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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Robotic Process Automation

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AIBM Robotic Process Automation with Automation Anywhere is a robotic process automation solution combining business process management tools from IBM with Automation Anywhere's bots and automation capabilities.

    $840

    per month

    Planful

    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Planful is a cloud-based enterprise performance management (EPM) suite. It includes financial applications for modeling, planning, consolidation, reporting and analytics.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    Editions & Modules
    IBM RPA On premises
    Platform starter pack, starting at USD 840.00 per month
    per month
    IBM RPA Software as a service (SaaS)
    Platform starter pack, starting at USD 840.00 per month
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
    Additional Details—Pricing is highly dependent on the complexity and scope of the implementation.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Planful
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    88 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    101 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    79 Answers
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    90 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    91 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    102 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    61 Answers
    90%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    60 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    68 Answers
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    67 Answers
    Features
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    6.1
    64 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings6.933 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings5.057 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings6.555 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    7.5
    104 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.4103 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.0104 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings7.197 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    7.4
    86 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings8.433 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings6.477 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings6.555 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.566 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    6.1
    51 Ratings
    19% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings5.040 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings6.42 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings6.044 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.33 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    8.9
    103 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.496 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.894 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.595 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.855 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.778 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    2.3
    42 Ratings
    105% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings2.540 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings2.230 Ratings
    Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
    Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    8.7
    156 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Long-term financial planning00 Ratings8.7139 Ratings
    Financial budgeting00 Ratings9.0155 Ratings
    Forecasting00 Ratings9.0146 Ratings
    Scenario modeling00 Ratings7.8131 Ratings
    Management reporting00 Ratings9.0149 Ratings
    Consolidation and Close
    Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    8.0
    118 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Financial data consolidation00 Ratings9.3107 Ratings
    Journal entries and reports00 Ratings7.886 Ratings
    Multi-currency management00 Ratings7.470 Ratings
    Intercompany Eliminations00 Ratings7.773 Ratings
    Minority Ownership00 Ratings6.939 Ratings
    Local and consolidated reporting00 Ratings7.789 Ratings
    Detailed Audit Trails00 Ratings9.187 Ratings
    Financial Reporting and Compliance
    Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    7.6
    152 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Financial Statement Reporting00 Ratings8.8133 Ratings
    Management Reporting00 Ratings8.8143 Ratings
    Excel-based Reporting00 Ratings7.0141 Ratings
    Automated board and financial reporting00 Ratings6.5114 Ratings
    XBRL support for regulatory filing00 Ratings7.13 Ratings
    Analytics and Reporting
    Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    5.9
    104 Ratings
    24% below category average
    Personalized dashboards00 Ratings5.191 Ratings
    Color-coded scorecards00 Ratings2.555 Ratings
    KPIs00 Ratings7.476 Ratings
    Cost and profitability analysis00 Ratings6.975 Ratings
    Key Performance Indicator setting00 Ratings6.963 Ratings
    Benchmarking with external data00 Ratings6.410 Ratings
    Integration
    Comparison of Integration features of IBM Robotic Process Automation and Planful
    Feature
    IBM Robotic Process Automation
    -
    Ratings
    Planful
    8.9
    140 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Flat file integration00 Ratings9.5105 Ratings
    Excel data integration00 Ratings7.8130 Ratings
    Direct links to 3rd-party data sources00 Ratings9.596 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    UiPath Automation Platform
    Score8.5 out of 10
    IBM Planning Analytics
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    UiPath Automation Platform
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
    Score7.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.2
    (94 ratings)
    8.8
    (164 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.8
    (7 ratings)
    8.7
    (23 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (17 ratings)
    8.2
    (21 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (18 ratings)
    9.0
    (22 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.9
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (9 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.3
    (4 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.4
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Robotic Process AutomationPlanful
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    While it can be applied to various scenarios, its suitability can depend on the specific requirements of a given task or process. Here are some scenarios where IBM RPA is well-suited and scenarios where it may be less appropriate: Well suited: 1.Data Entry and Data Migration: RPA can efficiently automate data entry tasks, such as copying information from one system to another or migrating data between databases, reducing the risk of human error 2. Report Generation: RPA can generate routine reports by extracting data from various sources, formatting it, and delivering the reports to the relevant stakeholders, saving time and effort. 3. Email and Message Handling: RPA can help manage and categorize emails and messages, such as routing customer inquiries to the right department or processing routine email requests.Less suited for: 1. Cases where there is High Variability: RPA may struggle with tasks that have a high degree of variability, where each case is unique and difficult to standardize. 2. For Complex Decision-Making: RPA is rule-based and not designed for complex decision-making processes. It cannot replace the judgment and decision-making capabilities of humans. 3.Tasks Requiring Creativity: RPA is not suitable for tasks that require creativity, innovation, or problem-solving skills, as it operates based on predefined rules and logic.
    Read full review
    Planful
    Planful is initially easy to setup and if a company is already using a mid layer to transform and standardise GL data, management reports can be set up in days, not weeks or months. Budgeting template setup does get some getting used to but the training provided by Planful is sufficient to get going and learn along the way. Building custom reports is straightforward and the interface is user-friendly, therefore the accounting team can get going without the need for technical specialists getting involved. Budget and forecasting is flexible and drivers of revenue and cost can be created in Planful and customised by Unit or Geography.
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • accessing local system
    • It was programmed to navigate to the web page requiring reCAPTCHA verification, locate the reCAPTCHA challenge, and generate a screenshot or other data to present to a user for manual input.
    • It was programmed to extract employee data from emails or forms, update the employee record in Workday, and send automated notifications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    • It aggregates data from different sources well, allowing me to report on a wide variety of metrics that interrelate.
    • I can build detailed reports so that my monthly and weekly reporting is done more efficiently
    • I like the tools that I am using to create dedicated models for forecasting and budgeting purposes
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • Security and data privacy: IBM RPA may not have the strongest security features, which can leave sensitive data vulnerable to breaches or hacking.
    • Scalability: IBM RPA may not scale well to accommodate larger businesses and more complex processes, which can lead to performance issues and increased costs.
    • Customization: IBM RPA may not provide as much customization options as some users would like, making it difficult to tailor the software to specific business needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    • Dashboarding could be more flexible and easier to use.
    • Dynamic Reporting has room for flexibility with nesting, dimension names showing up instead of “All,” and overall flexibility.
    • Make Analyze view in Spotlight more intuitive.
    • A high-level onboarding guide to understanding the different components of Planful, data flows, and tips & tricks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    By implementing IBM Robotic Process Automation, we realized that they are digital robots with a great impact on our manual tasks, generating good automation capabilities that are beneficial to the entire company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    Our new Comptroller understands the value of Planful, and we plan to utilize it further in the organization to enhance external reporting. Strangely enough, Planful had not previously been embraced by the former CFO, who argued that we were running two sets of books (of course, we were not). Fortunately, the before mentioned reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Income demonstrated that to the banks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    IBM RPA is a very powerful tool, it has almost all the features that are necessary to build, implement and manage highly functional robots. The learning curve is very fast, so excellent skills are acquired. It is not necessary to have strong programming knowledge because its use is very easy. It is just drag and drop commands. By adding rules and logic, wonderful robots can be achieved.
    Read full review
    Planful
    The tool is extremely adaptable, and it enables very quick querying to give us opportunity to gain live insights into the business. Given its adaptability, we are also able to create scenario analyses very quickly in rapidly changing environments. The formatting also enables us to provide this information in a very consumable manner.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Planful
    I only give a 9 rating rather than a 10 rating because it seems that every day around 2pm we see a slowdown in the use of Planful. I have requested our internal IT department verify that it is not an internal issue and have been assured it is the tool. We have not yet reached out to Planful to do extensive research to solve this issue.
    Read full review
    Performance
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Planful
    Again, the system is very reliable and, for the most part, runs very quick and smooth. When running larger queries, it does take some time, and during budgeting season our users experienced slower loading times, but nothing that raises concerns outside of normal network issues. Occasionally, as with any software we use, it will crash and you have to restart, but that does not happen very often.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    IBM
    IBM has done a great job with enablement for the product. There is documentation for use-cases, development videos for beginners, and a community forum that has proven useful for getting started with the application. Although the resources cannot solve every problem a developer comes across, they have been very beneficial to our technical team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    Sometimes we get great help when using Planful's support team and other times we don't. In particular, there is one person that often responds to our support tickets who is less than helpful, hence the reason for the 5 out of 10 rating. As a result, most of the time we reach out to our Planful consulting group as they provide faster and better support
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Planful
    My team has attended training offered several times before/during the Planful Perform conference. This training has been extremely useful and we always learn something we didn't know prior to the training. The trainers are always very knowledgeable and more than willing to help each and every user after the training with specific questions regarding their environment. Planful also offers training and certifications on their training hub. I have completed a couple of the certifications. The courses are easy to follow along with and very informative. Additionally, Planful schedules webinars pretty regularly. They'll email their customers and allow you to register to participate live. They also record these sessions so you can refer back to them at a later date or if you are unable to attend at the time the webinar is offered, you can register anyway and get access to the recording. Their training has improved year over year!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Planful
    Planful provides a lot of online training support. There's so many options for training. Admin Learning Courses, User Learning Courses. Plus they have several webinars devoted to the tool and the new features they release. New Releases can be practiced in a Sandbox Environment prior to going live in Production
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    I am main developer of the this implementation. I have faced many chanllenges in implementation as IBM RPA not provided direct commands to automate Excel. I enjoyed in finding solution and best approach for the implementation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    After going through the initial implementation with Host Analytics and a re-implementation with Cervello (due to an ERP change, not due to a poor initial implementation), I've learned that you really must rely on your internal staff to bear most of the implementation burden. Use the vendor or partners for ideas and best-practice suggestions, and some of the easy-but-time-consuming work. Since you will ultimately be using and maintaining the application, you should be able to do most of it yourself.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    I've always had excellent service and had no trouble communicating. It has aided in my understanding of how I can continue to use the bots. Reading peer assessments reveals that while IBM RPA demands a substantial initial financial commitment, it justifies its cost, unlike Blue Prism RPA, which does not.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    Prior to joining the company, we tried to implement Vena but were unsuccessful. There we're a few reasons it didn't work out, but a lot of it related to the implementation team they provided. In just the first week with Planful, we achieved more progress than we did in several months with Vena.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Planful
    From our experience, Planful is only used in 2 overhead departments in our organization. We easily added another overhead department, but they decided against using Planful for their workforce and financial planning. Removing them from our environment was extremely easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • IBM Robotic Process Automation has helped save on cost and time as it is able to automate tasks that are repetitive and routine tasks.
    • IBM Robotic Process Automation has helped us increase productivity. This is because it is able to perform tasks with a high degree of accuracy and speed.
    • It has enhanced compliance as it is able to automate compliance-related tasks. This has helped us improve our reputation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planful
    • Has allowed users to view a real-time P&L in a way they weren't able to do with Qlik.
    • Budget to Actual analysis has become much more streamlined and actionable
    • Long-range plan process has been significantly streamlined and a lot of time has been cut out of the process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Robotic Process Automation Screenshots

    Screenshot of IBM Robotic Process Automation Demo: IBM RPA StudioScreenshot of IBM Robotic Process Automation Demo: Watson Engine in IBM RPA StudioScreenshot of IBM Robotic Process Automation Demo: IVR Debug in IBM RPA StudioScreenshot of IBM Robotic Process Automation Demo: HTTP Request in IBM RPA StudioScreenshot of IBM Robotic Process Automation Demo: Knowledge Base Training in IBM RPA Studio

    Planful Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Planful Planform DashboardScreenshot of Planful for FinanceScreenshot of Planful for MarketingScreenshot of ReportsScreenshot of a Capacity Planning TemplateScreenshot of Integrations