What is the difference between RPA and PAD(Process Automation Designer)?

[Kartik Lanka]

What is the difference between RPA and PAD(Process Automation Designer)?

[Peter Bodelier]

Hi @Kartik Lanka 

RPA and PAD are both automation platforms, but they have different strengths and capabilities.

ServiceNow RPA is a cloud-based RPA platform that enables users to automate tasks across ServiceNow and other applications. It uses bots to mimic human actions and automate repetitive tasks, such as data entry, order processing, and customer service requests.

ServiceNow PAD is a low-code/no-code platform that enables users to automate business processes without writing code. It provides a visual drag-and-drop interface for creating and managing workflows. ServiceNow PAD is integrated with ServiceNow, making it easy to automate tasks across ServiceNow and other applications.

Feature ServiceNow RPA ServiceNow PAD

Type of automation	Robotic process automation (RPA)	Low-code/no-code process automation
Coding required	Yes	No
Integration with ServiceNow	Tight integration	Integrated
Capabilities	Automates repetitive tasks by mimicking human actions	Automates business processes by visually dragging and dropping activities
Best suited for	Automating repetitive tasks across ServiceNow and other applications	Automating business processes across ServiceNow and other applications

Which platform is right for you depends on your specific needs. If you need to automate repetitive tasks, then RPA is a good option. If you need to automate business processes, then ServiceNow PAD is a good option.

Here are some examples of how ServiceNow RPA and ServiceNow PAD can be used:

RPA

• Automate order processing in an e-commerce system
• Update customer records in a CRM system
• Generate reports from multiple data sources
• Send email notifications to customers and employees
• Process invoices and payments

PAD

• Automate the onboarding process for new employees
• Approve purchase orders
• Manage IT service requests
• Fulfill customer orders
• Process insurance claims

[Community Alums]

Hi @Kartik Lanka ,

Process Automation Designer is a Now Platform® feature that enables you, as a business process owner, to organize Flow Designer content into unified and digitized cross-enterprise processes. With Process Automation Designer, you gain these benefits:

• Connect multiple flows and actions into an end-to-end business workflow.
• Reuse existing Flow Designer flows, subflows, or actions to automate process activities.
• Organize process activities in a digitized task board interface.
• Guide end users to complete a process in a task-oriented interface, such as a playbook.
• Consolidate separate business processes across the organization.
• Define a consistent record life cycle from creation to completion.
• Pass data between the activities and stages of a business process.
• Specify the conditions and the order in which activities and stages run.
• Visualize and manage the activities and stages of your process.

Creating a well-designed process

The automated business processes that you design guide your end users and help them focus on the tasks and information that matter to them. A well-designed process can do these things:

• Start up, or trigger, automatically for the types of records that your end users care about
• Reuse activities from existing Flow Designer content
• Has well-defined lanes that end users can follow for a record
• Clearly show the next steps that end users must take to move through a record's life cycle

Whereas, for RPA

Across industries, automation has made it possible for organizations to do more with less, reducing expenses while improving accuracy and output. But traditional automation is generally built on programming, using high-code applications to integrate with relevant systems. RPA takes a different approach, performing tasks at the user-interface level. And, because RPA bots are designed to copy and learn from user actions, there’s no need to make any changes to the underlying IT infrastructure. RPA robots can be attended or unattended, depending on whether they require any assistance or oversight from human operators.

In essence, RPA automates specific kinds of actual human activities and large-scale data movement activities, capable of handling repetitive, monotonous, and rule-based tasks and duties, quickly and accurately.

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