Blue Prism vs Fortra's Automate comparison

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Blue Prism Logo
22,352 views|11,465 comparisons
88% willing to recommend
Fortra Logo
1,953 views|997 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

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

Find out in this report how the two Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Blue Prism vs. Fortra's Automate Report (Updated: May 2024).
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: RPA Governance and Business Continuity requirements for a large multi-national corporate financial services provider
Answer: @reviewer1356150 @Nilesh Pawar @reviewer1390509 @Alex Yuan @Hayaa Kayasseh you've all recently written reviews for one of these products. Do you have any insight to share with @reviewer1373997 about governance and business continuity requirements for these products?
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The support is good.""Blue Prism is very good at doing background processing.""Blue Prism MAPIEx and the Java Bridge are really great features provided for automating Java-based applications and for allowing mail to send and receive smoothly.""The only feature that stands out in Blue Prism, as compared to other tools, is security. This is the only reason for still having Blue Prism in our bucket. It is very secure and reliable, and it has also been in the market for a very long time. We automated a lot of federal and government automation processes very recently with this solution.""The ease of development is the most valuable. Standard VBOs are pretty useful there with Excel and different things. Our custom developments for SAP and things like that are pretty easy to set up and quick to get going.""From technical perspective, Blue Prism is pretty good. Overall, it's a stable and scalable solution. Installation is straightforward as well.""The new features that have come out have been great.""The automation on offer is great."

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"The most valuable features for my client are timing and scheduling.""It gives us a central place to schedule tasks and run them distributed.""I actually quite liked the no-coding functionality.""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.""We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.""The solution is continuously adding more integrations to help with workflows and bot and task creation.""The licensing of the product is very good. You only need to license it once and then you have it forever.""The most valuable feature is the drag-and-drop interface, which is very Windows-like."

More Fortra's Automate Pros →

Cons
"I have been speaking directly with Blue Prism's engagement manager about making the solution more web-based. It's not quite there yet. Currently, the latest version is still under the beta version, so, as a customer, we don't have access to it. They are making it much more web-based, but for now, everything you have to log into requires an enterprise server — It's still more client-based than web-based.""The control room is its worst feature. It can be laggy, and it is not as user-friendly. We're with staying Blue Prism, but we're moving it from on-premises to Microsoft cloud for cost savings. We looked into Blue Prism cloud. It has a lot of features, but it comes with a lot of costs. Right now, we have six spots, and we're only at 13% utilization. The cost didn't really weigh out for us for moving to Blue Prism cloud, but on-premises, it is working for what we need.""There are some security issues in Blue Prism. The German vendor Servicetrace is way better. This is also reflected in the Gartner report where Servicetrace is mentioned as the tool of choice in high-security environments. So, security, particularly in terms of administration, needs to be improved. We must have the possibility to prevent the administration from taking a look at the ongoing process. When we have restricted data flow, the operations team should not be able to take a look at the data that is processed.""Emerging technologies adoption is a challenge for every organization, especially the products which address productivity/automation.""Its front end is not very good for things like screen scraping. UiPath and AA are very good for that. Blue Prism's license is costlier than UiPath and AA. They should be improving its price. Its artificial intelligence and cognitive features are not that strong enough. Cognitive automation should be their next area of improvement. The decoding of the bot is a highly painful activity, and this is an area of improvement for Blue Prism. It is tough to find variables and get the code in place. You have to open the whole bonnet of the car to get things in place. Their training should also be improved. UiPath and AA have their learning communities. They provide free of cost basic certification. As a result, you get trained workforce in the market that can directly work on projects, but this is not the case with Blue Prism. It is costly to get the resources trained, which increases the overall cost of getting a resource for Blue Prism. Their tech support can also be improved. Many times, the issues that should have been addressed by L1 have gone to L2.""Its image recognition or the OCR part should be improved. The quality has improved in the latest version, but some of the handwritten documents are not that accurate. Its interaction with the Citrix environment should also be improved. Their technical support should also be improved.""Blue Prism is not very flexible when it comes to integrations.""They can add a reporting feature."

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"It's possible that they could use a stronger community for seeking guidance and help.""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.""The documentation for errors needs improvement as many of the error messages we receive are very vague.""They do not encrypt passwords, so this is an issue with HIPAA compliance.""I would like to see some better web automation, a wizard like the one in the product WinAutomation would be very nice.""The workflow for variables could be better. The input and output of task-level variables could be made a little clearer in terms of passing those around from one task to another upon success, etc. Things like that could be a little easier potentially.""It would be an improvement if Automate had better stability tools, whether by recommending a certain amount of memory because it can be a memory hog at times.""Sometimes when we communicate with the ERP system and there is an issue, we are not always aware of the specifics of Automate and the source of the problem."

More Fortra's Automate Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Blue Prism is pretty steep compared to the others, much more than Automation Anywhere."
  • "We really don't bear the costs. The cost is borne by the customer. It runs into about $100,000 per year per customer for Blue Prism. We normally budget around $30,000 for the first year for the hardware, setup, and people cost."
  • "Other than your infrastructure, in terms of servers that you have to set up, I don't think that there are any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
  • "Compared to other tools on the market, it is one of the most expensive."
  • "The pricing is really good for an enterprise-level solution. It's quite scalable and it's quite comparable with the market."
  • "Our licensing fees are approximately $5,000 USD per year."
  • "The licensing fees are low compared to other tools."
  • "Blue Prism is less expensive than some of the other RPA solutions."
  • More Blue Prism 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 →

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    Answers from the Community
    Anonymous User
    Mohammed Tafazal - PeerSpot reviewerMohammed Tafazal
    Real User



    For any RPA tool it required have a generic /universal governance model where 


    1. sponsor or Head of RPA implementation


    2. Business analysts


    3.Architects(solution/technical)


    4.Developers ( Full stack - Build, Test and SIT)


    5.Scrum master or Sprints head or Project manager


    6. QA ( Test automation) - optional


    Above generic governance model/structure roles for handling any kind of RPA process.



    One proven way to implement centralized automation management is via a CoE. The best practices of Robotic Process Automation states that the use of bots doesn’t increase negative risks for the organization in the development of reusable solutions. The responsibilities of a Centre of Excellence will depend on the exact governance model used. The most common activities include the following:



    1. Drive RPA in the business, training teams, and increasing awareness of RPA in those.

    2. Calculate the criticality and quality of the developed solutions, ensuring the application of best practices.

    3. Monitor the operation of bots and guarantee that execution SLAs (service-level agreement) are met.

    4. Follow and report the main development stages.

    5. Guarantee the execution of established governance processes.

    6. Guarantee the continual improvement of processes and tools.



    Business Continuity Requirements:


    To have backup or disaster recovery machines for the critical RPA processes with load balancing using central orchestration in different clusters.


    For any of the RPA there is orchestration tool which handles all the initiation and processing from one location have it maintained well from risks and disasters with load balancing.


    This will helps in business continuity.



    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Hello Netanya, it depends on your needs and your expertise.  In my humble opinion you can start a big RPA project implementation with Blue Prism which is stable and mature software, in order to serve… more »
    Top Answer:I'm very familiar with UiPath and the RPA industry: was hired by Daniel Dines in 2015 when there were 35 employees and left in 2019 when there were 3K+. I'm a big believer in the product, leadership… more »
    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 »
    Ranking
    Views
    22,352
    Comparisons
    11,465
    Reviews
    19
    Average Words per Review
    519
    Rating
    8.1
    Views
    1,953
    Comparisons
    997
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    1,399
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    HelpSystems Automate, Automate
    Learn More
    Fortra
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    Overview

    Blue Prism is an intelligent, business-developed, no-code automation platform for SaaS deployments as well as for on-premises, public cloud, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments. Unlike other automation technology, Blue Prism combines robotic process automation with expanded artificial intelligence and cognitive capabilities. Blue Prism gives users instant access to the tools you need for building and delegating automations, as well as a digital workforce that is already AI-equipped.

    With Blue Prism’s code-free RPA, deployed through use of their Robotic Operating Model, your business can scale efficiently, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and augment its talent to take on new responsibilities. Blue Prism helps to accelerate operational agility and efficiency by making it easy to automate the most important processes. Allocating everyday tasks to your Digital Workforce gives you immediate increased capacity and allows your teams to focus on their strategic goals. In addition, it delivers a return on investment, increases efficiency gains, and can even introduce new revenue streams.

    “Workforce of the Future”

    Blue Prism’s all-in-one intelligent automation platform consists of:

    • Design Studio with drag-and-drop process automation building, reusable “objects” across your business, and updates to objects and processes saved throughout the process library.
    • Control Room where you can assign processes to digital workers, scale digital worker and task volume ondemand, and gain real-time transparency of process proficiencies.
    • Digital Workforce of autonomous software robots that can learn and mimic business processes like humans and are equipped with six intelligent automation skills:
      1. Knowledge and Insight - The ability to harvest, understand, and deliver insights from multiple disparate data sources.
      2. Visual Perception - The ability to read, understand, and contextualize visual information.
      3. Learning - The ability to derive contextual meaning and adapt to evolving process patterns.
      4. Planning and Sequencing - The ability to optimize workloads and identify opportunities for better outcomes.
      5. Problem-solving - The ability to autonomously solve system, logic, and business problems.
      6. Collaboration - The ability to seamlessly work with both people and systems.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Blue Prism stands out for its enterprise-level functionality, which is why many companies choose it over its competitors. PeerSpot users note that the solution is easy to use, stable, and robust scalability-wise. The security is also top-notch. One user pointed out that "One of the most powerful features in Blue Prism is exception handling. It's one of the features that really differentiates it from other platforms." Blue Prism helps businesses with everything from compliance to quality control and error-avoidance.

    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.

    Sample Customers
    Coca-Cola, Walgreens, American Express, Royal Bank of Canada, Pfizer, Shop Direct, O2, Siemens, Ascension Healthcare, Jaguar Land Rover
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Energy/Utilities Company10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government6%
    REVIEWERS
    Security Firm14%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Insurance Company14%
    Manufacturing Company14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise74%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise70%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business55%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise20%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise55%
    Buyer's Guide
    Blue Prism vs. Fortra's Automate
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Blue Prism vs. Fortra's Automate and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Blue Prism is ranked 4th in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 86 reviews while Fortra's Automate is ranked 5th in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 21 reviews. Blue Prism is rated 7.8, while Fortra's Automate is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Blue Prism writes "Way more efficient for debugging than other tools but the UI is complicated". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortra's Automate writes "Can automate several processes with only one bot and is easy to implement, administer, and use". Blue Prism is most compared with Microsoft Power Automate, UiPath, Automation Anywhere (AA) and Pega Robotic Process Automation, whereas Fortra's Automate is most compared with Microsoft Power Automate, UiPath, MOVEit and Automation Anywhere (AA). See our Blue Prism vs. Fortra's Automate report.

    See our list of best Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vendors.

    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.