The RPA Landscape is Rapidly Changing
In my previous article I discussed some of the drawbacks of Microsoft’s RPA solution. The biggest one being the inability to interact with Windows file system. Microsoft just took a big stride in remedying this with the acquisition of Softomotive, makers of WinAutomation. WinAutomation is a leading desktop RPA software and has been around for 15 years. It is now fully capable of interacting with Power Automate.
Not only does this bring more functionality to Microsoft RPA offerings, but it still sticks to their low-code approach. This means that people who are well versed in coding, and people with no coding skills can work on automating their own processes. It also shows how Microsoft is moving ahead and expanding their RPA toolset, so other drawbacks like Web UI Flow’s lack of right clicking could be solved soon. This acquisition also helped build up their connector library that was already at 315 connectors, and now has added SAP, legacy terminal screens, Java, and Citrix.
How does this affect me?
These updates also led me to a different conclusion than my previously posted article. With this new desktop interacting ability, Microsoft closed the gap with UiPath: if you’re looking at starting a new automation project, Microsoft is your best bet. It provides the speed of low code and what it lacks in custom coding it makes up for with its integration with Power Automate Flow. This means utilizing the vast library of connectors Microsoft offers can help speed up the time it takes to fully automate a process.
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