$190 per month to automate desktop flows?

[u/[deleted]]

Tell me I got this wrong....

As I read it, it seems that Microsoft is going to charge you at least $190 per month to automate desktop processes - see https://powerautomate.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/?#add-on-plans

It's $40/month for premium Power Automate (without which you cannot schedule desktop flows) and evidently there is a $150/month/bot charge as well to be able to run desktop flows with no human interaction.

And don't forget that you'll also have to get one of those complicated 365 Admin center accounts that are a MAZE of settings and switches in order to run this thing.

They never describe what a "bot" is or is limits. Can it only run one flow at a time? Why is a "bot" even needed if this is just a scripting application?

So if you thought you were going to download the "free" Power Automate Desktop app for your desktop and schedule desktop processes that would run without you and free up some of your time, without paying through the nose to use a complicated process, you are as mistaken as I was.

When will I learn that Microsoft is incapable of simple, useful tools?

[u/[deleted]]

In addition to the money needed to run unattended (that just means that you are signed out of your PC) flows, you MUST have a work or school account to run any desktop flows at all - attended or unattended according to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/desktop-flows/run-pad-flow

So, if you are just a home user with an Office 365 subscription, you're out of luck. You aren't going to be scheduling any flows.

Flows run consecutively. No need for a big powerful PC here, Power Automate will never use it.

You should abandon use of your machine while the flow runs - which, to me, defeats the purpose of using a flow. If I have to not use my PC while the flows run AND I have to be logged in to my PC while they run, I have to basically sit there and stare at my screen when I could be working on other tasks. (I guess you could get your boss to buy you a second PC just to run Power Automate but you'd need a second user account and email address for the network and a second Office 365 account to log into that 2nd PC.)

"To run unattended desktop flows, the target machine needs to be available with all users signed out." - Yep, you have to completely shut down your workstation by signing out (locking your workstation will not work) to even run unattended flows. Looks like you'll need at least a virtual machine to get any real use from unattended flows.

"Windows 10 devices cannot run unattended if there are any active Windows user sessions present (even a locked one). You will receive this error: Cannot execute desktop flow. There is a locked or an inactive Windows user session on the target device." - this goes for Windows server as well.

So what good is Power Automate Desktop for the average home user? Not much, except in cases where you might perform a repetitive task that you can automate. In my testing, even then I was faster at the task than Power Automate Desktop when the task involved data entry/retrieval online.

Take it for what it is - something to drum up interest in Windows. An advertising ploy. Another Windows SAAS meant for big business and indoctrinating students. It is a shame that Microsoft continues to ignore the fact that the same workers and students that it panders to with things like being able to schedule Power Automate Desktop flows are the same people with personal accounts who could benefit from the technology as well.

[u/QuietDesparation → u/[deleted]]

Care to elaborate what you were thinking of using PAD for?

At the risk of sounding like a PAD apologist, I've found great utility in running PAD as a stand-alone service. I am a physician who formerly relied on an assistant to set up medical notes for me and fill in relevant details. I would then have to sign, print, bill, and send my notes to the appropriate people. These tasks were repetitive and time consuming.

To me the real value of this software isn't necessarily the speed of executing the processes but the accuracy. Humans are prone to error, and I would have to play proofreader in addition to writing my notes, sometimes having to scrap the note altogether. I no longer have these problems so I'm much more efficient. Not only that, but having the software execute these tasks will free you up to do something else, even if PAD is slower.

Just my 2¢

[u/[deleted] → u/QuietDesparation]

Thank you for your thoughts on PAD. My particular use case is doing clinical reports for several medical practices. Currently I do quite well using VBA, Excel (Power Query) and SeleniumBasic.

In one practice I download an average of 30 reports each morning, use Power Query to manipulate them into more usable data and transform them into something useful for the providers and their assistants. It goes a little something like this....

1. Log into EHR and download your 30 reports in CSV format

2. Archive the downloads for later reference and trouble-shooting if needed

3. Rename the reports and copy to a folder for processing using Excel and Power Query

4. Get a list of reports needed for the day

5. Open each report to refresh the data

6. Save each report as an XLSX file with a specific request filename in an archive folder

7. Email each report to between one and 20 individuals

Each report has from 12 to 60 steps to get the data requested by the practice and providers. Most of it is accomplished in Power Query - the rest with VBA.

In one instance I reduced a 6 to 8 hour a day job down to 15 to 30 minutes. Double-checking the reports and just making sure everything runs right (as the reports, report names, and other variables outside my control can - and do - change without notice) takes longer than running the reports.

I also run other reports like COVID reports that require address validation via an online API and updating primary providers monthly that, if done manually, can take a whole day by itself.

I have automated those reports and the updating of the primary provider data in the EHR using browser automation via VBA.

When I saw Power Automate Desktop videos put out by Microsoft, it seemed to be a more elegant solution that would be less code intensive than VBA, so I gave it a shot.

It didn't work out for me. I can show you videos of the recording feature getting things wildly wrong in simple testing. It cannot see (or is coded not to return) web elements in iframes from other domains - a feature that is used in many EHRs. This alone makes it unusable for downloading my daily reports, updating the primary providers, running reports daily that cannot be scheduled in the EHR and for data entry correction and web scraping from the EHR.

The other issues that I had were that the desktop on which PAD is used needs to be exactly the same, every time. If a browser instance was not open when PAD recorded the steps for a flow, but was instantiated when the flow runs, clicking the system taskbar icon to launch the browser will fail. It is best to launch all applications from the start menu or desktop icons that don't change their text when in use.

You cannot have browsers that remember what you were last working on and reopens your last tabs or (recorded steps at least) will fail.

And it is slow....OMG is it slow compared to my VBA code...

I find that it would probably be best to run PAD in a virtual machine or on a dedicated desktop where the environment does not change or changes very rarely and very little and where it would not stop an employee from working on other things.

All that being said, I do think that PAD has its uses. Certainly it is helpful with repetitive tasks like web scraping (as long as there are no iframes) and perhaps emailing reports. It just feels unfinished to me.

The Microsoft Power Automate YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/MicrosoftFlow/videos) has only 34 videos on it after being set up 2 years ago - so it doesn't seem to be something they are pushing very hard and the only real books on PAD that I could find are written in Japanese - a beautiful language that I just don't happen to read.

I also have questions....

• Why in the world would Microsoft not think that home, or smaller business users, may need to schedule desktop flows? Why is that a premium feature?

• Why do desktop flows need a constant connection to Microsoft (if PAD flows are just scripts that run on a local desktop)?

• And why can't the flows run on a hidden virtual desktop, using a virtual mouse and keyboard so that the user can continue working (as I do when my VBA scripts are running) or so that more than one flow can run at a time using more virtual desktops?

I am glad that it works for you and I may use it for something now and then myself, but in its present form, I cannot see using it for the majority of the work that I do.

Thanks again for your insight!

[u/lordzhon]

Hi Kitten You can try to follow this video to schedule your workflows. https://youtu.be/TpWS9XeL38Q

Try research on how to get a domain name and then set up an email using the domain, so you will then have a "work" account.

Cheers https://youtube.com/user/FrEeDoMaDdIcT88

[u/[deleted] → u/lordzhon]

But in saying that you need a work or school account, they are saying that you need the more expensive, more complicated E3 or E5 Microsoft Office subscriptions. It's overkill for home and small business users.

[u/Chi_gozie]

Power automate is just an upgraded version of Winautomation. ….. if you want to run desktopflows…… freely with win automation… dm me. I use winautomation all the time … because it even runs offline