Automation Anywhere, a company involved in the development of robotic process automation (RPA), has released a free Community Edition of its software. By doing so, it wants to show that it really wants its technology to offer benefits to a very wide audience.
The company is one of the largest and best funded RPA start-ups in recent years. RPA is a subset of artificial intelligence that consists of software that monitors the workflow of companies and derives repetitive tasks from it. The software can then take over these tasks. But the Automation Anywhere software can do more than that.
Strong competition
Automation Anywhere has equipped its platform with a whole host of additional features. The software enables companies to build their own AI bots, which are therefore optimised for specific workloads. It is also possible to centrally manage the roll-out of these bots and to analyse their performance. Companies can also purchase ready-made bots via an Automation Anywhere marketplace.
The Automation Anywhere software is very popular. Currently, the company has 1,400 paying customers, including General Motors, Google and Mastercard. The company also has a lot of funds available. Last November, it raised 300 million dollars (266.1 million euros) in an investment round and experts estimate the value of the company at 2.6 billion dollars (2.3 billion euros).
Competitive market
Nevertheless, the RPA market is very competitive and Automation Anywhere competes with UiPath and Blue Prism, among others. They all operate in a market that will reach a value of USD 2.3 billion (EUR 2 billion) by 2019. With so many different rivals, it’s hardly surprising that Automation Anywhere chooses to make part of its software available for free.
According to Automation Anywhere, the Community Edition gives users access to its full range, including the basic RPA tools used to build AI bots, as well as the IQ Bot automation platform and the analytical software Bot Insights. Users of the free version can also purchase bots from the online marketplace of Automation Anywhere.
It is intended that not only small businesses, but also students and young professionals following courses through the Automation Anywhere University will take advantage of this offer. The Community Edition is available as of today.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.