Welcome to the Automate trial—you are well on your way to streamlining processes across your organization. (Don’t have the trial version yet? It’s fully featured and free for 30 days.) There’s a lot that you can do with Automate, and we want to make sure you have the chance to completely evaluate if it’s the right solution for you. This article will walk you through how to get started with code-free automation from Automate.
If you would like to get a live guided tour of the software (highly recommended for trial users) join the monthly Automate: Getting Started Webinar.
Getting Started
If you’re still looking for guidance on how to install Automate or Automate Plus, the installation guides can be found with the Automate help content.
The Task Builder
To automate processes with Automate, you don’t need any programming skills—tasks can easily be created using an intuitive visual process designer, the Automate Task Builder. You can access the Task Builder in several ways, including directly from the Windows Start Button.
On the left side of the Task Builder, you will see a list of 70+ available actions and 600+ activities. These are the building blocks of your tasks. Just select the one you want to use in the task and drag it into the correct order on the center pane. Doing so will open a properties dialog box for that action where parameters and specifications can be defined. For example, if you want to compress a file, you will choose the file, the destination folder, the compression type, and other settings.
See the Overview of Tasks video from Automate Academy for more on Tasks.
Sample Tasks and Workflows
Sample tasks (Automate) and workflows (Automate Plus) can be downloaded to demonstrate the possibilities of automatable processes. Here’s how to import them to your trial installation:
Automate:
Import the .aml file from within Task Administrator in one of three ways:
- Drag and drop: drag the .aml file into the Managed Task pane.
- Right-click and import: right-click in the Managed Task pane and select Import. From there you can select the .aml file to import.
- Ribbon menu: click on “…” in the ribbon menu and select Import. From there you can select the .aml file.
Automate Plus
Import the .amkpg file from within the Server Management Console in one of three ways:
- Drag and drop: drag the .ampkg file into the Workflow pane.
- Right-click and import: right-click in the Workflow pane and select Import. From there you can select the .ampkg file to import.
- Ribbon Menu: click on “…” in the ribbon menu and select Import. From there you can select the .ampkg file.
- AML files not assigned to a workflow can also be imported into the repository for an easy jump start from an aml task.
See the complete list of sample tasks and workflows.
Special Features
Automate and Automate Plus have a lot in common, including the intuitive drag-and-drop interface and wide variety of automated actions to use for task building. If you’re currently trialing any Automate product, you are well on your way to a lighter workload, increased productivity, and greater accuracy.
If you are looking for a truly enterprise-class solution to support a competitive automation strategy, you might want to take advantage of some of Automate Plus' most advanced functions. Starting in Version 11, Automate Plus offers increased flexibility to scale the product for your unique needs by purchasing the individual modules you need as add-ons to your platform, like those below:
The Automate Plus Ops Console
The Automate Plus Ops Console is a web-based interface that allows you to monitor what’s happening in the organization from anywhere with an internet connection. The responsive design means that the console is easy to use on any device, giving you access to detailed, real-time operations data whether you’re in the office or on the go. More information and a video demonstration is available here.
Security and Audit Platform
As automation requirements grow, the need for security increases. Automate Plus’ Security and Audit platform includes enterprise-class features like Active Directory integration, role-based security, change history, error notifications, and custom logs.
Do More with Automation
We hope that your trial has inspired you to introduce more automated processes into your organization. Here are some additional recorded webinars and articles about what Automate can do: