I like that Power Automate gives us a connector to be able to connect different data sources or different software.
It is very easy to connect, authenticate, and automate our daily routine tasks.
I like that Power Automate gives us a connector to be able to connect different data sources or different software.
It is very easy to connect, authenticate, and automate our daily routine tasks.
There are many things that need to improve, but not with the cloud side, it's desktop automation.
When you are doing desktop automation, they do not have a clear structure to create the code. This means that we have a poor chance of creating the project.
When creating sub-flows, there are no separate parameters. Instead, they are all combined together on the main page.
I would like to see improvements made to the Power Automate Desktop.
I have been exploring this product for one month.
Previously, I worked with Blue Prism and UiPath.
In my opinion, Blue Prism is far better than Power Automate, and UiPath is better than the desktop version.
Power Automate has the power to connect with different cloud sources, which is something that Blue Prism and UiPath do not have.
You can also create reusable code with Blue Prism and UiPath.
We are using the cloud version. There is nothing to install on our machine.
If you need to automate more on the cloud side, I would recommend Power Automate. If it's a third-party application they are trying to automate, I would try Blue Prism or UiPath.
I would rate Microsoft Power Automate a six out of ten.
The reason why we are using this product is that we like to use it where we have automation projects specifically for Microsoft products. We can automate to improve productivity and for those applications and simple tasks, it is easy to use.
For example, suppose I get my email with Outlook. There are certain times I will get specific Excel files from a pre-determined output which I have to always place into a particular SharePoint folder. From there, some other automation gets triggered and the file is processed in a certain way. Those are the sort of things we can automate with Power Automate. It is very good at working with those simple Microsoft-product-related processes.
We use it wherever we have workflow processes in which Microsoft products are interacting. Before using this solution, people would get those emails and the recipient had to download the file and then manually put it into SharePoint. Now, as soon as it comes into the inbox, Power Automate gets triggered and it automatically copies the file to the correct SharePoint. There is no reason that a repetitive task of this sort needs to be done manually.
It offers a different option than using UiPath which is much more complicated and more expensive for simple tasks that Power Automate can do more easily.
It is very hard to say what the most valuable features are in Power Automate because we are still exploring the product and utility. I like the simplicity of how we can create those automated activities quickly. For now, the most valuable feature is that it is very easy to use.
There is definitely a lot of enhancement that Microsoft can incorporate into Power Automate. For example, we have quite a lot of .NET applications that we created. These are custom applications that we created using something like VB.NET or C#.NET. These are obviously applications that are not published by Microsoft. I would like it if Microsoft could enhance the capabilities of Power Automate to allow users to connect to other tools and applications in some way. That will help us create better processes without making them more complicated or having to use another automation tool. Right now, we have to use UiPath to help us make processes such as the one described. I have not seen any way that Power Automate can do that type of integration. So if we could get better integration with non-Microsoft solutions as a feature for Power Automate, that will be very useful.
We have been using Microsoft Power Automate (formerly Flows) for the last three months.
We have not created anything complex, so we have not faced any issues in the form of glitches or any bugs to this point. When we start doing more sophisticated workflows, that may end up being a different story.
I have not really had much of an opportunity to test the scalability of the solution yet. If we find a particular workflow that requires a change or something, it is easy to drop that version and recreate something new from scratch. It does not take much time. Scaling the number of processes up or down at this point does not seem to be an issue.
The number of users in our company right now remains pretty small. I think there are only around 15 to 20 of us are actually exploring the capabilities. Eventually, that group should be much larger.
We have not had any reason to work with the technical support team at this point. One of my colleagues did drop them a note asking if there is a way we can use Power Automate to connect to any of the custom tools that we created. I do not believe that we have got an answer to that question yet, so it is taking some time.
The initial setup was quite good and went smoothly. It was not complex at all. It is good that it was relatively easy because we understood that it would mostly be used for easy processes to do some small tasks. We went that way and are using the tool only for working with simple automation processes. We did spend some time trying to automate more complex processes, but as the processes became more complex the tool became more complex to use. It is much easier to use it to do non-complex things. The setup for the processes themselves is fairly easy to do.
This solution can save money when used for simple tasks specifically using only Microsoft products.
We are currently working on evaluations of various products. The thing is, we have just started to embark on our journey into RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and we have brought in UiPath to act in that capacity. We are very much, at a nascent stage of the discovery of what we can do and what the product is capable of. We are identifying processes that can be automated and we are planning to work mostly with UiPath on those solutions. We have already engaged in a contract with UiPath for use of their product at this point in time.
Most of our work is going towards UiPath currently but we also have this Microsoft Enterprise licensing. There seems to be no reason we should not use that as well if there are ways it can provide an advantage. We are also exploring if the enhancements we would need to tie in other applications and processes to Power Automate are something that we could do internally. At this time we are working with a combination of solutions that falls somewhere between our existing processes and new capabilities with automation tools.
I have a few comments and advice for people considering the addition of RPA in their workflows. I would suggest that they do as much streamlining of their processes as possible. If they can get smaller things up and running by creating the process with a simple tool it may help their efficiency as well as their bottom line. When you go for big tools like UiPath and all the other robust RPA solutions, the cost of creating those smaller processes will be higher than they need to be. If people have a Microsoft Enterprise license, they could actually use the Power Automate tool to make their processes much more lean and efficient. Doing the same thing by employing any of the RPA-related solutions and tools might be a lot more effort.
On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Power Automate, overall as a product as a six-of-ten at this point. It has got a lot of room for improvement.
More scripting capabilities could be included in Microsoft Power Automate.
The product could be more stable. I rate the stability as seven out of ten.
I rate the platform's scalability an eight out of ten.
There needs to be direct contact for the technical support team. The users need to submit a maintenance request and then wait for a callback or update from the support team.
Neutral
The initial setup process was relatively simple, with additional modules that could be imported during the setup.
Only some individuals typically handle maintenance, as Microsoft automatically manages most updates. Additional maintenance tasks are required only when necessary, such as for critical updates or multi-case scenarios.
The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing a five out of ten.
I have used Microsoft Power Automate to develop mobile apps and other applications. Additionally, we have implemented workflows and automated solutions for various processes.
It helps with the feedback mechanism, where we need to determine the relevant team and obtain their email addresses.
Microsoft could enhance the learning experience by offering more video resources.
I rate it a nine out of ten.
We use the solution for integrating Microsoft Team and SharePoint. Also, we use it to manage document libraries and automation processes.
The solution's most valuable feature is cloud flows.
They should improve the solution's features for data and process mining. It is easy to run small automated tasks but difficult to build large complex flows. Also, it is challenging to scale it horizontally across multiple branches.
We have been using the solution for a year.
I rate the solution's stability as a seven. Its error-handling feature needs improvement.
We have three developers and ten end users of the solution. It is a scalable solution, and I rate its scalability as a six. But it could be better for large and complex cloud flows.
We often take help from online forums to fix errors instead of the solution's support documents.
Neutral
We use our in-house software as well.
The solution's initial setup process is straightforward and takes a day to complete. I rate the process as a nine.
We evaluated UiPath. It has better functionality and scalability. But, Power Automate is more accessible as our systems are integrated with Microsoft ecosystem.
I advise others to take some YouTube courses on how to build solutions for desktop and cloud flows.
I rate Microsoft Power Automate seven out of ten.
We have the latest version installed.
I like the scalability option and the simplicity, the way we can really use the interface to easily scale up.
There should be more transparency when it comes to which features accompany the pricing, as there appear to be hidden features of which I am not aware.
There are factors we must consider when scaling up, such as whether we are using full or partial features. Were I to buy an additional premium, another license, I would lack clarity what I could expect to get in exchange or whether the features would help me to scale up. This is why better transparency is important.
Scalability can be improved and this is why it is key to know how the features can be integrated into the scalable solution.
I've been using Microsoft Power Automate for the past six months or so.
The ability to know how the various features can be integrated into the solution would improve scalability.
I have not had occasion to contact technical support, so I am not in a position to comment on it.
Installation was pretty easy, as we handled it through our office, making use of our office license.
There should be increased transparency about which features attend the pricing.
We are customers of Microsoft.
There are more than 100 users making use of the solution in our company.
I would definitely recommend this product to others for its ease-of-use.
I rate Microsoft Power Automate as an eight out of ten.
We have clients in a number of different industries. We were evaluating Power Automate for a hospital in Kansas City. We were looking at a couple of different use cases with regards to their vendor onboarding and some of the back-office processes.
The initial setup is pretty easy.
The entire product is pretty easy to pick up and learn. We've got some developers and some software engineers that have picked it up. We have RPA specialists that are are deep specialists in UiPath, and they picked up Power Automate relatively quickly. We have guys that are trained in multiple platforms such as Automation Anywhere or Blue Prism and they got it right away.
The solution lacks maturity. That will come with time.
The complementary suite of capabilities with regards to task capture and being able to self-document a process needs improvement. The whole document handling aspect, OCR recognition and capabilities, need to incorporate some more of an AI type of approach with document extraction and document handling.
Being able to handle various types of forms and complex documents is important. Obviously, we handle a lot of documents like invoices that could have multiple formats and multiple pages of content, and very complex material contracts. That area is where it shows that UiPath has come a long way and Microsoft has a ways to go.
If I look at the suite of tools that UiPath has, it's very robust and extensive. There are complimentary tools that help determine the applicability of a process. Being able to have tools that help assess things like a business case, savings, applicability, etc., relatively quickly, which we see with UiPath, for example, is integral to a good product.
I've been using the solution for less than a year.
A criticism of Microsoft is that they typically bundle everything together, like with the Office 365 or Dynamics 365 or whatever the package of all the different options are. You get it whether you want it or not. The problem with that is, the content that you're giving away in the bundle is either not fully baked, or fully thought out or all that valuable. Some might be buggy or not do exactly what they are supposed to.
Clients are frustrated that they're getting stuff that they don't want. They'll ask us "why am I getting all these other packages as part of my bundle, that don't make sense?". I would rather see a really innovative and leading tool, rather than a whole bunch of tools that do lots of things.
We haven't really reached out to technical support. We haven't really gone into production. Most of the issues, anything that we've had to do technically, we've figured out.
The initial setup is very straightforward. Our team picked it up really quickly. The question is if it's really solving the trickier problems on not. The more complex problems, is where the value is going to be. Process automation is becoming a commodity. Therefore, the differentiation is in really being able to handle the more complex problems, especially at an enterprise level.
We're able to handle implementations ourselves. We're a reseller and gold partner with Microsoft.
I'm unsure as to what the licensing costs are. It's not something that I generally deal with.
We're a vendor, therefore, we tend to use various solutions according to our client's needs. We've evaluated UiPath against Power Automate, for example.
We have evaluated Power Automate and we're trying to get some competency there. I don't believe it's to the same level as where you have the maturity as UiPath.
We've also looked at Blue Prism and found their capabilities quite mature.
I'm using the latest version of the solution.
We would typically evaluate the solution as an on-Cloud deployment. However, we would use either cloud or on-premises deployment models, depending on the situation. It's not implemented in our organization. We're a vendor or a partner. We provide services to implement it.
I'd advise other organizations that if you are looking for industrial strength, I don't think this solution is quite it. However, if you're poking around and are going to use it lightly, it might be a way to venture into process automation. It would allow you to try it out without a big commitment. If there are companies that are serious about it, it's probably not the right option. It's not ready yet. Microsoft is maybe trying other ways to build out the capabilities, through acquisition avenues. Therefore, I'm not sure if that's the platform to get. There will be too many growing pains.
Overall, I'd rate the solution five out of ten.
I really like the Excel operations and the templates that the solution has available. If you're looking for 10 items, chances are there are templates already for six to eight of them. We just have to download or integrate that template and our work has been done for us, in a sense.
It's really user friendly. One of the coolest features that I've found is when we are writing some functions or some custom line of code, there is specific virtualization that we are working with that we are utilizing for recording.
In just in one click, we can see any documentation, etc., that we need. It makes it very easy to navigate.
I'm still new to Microsoft. I don't know if there are features or aspects of the solution which are lacking. I need more time to work with it to really decide if there's anything I'd like to have on the solution that's not already there.
All the services on the Microsoft platform are great. If we want to try something like with SharePoint or Azure or the 365 CRM, then we can't with the everyday community edition of the Microsoft Power Automate. It would be a good thing if there was some sort of trial period. Let's say you have 14 days. That way, can log into the loading screen with Power Automate, and get to utilize services like SharePoint, OneDrive, 365 CRM or etc. to see if they like them. It would be a good way for Microsoft to cross-sell or up-sell.
Otherwise, it's expensive, to buy all these extra applications, without knowing if or how you could use them or integrate them into your work.
One thing that I would really like to recommend is that they should get an actual learning environment or LMS where we can go and find all the different tools, how to utilize the different tools of Power Automate, and documentation or tutorials in video form on how we can create our own custom templates.
Right now, what we have to do is we have to navigate to a different platform, for example, YouTube, and search on YouTube to see whether there are different kinds of techie guys that have updated their information about the Microsoft Power Automate. Microsoft Power Automate needs its own in-house LMS, where we can get the entire knowledge of the product from beginning to end.
I've only been using the solution for two or three weeks.
I have not tried any kind of real-world problems so I can't say too much about the solution's stability.
I haven't used the solution long enough to really test the scalability. I'm not sure how scalable it is.
The initial setup is very straightforward. Even a person who has one or two years of coding skills can install the solution quite easily. It's pretty simple. You don't have to be a Microsoft expert. I, for example, would be able to handle it, and I am very new to Microsoft.
I'm using the latest version of the solution. I tried to follow some YouTube tutorials from different people who are actually doing some good work with Microsoft Power Automate, however, they're using different versions as compared to the latest version that I'm using. The layout and the modules and everything is different as compared to the previous versions.
I use the cloud deployment model because it has some free storage or free allocation with the subscription.
I would definitely recommend the solution. Even small businesses would benefit from the solution. Any company would be able to integrate it. There are a lot of tasks you could handle with the solution. It's great for handling customer inquiries, for example, if you had a business with inquiry forms on sales sites.
It also offers one of the cheapest rates as compared to other automation tools. Other automation tools charge a huge amount for license fees. Microsoft Power Automate offers decent fees for the automation tools they offer.
The solution is also excellent for businesses due to the fact that it's totally based on the cloud. You can use it in anywhere and you can execute your flows from your mobile.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. If they offered some better tutorials, I'd rate them higher. No one wants to go and read through dozens or hundreds of web pages. The tutorials need to be interactive or video so that it's easy and engaging. If Microsoft was able to offer that, they'd be close to perfect.
The primary use case for this solution includes automating process work with optical character recognition. Companies can also automate document processing with Microsoft Power Automate.
From my personal experience of using Microsoft Power Automate, I think that the automatic document processing feature is helpful for many organizations in streamlining administrative processes. It is a very good feature. It has helped many enterprises to process documents without spending much time on them.
I would recommend removing the AI Builder feature from the automatic document processing functionality. The tool can serve even better with free automatic document processing features, it shouldn’t only be available in the trial version.
I have been using this solution for a couple of months now.
I have found Microsoft Power Automate to be a stable solution.
It is a scalable solution but I also think that the scalability of this solution depends on the type of organizations that are using it. For instance, public enterprises like government organizations can make very good use of this solution. I plan to propose the tool to my organization. It’s still in the loading phase and I have not got any feedback on it.
I have not felt the need to contact the customer service and support team since most of my doubts were resolved through the tutorials and tech instructions available on the website, which are very helpful.
I have previously used Power BI. I came across Power Automate while looking for other Power platforms. I saw the different features that Power Automate offers and so I chose it.
It was easy to set up. Once you have access to the portal, navigate to the automatic document processing feature where you can see many examples. There are a total of just two or three steps that you need to follow for completing the entire setup process.
The setup took a couple of months. It requires much concentration like when you are training your model to analyze the documents. For example, when you are setting up the automatic process document, the tool will ask you to try with five documents. Also, we will have to look into the different fields from which we are going to extract the information from the documents.
Once the document upload is done and the training is finished, you will need to locate the locations where other documents are located. It’s recommended to use either the OneDrive or Sharepoint locations. Power Automate will locate the schema of the document, connect with it and the document upload will be done. When the upload is done, the AI Builder will apply the OCR. After the completion of the OCR, the information will be extracted and put on other documents like Excel.
I am not sure about the setup cost, pricing or licensing since I use the trial version.
I would rate this tool a nine out of ten.