Servers; with pretty much anything that we can.""The core system is the most valuable part: being able to view the processes that we've never really been able to view as a whole before. That is super-helpful, as is being alerted when issues arise."

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Cons
"The vendor is currently working on a solution that allows us to automatically create a process that is based on a document that we receive via email.""The documentation is not that great.""The technical support could be better. We suffer from language barriers, as we are in Argentina.""The interface could be more user-friendly and easier to navigate.""There is room for improvement regarding cloud functionality; there are a few missing features, and the logging could be better, especially air logging. We can go into logging events and create our own task, but it would be nice if this were more detailed.""They do not encrypt passwords, so this is an issue with HIPAA compliance.""While this solution is continually improving, as it is now, the user interface could use improvement when I compare it to a product like UiPath.""We really need a free development environment for customers. Building and testing automation on production isn't ideal."

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"Upgrading to newer versions remains complex.""It's not something you can just quickly grab, try, run, and play with. You have to get the knowledge and train yourself. It was easy for me, but I also took the time to throw myself into it. There is a learning curve to a certain extent. You have to learn the rules.""The SQL database connections are the only time that we've had issues with reliability and stability of the software.""We would like a display of the created date, created by, and last modified date, as well as modified by.""I would like more web-based training from SMA. That would be nice. Our primary OpCon representative is phenomenal, but we would like some training opportunities for learning on our own. When I started utilizing OpCon, the sheer breadth of it made for a very daunting task. I was almost fearful to start, not to mention fearful to go change things and possibly hinder a job.""I believe there's room for improvement, and while I think it's something they are considering, I would welcome seeing OpCon integrate with a broader range of systems and third-party products.""Stability is an area for improvement. There are FTP agents that run on the MCP and they are there so that we can transfer a file from the MCP to the Windows environment or vice versa. Sometimes, and nobody has been able to figure out why, it just goes down, and all of my jobs that need it are hanging or failing... It would be very helpful if they could figure out what in the world is happening with that FTP client that's on the MCP.""The initial setup is very complex, but that's not necessarily something that needs to be improved. I'm told that in the next version they're improving the upgrade process. So that's in the works already."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Compared to other products, the pricing model for this solution is much more convenient, flexible, and adaptable to the Portuguese reality."
  • "I like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."
  • "It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."
  • "While solutions like UiPath and Blue Prism cost around $11,000-$12,000 for each license, this product costs around $7,000 and you can keep it forever."
  • "I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."
  • "From a distributor's perspective, one of the biggest selling points of Automate is its price point."
  • "The cost is a bit high for a small business like ours, but we manage with Fortra's Automate."
  • "From a distributor's side, one of the biggest selling points is its price point. Without going into any numbers, compared to UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism, we're significantly cheaper. The main difference is that other competitors usually charge you per process. However, in Automate's case, it's priced per bot. So, a bot can run multiple processes at the same time, but you are only priced for a single bot."
  • More Fortra's Automate Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "This solution is certainly not the cheapest, but we win in time."
  • "Yearly, it's around $30,000."
  • "Our licensing is on a yearly basis."
  • "Our license is for 1000 jobs. Including support, the license and upgrades are 2000 euros a month."
  • "Yearly, we're paying about $62,000. OpCon has an all-inclusive feature and module license, but you pay per task."
  • "Our annual maintenance costs are $45,000. The initial cost is separate."
  • "On a yearly basis our cost is between $25,000 and $30,000."
  • "Annually, we pay $29,000. This is for a blanket policy that covers everything, like licensing and support."
  • More OpCon Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.
    Top Answer:I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost.
    Top Answer:There is room for improvement regarding cloud functionality; there are a few missing features, and the logging could be better, especially air logging. We can go into logging events and create our own… more »
    Top Answer:My favorite feature is the dashboard feature, which shows jobs that are running, and completed, any failures, and provides dashboard reporting.
    Top Answer:While the overall cost is reasonable, I'm interested in exploring options for making the managed automation solution, specifically the mass solution, more cost-effective.
    Top Answer:I would like OpCon to implement a reporting feature on the dashboard that displays historical data for specific jobs. Ideally, this feature would allow us to view the past seven days or the next seven… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    1,953
    Comparisons
    997
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    1,399
    Rating
    8.5
    9th
    out of 51 in Workload Automation
    Views
    2,411
    Comparisons
    927
    Reviews
    7
    Average Words per Review
    1,269
    Rating
    9.4
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    HelpSystems Automate, Automate
    Learn More
    Fortra
    Video Not Available
    Overview

    Automate is an easy-to-use RPA software solution that boosts your productivity by transforming virtually any business or IT process. Get scalable automation capabilities whether you need a solution for one department, a small business, or an enterprise-wide Center of Excellence (CoE) initiative—Automate is built and priced right for employee-driven automation for any organization.

    Automate allows you to get up and running fast with no-code automation for both GUI and back-end functionalities. Form-based development lets you quickly build bots and leverage over 600 pre-built automation actions. Powerful out-of-the-box API and native integrations bring together the applications that keep your business running. And with the Automate Recorder, easily build, update, and deploy robust, UI-driven automation. Plus, bots can be deployed as attended or unattended with concurrent execution of tasks—no restrictions.

    A Key Part of Fortra (the new face of HelpSystems) Automate is proud to be part of Fortra’s comprehensive portfolio. Fortra simplifies today’s complex business landscape by bringing complementary products together to solve problems in innovative ways. These integrated, scalable solutions address the many challenges you face in streamlining your operations. With the help of Automate robotic process automation and other solutions, Fortra is your relentless ally, here for you every step of the way on your automation journey.

    OpCon is a robust and flexible platform capable of scaling up to meet the needs of clients running 140,000+ daily jobs across multiple environments and operating systems. Our proven migration framework helps clients painlessly transition from outdated or cost inefficient platforms thanks to our deep organizational expertise, REST API, and extensive library of legacy connectors. We have a variety of consulting options available for clients and offer no-cost training for the life of the contract.

    Sample Customers
    Aldergrove Financial Group, Preferred Health Professionals, Mindbeam Technologies, First Credit Union in British Columbia, Vestcom International, Prime Liberty Benefits, University of Tampa, CNLBancshares, World Precision Instruments, BJ's Restaurants, Globe Pequot Press, Accudata Technologies, Norton Healthcare, Pacific Toxicology Laboratories
    LOHR, Carnival Cruise Lines, Herbalife, Digital Federal Credit Union, Synergent, Frandsen Bank & Trust
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company14%
    Security Firm14%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Insurance Company14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm78%
    Insurance Company9%
    Government4%
    Manufacturing Company2%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm33%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Insurance Company7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business55%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise20%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise55%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise46%
    Large Enterprise30%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise72%
    Buyer's Guide
    Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
    June 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Microsoft, Automation Anywhere and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Updated: June 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Fortra's Automate is ranked 5th in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 21 reviews while OpCon is ranked 9th in Workload Automation with 56 reviews. Fortra's Automate is rated 8.2, while OpCon is rated 9.2. The top reviewer of Fortra's Automate writes "Can automate several processes with only one bot and is easy to implement, administer, and use". On the other hand, the top reviewer of OpCon writes "Gives us the ability to schedule dependent jobs across different mainframes". Fortra's Automate is most compared with Microsoft Power Automate, UiPath, MOVEit, Automation Anywhere (AA) and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, whereas OpCon is most compared with Control-M, AutoSys Workload Automation, Automic Workload Automation, IBM Workload Automation and UiPath.

    We monitor all Robotic Process Automation (RPA) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.