UiPath today introduced Automation Cloud Robots alongside several new capabilities as a part of the UiPath 2022.4 platform release. The new SaaS robots—along with added features that simplify how developers create automations, uplevel security and governance, and expand access to automation to Mac—deepen the reach of automation in the enterprise.
“It is clear that automation is the technology of choice for developers who need to rapidly build applications that drive the business forward,” said Ted Kummert, Executive Vice President, Products & Engineering at UiPath. “We are seeing more customers selecting cloud and our customer-focused innovation continues to strengthen our leadership in the automation market. Our Automation Cloud Robots bring customers the full benefit of the cloud as they scale their automation programs. This release also expands use cases for automation professionals and citizen developers alike and provides numerous enterprise-grade performance and security improvements.”
New features in the UiPath Platform 2022.4 release include:
- Automation Cloud Robots: SaaS robots hosted in the UiPath Automation Cloud allow customers to deploy unattended robots instantly without IT, resources, or infrastructure. A VM Automation Cloud Robot is a Windows virtual machine created on-demand in Automation Cloud. It provides an unattended robot that can incorporate customers’ software and configurations and will scale as needed. The new Serverless Automation Cloud Robot is part of a ‘ready-when-you-are’ pool of robots that will immediately and securely run selected automation jobs on demand. With simple browser-based access, Windows, Mac, or Linux users can send work to Automation Cloud Robots and immediately execute in Automation Cloud.
- Frictionless development: With speedier performance, expanded integration options, and low code tools and templates, this release removes friction and complexity from the development process. Automation professionals can now leverage the power of UiPath Integration Service to quickly develop trigger-based automations; access more than 40 API-based connectors to automate processes involving common applications such as Slack, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Mulesoft, and others; and reduce custom coding to streamline app development with new controls and templates in UiPath Apps. Meanwhile, citizen developers get new, simplified access to AI-powered tools like Forms AI, Document Understanding, and Task Capture to automate more tasks.
- Automation access for all: For the first time, Mac users get API and web automation, plus support for UiPath Assistant. Linux robots now support long-running workflows, expanding automations that can run cross-platform. Automation Center of Excellence leaders can preview Automation Launchpad, a new tool which can help them evangelize and scale their program to more users. Users will benefit from a vastly expanded set of ready-to-go automations for a variety of tasks in UiPath Marketplace and Assistant. Finally, developers can create end-user-friendly automations with the UiPath Attended Framework through best practices and development processes for providing an engaging user experience, maximizing automation performance, and simplifying the development process.
- Enhanced Security and Compliance: Security and compliance upgrades in 2022.4 include every UiPath service now in scope for SOC 2 and Automation Cloud HIPAA attestation to facilitate UiPath cloud solution adoption with confidence. Both user and device access controls are strengthened, with expanded role-based controls for managing users and IT governance for conditional access to ensure only managed devices are used. In addition, every customer’s data is now co-located in a single data center to simplify meeting government and enterprise data sovereignty requirements.
“In the post-pandemic world, enterprises must become more agile and practice enterprise acceleration. Robots have been a welcome and effective tool for developers and business leaders who must create that acceleration,” said Holger Mueller, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. “By making robot usage a cloud offering via Automation Cloud™ Robots, UiPath is providing enterprises an easy way to create and operate bots, democratizing automation even further.”
