ARTICLE
UiPath Platform vs MS Power Automate: How do they compare to each other
23.5.2024 | 3 minute read
Author
PAIJU KOIVULA
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Many organizations might be questioning which automation technology they should focus on and whether they should invest in one technology or both Uipath and MS Power Automate. Both platforms enable automating most use cases, but there are some differences in which either technology is more suitable than the other.
In this article we answer what are the main differences and ideal use cases between the two platforms, what we have learnt from using these technologies and our tips for IT decision makers regarding which platform to invest on.
How do the two different platforms compare to each other?
THE STRENGTHS OF POWER AUTOMATE
- Available via Microsoft 365 or separate per user licenses
- Easy implementation for organizations on the MS stack
- Use cases in MS ecosystem and in Customer MS tenant
- Integrates automatically to MS products
- ”Personal assistant” with simple business logic
- Better for less-critical, incomplex automations
- Lower entry cost
THE STRENGTHS OF UIPATH
- Better for more complex flows
- For critical, enterprise processes
- Better exception handling & recovery
- Better for processes that need regular updates
- Control over environment where uptime or SLA is required
- Components work on any cloud
- Training for business users and developers
- Easy to scale
- Available as Sisua RaaS, which is a cost-efficient solution
“UiPath has an advantage in automating the use of legacy systems and complex unattended automations, whereas Power Automate’s strengths lie in cloud flows and making user interfaces”, comments Sisua Digital’s Senior automation specialist.
UiPath is therefore more suitable for critical and complex enterprise processes while Power Automate cloud and desktop flows, although fast to implement, are more suitable for tasks with simple business logic. Power Automate flows run is in cloud whereas UiPath automations require to setup servers for running the automations.
“When considering which technology to use – one should think about how much logic or error management is involved in the process? Is it just a simple automation with one click of a button versus a complex process with several different options and steps? Or will the automation be able to continue the tasks even if there is an exception or error handling? UiPath allows building comprehensive processes with extensive error handling whereas Power Automate desktop is better for automating simple UI tasks. However, Power Automate’s Platform has a faster learning curve than UiPath”.
“Both platforms have their own ecosystems and strive to develop new features or integrations that enable doing everything within that ecosystem. But they also both have connectors that enable connecting to third-party systems and using other systems as well.”
Both platforms have their own licensing models which differentiate a little. Microsoft is more based on monthly subscription and it’s easy and affordable to start with, whereas UiPath requires larger initial investment. However, depending on usage, Microsoft’s costs might increase more quickly than UiPath’s as usage grows.
Should organizations be using both technologies – do the technologies make each other redundant?
“It depends on the organization’s needs and size, but technologically it makes sense to utilize both as they serve different purposes.”
“The challenge is how to manage technological competence and maintain these technologies? Using the newest technology might not be worthwhile if there are no capabilities or skilled employees to use it. Of course, if there is no internal technical competence within the organization, it can be bought as a service. You must know how to manage and maintain the technology and think about the technology’s life cycle.”
Starting with Power Platform might be easier, as most organizations are already using Microsoft’s services and have internal competence for those tools.
“I would recommend increasing internal competence on Power Platform and outsourcing UiPath development, as UiPath development requires a lot of commitment. Power Platform and Automate are tools that can be easily tried and tested out and don’t require strong commitment, whereas UiPath requires more commitment and competence.”
“We have customers who have decided to internally focus on Power Platform and outsourced their UiPath development. But of course we provide support for both technologies and also offer training for both, which help with growing the internal competence.”
Can the two technologies be combined – are there good use cases for that?
“At Sisua we have developed a few cases where we have combined the two technologies. For our customer Stark, we used Power Platform, UiPath and Azure ML for an automation that updates customer data information that is received from email requests. This is a great use case for any organization that receives a lot of unstructured customer data requests in emails.”
In these use cases where we combine the technologies, we have built the front-end UI with Power Apps and the back-end automation with UiPath.
“Another example is to build triggers with Power Automate that initiate UiPath automations. The trigger could be a change in some system or email that Power Automate is tracking.”
What is Power Platform ideal for?
“The platform is most commonly used if the organization is using one of Microsoft’s Dynamics, which is a portfolio of different business applications. It enables customizing the different systems or building integrations or applications to those systems and might even alleviate paying extra licenses. Power Platform is optimal for building applications rather than automations.”
Power Platform utilizes Microsoft’s own products and it’s ideal for automating or developing within those products.
“Power Automate is best for simple, personal desktop automations or cloud flows. For example, it could be used in data transfer within the different Microsoft systems – like automating your own email inbox so that an info mail’s attachments that comes every week would be automatically saved and posted into a newsletter message in Teams. One organization-wide use case could be processing invoices.”
What has Sisua learnt from developing with Power Automate?
“Power automate desktop is developing quickly but it doesn’t support complex automation and error handling as well as UiPath. On the other hand, the cloud environment is easy to set up, but building automations in a web-based browser is slower than in desktop.”
“It’s very easy to experiment with Power Platform and you can do it at a small cost. I recommend increasing internal competence with Power Platform either independently or with a partner. Testing out this technology is a small investment and competence or expertise within this ecosystem will not age.”
“However, I don’t recommend using Power Automate for heavy and complex unattended automations that require using different user interfaces. If the process involves using a lot of critical systems that have long updating cycles, then UiPath automation will probably yield the greatest benefit. UiPath is the best choice if you need to automate legacy systems”.
What tips would you give for IT decision makers?
“I think organizations should consider how to acquire and manage technological competence. I would also contemplate which technologies are chosen and at what stage the technologies should be implemented. Is it worth being at the forefront of the technology or is it better to wait until best practices emerge in the industry? Will employees be empowered to test out the new technologies?”
“Managing the competence is also a key consideration. Power Platform is strongly connected to other MS competence, so there are synergies there. UiPath requires more investment and training. You should also consider if you are able to find specialists within that technology field easily.”
What about AI capabilities in the platform?
“Microsoft is one of the leading AI tech organizations – the company has innovative and widely used AI services like Co-pilot and Azure ML and is a partner with Open AI. There Microsoft is the leading tech organization and their products are well integrated. But UiPath does also have Document Understanding that is similar to Azure ML. UiPath is also developing its own AI services and enables using other AI technologies like Chat GPT in their platform.”
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