Celonis vs. UiPath: Process Mining Tools Comparison

The growing adoption of hyperautomation across all sectors and the constant need for faster and more efficient tools keep the process mining software market competitive. As existing vendors continue improving their tools while emerging names try to offer something new, it becomes crucial for decision-makers to understand the perspective of hyperautomation experts and their criteria regarding choosing process mining tools. 

To provide that perspective, we outlined important process mining software criteria by reviewing process mining solutions provided by the leading vendor Celonis and the emerging process mining challenger UiPath.

Why is process mining important for hyperautomation?

Companies seeking to improve their processes with AI and ML need a strategy for moving from "as is" to "to be," which requires detailed knowledge of their current processes. 

However, their task was complicated by the lack of information systems that illustrate process execution step-by-step. Experts and managers in charge of accelerating automation across the enterprise often had to manually search the enterprise systems for relevant logs, identify connections between processes, and track deviations from the average. As a result, they either spent too much time analyzing "as is" processes or getting insufficient data due to relying on superficial process research.

Having evolved from a subject of research in 2011 to a large variety of actionable solutions, process mining tools made it possible to break that loop and empower teams with the following features:

• Systems log management
  Process mining software gleans information about the key process of enterprise systems (transaction systems, auditing, logistics) by collecting and organizing logs from the relevant information systems. It documents the work done, employees participating in the process, process length, and any deviations from standard performance.
• KPI identification
  Process mining solutions also have process analytics that reveal key performance indicators crucial to process improvement. With data provided by these analytics, hyperautomation experts can correctly set the milestones for process optimization.
• Variation tracking
  The latest versions of process mining software come powered with AI algorithms that track different scenarios and point out how they affect the duration or overall performance of the process — for example, how handling more new orders or an increased bulk of clients impacts the average process speed and quality.
• Target process visualization
  Hyperautomation teams can build target process models in the process mining software, which lets them compare it to the current processes, evaluate the gaps between "as is" and "to be," and identify steps that should be taken to narrow these gaps.

As a result, the introduction of process mining software brought much-needed revitalization to hyperautomation preparations, accelerating the work of automation teams and paving the way for large-scale transformation strategies.

What are the leaders and challengers of the process mining solutions market in 2023?

Projected to increase its size by $26 billion in 2031, the process mining software market lacks vendors offering their tools to companies invested in becoming more digitally agile. According to the Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Tools in 2023, the current situation on the market looks the following way:

Since there are many names in the leadership matrix, selecting the most prominent ones for evaluating their functionality and the value their solutions bring to hyperautomation makes sense. In our comparative review, we decided to focus on Celonis and UiPath as our teams have experience working with their solutions and, therefore, know their impact on the hyperautomation journey.

Why compare Celonis and UiPath?

When determining market leaders, Celonis is one of the names always on top of the leader matrix. Being the first to develop and introduce process mining solutions to the market in 2011 and continuing its rapid growth, Celonis can be rightly considered a trailblazer in the world of process mining technology, constantly improving and upgrading its solutions to facilitate hyperautomation across a wide range of sectors in the USA and Europe. 

Compared to Celonis, UiPath is a relatively recent yet successful market challenger close to entering the leadership matrix due to its robust RPA core and business intelligence suite integrated upon acquiring the ProсessGold process mining solution. Being a part of an inclusive UiPath platform that additionally provides RPA tools to complement process mining tasks, the UiPath process mining tool is currently seeing wide-scale adoption by companies that prioritize variability and accessibility. While Celonis has an established market presence and time-proven solutions, UiPath previously has been known as one of the RPA market leaders rather than a process mining trailblazer. Now, the vendor uses their expertise and experience to expand into a new direction and facilitate process mining through automation-powered innovation.

Both vendors are frequently favored by enterprises that want to equip their teams with advanced solutions. However, since those solutions aren't identical or interchangeable, the decision-maker in license acquisition should consider more aspects than price range. Finding the perfect fit requires assessing each tool from a hyperautomation professional's point of view.

Celonis vs. UiPath: process mining comparison

In our comparison, we will use several criteria relevant to a hyperautomation team's productive and result-rich work.

Celonis vs UiPath: Data integration

Regarding data manipulation, Celonis and UiPath offer all techniques for adding, deleting, or modifying data. But regarding the versatility and flexibility of data manipulation, clear distinctions can be made between the two solutions.

Regarding data manipulation, establishing more data connections, integrating more data sources, and mapping out not only one process but also its connections with other processes would always be the better option.

Higher flexibility and a larger diversity of options allow teams to complete more within a single project, which is why Celonis is considered a more fitting choice. Compared to UiPath, Celonis provides a more advanced suite for modifying, converting, integrating, and managing data. In addition, it allows for tracking various process stages through different systems sources, creating a complete and detailed process visualization.

Celonis vs UiPath: Process graph

The visualization of key data processes determines how fast the team can glean actionable insights and use them in their hyperautomation strategy. Celonis and UiPath process analytics are presented via process graphs.

Compared to each other, UiPath and Celonis graphs offer similar and equally useful features. Celonis enables users a more detailed breakdown of activities, and UiPath lets users navigate across the graph with the help of color marking and tooltips containing customizable information specific to each activity. Since both tools offer equally valuable process graph feature sets, the matter of which process graph is superior depends on the needs and preferences of the hyperautomation team.

Celonis vs UiPath: UI components

To continue with the subject data and analytics visualization, intuitive dashboards and UI elements matter not only for non-technical users. To proceed with their tasks, every professional involved in hyperautomation needs to be able to obtain and comprehend the data as fast as possible. Comparing the Celonis process mining tool to the UIPath process mining solution has yielded a set of significant differences.

Although both tools provide flexible filtering, the UiPath process mining tool delivers a lower UI experience than the Celonis process mining software due to its limited dashboard options and UI component settings. 

Within the  UiPath process mining solution, users often have to switch between no-scroll, single format dashboards to view information and analytics. The Celonis dashboard exists in a wide range of formats (from fullscreen to the A4 format) and is scrollable, thus providing a much smoother information visualization of charts, tables, and task analysis.

Additionally, the Celonis dashboard can be customized or adjusted through a code editor, further expanding visualization options, contributing significantly to user experience.

Celonis vs UiPath: Conformance checking

Building a target model that accelerates functionality, efficiency, and productivity is insufficient. Next, this model has to be compared with the current process to see how the "to be" process is different from "as is, "identify conformance violations and why they occur. Due to this, advanced process mining software must enable users to gain maximum insights when comparing target and current processes.

Similarly to the process graph criterion, the UiPath process mining tool has better visualization, which is important for deviation tracking. However, the Celonis process mining solution has a more in-depth approach to the comparative analysis between a target model and a current process. It also provides time-saving features via automated generation of conformance list violation and conformance violation percentage computing, letting users skip calculations and filtering and proceed to work with data.

Celonis vs UiPath: Built-in automation

Since process mining is relevant to hyper automation enablement, the availability of built-in automation options for optimizing key tasks is a desired feature among process mining solutions. Comparing the built-in automation features between the Celonis and UiPath process mining tools has yielded the following results:

As a vendor specializing in automation, UiPath has a powerful RPA and automation suite directed to improve the scalability and usability of its process mining tool. Nevertheless, the Celonis process mining tool is a strong contender as it introduces a wide range of built-in enterprise-focused automation features that are easily integrated into popular ERPs and allow regulating multiple tasks with minimal human intervention. So, while UiPath process mining software is backed up by a strong expertise in RPA, Celonis' built-in automation suite delivers everything hyperautomation needs to facilitate process mining and accelerate transformation across the enterprise.

Celonis vs UiPath: Collaborative development

Last but not least important criterion for process mining tools is their convenience for team collaboration. All software products have a limit on how many team members and roles they can fit within one project, which is why teams must know these limitations in advance in order to choose the solution that enables the smoothest synergy between each expert. 

Another essential aspect is the training materials and learning programs that come with the product. All teams participating in hyperautomation need to familiarize themselves with the tool and its functionality before they can get to work and explore process analytics.

Both Celonis and UiPath process mining tools are accompanied by great learning programs that facilitate learning and operating with the software. However, in the context of team collaboration and convenience for developers, Celonis process mining software is more agile and accommodating for different team roles, making it a more team-friendly option.

Which process mining tool is best for hyperautomation?

Comparing the leader and challenger of the process mining software market, we can conclude that Celonis has earned its place among the top vendors due to its more enterprise-focused approach and years-long expertise in process mining. Although the UiPath process mining tool offers more convenient process model comparison and process graph options, it ultimately focuses too much on visualization, and not enough — on what’s happening within the enterprise. Meanwhile, Celonis' solution provides a 360 view of enterprise processes and creates a productive digital work environment for users. 

Additionally, as Celonis has been developing and perfecting its process mining product since 2011, it updates and upgrades its software fueled by its expertise and industry experience—making it the perfect fit for tackling modern and upcoming hyperautomation challenges. 
If you would like to learn more about hyperautomation challenges and get our perspective on solving them – let’s chat! Our experienced and result-driven hyperautomation experts can consult you on your niche-specific needs, outlining a strategy that will help you optimize your processes and streamline your workflow.

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