Power Automate - a Leading Force in Robotic Process Automation
For the third year in a row, Microsoft has been named a leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for robotic process automation (RPA). Today we explore what differentiates Microsoft from other RPA software providers.
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What is RPA?
Robotic process automation, or RPA, refers to software that helps automate tasks and processes within business, by enabling the task to be programmed into software by a script. Such tasks may involve human intervention, like with attended automation, whereby a process is typically triggered by a human initially. Alternatively, other more complex tasks, or unattended automation, do not require human intervention at all. In such cases the whole task is completed automatically, with the process triggered and performed by a system and bots on a server. RPA software is a powerful tool that can help businesses to combat tedious manual processes more effectively and enhance business performance.
What Does Gartner’s Magic Quadrant mean for RPA vendors?
Gartner's renowned Magic Quadrant for RPA is a detailed analysis of the most popular RPA vendors on the market. It provides insight into the market’s direction and analyses its major participants. The 2023 Quadrant evaluated 16 different platforms based on Gartner’s methodology, analysing a wide variety of criteria ranging from customer experience to business strategy.
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Being named as a leader in RPA for the third consecutive year highlights Microsoft’s strong presence and success in the RPA space with Power Automate.
Microsoft as a Leader in RPA
Microsoft’s dynamic RPA product, Power Automate, is built on Azure and enables not only cloud-first and API-first automation, but also desktop-based automation via Power Automate for Desktop (PAD). Power Automate provides RPA with API integration and orchestration, empowering users to automate high-volume, tedious tasks such as processing documents with intelligent document processing (IDP) using powerful AI technology. With innovative features like Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), task and process mining, optical character recognition (OCR), and AI capabilities, Power Automate has solidified its place as a frontrunner in the world of RPA, as noted by Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. Below we explore some of Power Automates strengths that set is apart from other solutions.
AI Innovation
According to Gartner, 90% of RPA vendors will offer generative-AI-assisted automation by 2025. However, Microsoft’s strategic investment in AI and large language models (LLMs) has left Power Automate well ahead of the curve in RPA. Microsoft 365 AI-assistant, Copilot, is already available for preview in the platform, revolutionising how businesses create simple to complex automations and workflows.
Ecosystem Synergy
One aspect that distinguishes Power Automate is its seamless integration within the larger Microsoft ecosystem. Power Automate integrates effortlessly with other Microsoft components within Power Platform and M365, making it highly accessible and easy to adopt. Microsoft’s Power Platform boasts more than 500 implementation partners and over 2 million users, which contributes to the rapid adoption rate of Power Automate. Gartner notes that the accessibility of Power Automate is largely what contributes to Microsoft’s rapidly expanding RPA business, which grew 125% between 2021 and 2022 alone.
Pricing Strategy
Microsoft has strategically devised its pricing strategy to facilitate broader accessibility to Power Automate. Existing Microsoft customers who have a Microsoft 365 Enterprise license can benefit from discounts on Power Automate, reducing the cost of acquiring RPA software. Moreover, Microsoft offers a limited free version of Power Automate for Desktop, ensuring organisations can experience its capabilities without the financial commitment to begin with. Microsoft is also set to introduce a prepaid consumption pricing model later in 2023, providing customers with the flexibility to choose between prepaid or usage-based billing approaches.
Microsoft's Power Automate has firmly cemented its position as a leading force in the RPA landscape. The robust feature set, strategic AI integration, seamless ecosystem alignment, and customer-friendly pricing strategies put Power Automate at the forefront of RPA innovation.
If you would like to learn more about robotic process automation, contact one of our experts today.
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