#Evaluating MSFT Power automate against other process automation platforms

11 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

steady laurel
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Curious to hear if anyone else has has had the opportunity to try different platforms for their company and came to any conclusions they'd like to share?

We've only tried Power automate this far, for a global 5k+ company.

Some of our findings are a bit generic, especially on the positive side. but please have a look, and please feel free to share your experiences.

+Microsoft Power Automate enables cloud first and API first automation.
+Highly integrated with CoPilot, its generative AI components and Azure cognitive service and AI builder.
+Easy to adopt by existing MSFT customers due to its proximity to other components of Power platform and M365 ecosystem.
+There are over 500 implementation partners available across the globe.
+Available by default for all employees via existing licensing; low threshold to premium features and connectors

-Some difficulties integrating with legacy systems, requiring custom solutioning with weak error handling
-Power automate desktop is windows based and does not support Linux or MacOS
-Power automate desktop feels somewhat “shallow” in terms of capabilities and features.

leaden chasm
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I believe it’s a question about what the vision and business case is.

Factors like cost governance ease of use implementation deployment and maintainability and so on.

exotic turret
# steady laurel Curious to hear if anyone else has has had the opportunity to try different plat...

The negative points you mention, honestly, apply to all other RPA tools as well, with the only exception being that UiPath has Linux support (as far as I know - haven't tested).

Honestly, it works really well pricing wise, has some extremely powerful cloud-based capabilities and the desktop capabilities are on par with the competition. It's just that it may need some work in terms of setting some stuff initially, like building your own framework for desktop flows (or using mine), instead of REFramework in UiPath. Error handling is there and definitely not weak, but just needs some extra developer effort initially.

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So, if you need MacOS support, you're basically out of luck. If you need Linux support, you might want to look into UiPath (but, honestly, I have no idea why you'd want to go low-code on Linux in the first place). If you only need it on Windows, PA works really well.

frosty ridge
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@steady laurel - do you really need RPA for Linux or MacOS?

steady laurel
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We're a tech company with lots of developers, but to be honest I don't think there is a big case for the linux users. on the HR/Finance/IT people side who to some extent use Mac, not sure there either. obviously the PAD part wouldn't be possible for them. but the cloud side would ofc

frosty ridge
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And regarding Linux - it's usually for programmers/advanced users and a lot can be done simply from console / bash scripts, so again, potential for RPA is much lower.

exotic turret
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I completely agree with @frosty ridge on this. highly unlikely to need RPA in Linux, and not very likely to need it on MacOS

steady laurel
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In your work, perhaps coming across different platforms? Whats in your opinion the pros and cons with MSFT Power automate?

exotic turret
# steady laurel In your work, perhaps coming across different platforms? Whats in your opinion t...

Pros:

  • License costs are very low, compared to alternatives
  • Pricing is transparent
  • Free versions available
  • Lots of features
  • Plenty of integrations with other MSFT products, as well as 3rd party services
  • New features released very frequently

Cons:

  • PAD is a bit clunky and slow
  • No parallel execution of desktop flows on the same machine
  • More developer/admin work needed initially to set up proper error handling functionalities and implement proper governance strategies
  • Lack of proper source control integrations for desktop flows (currently)
  • Frequent releases are not always stable, and sometimes introduce bugs
  • Enterprise level orchestration is still a bit immature