Effective May 1, 2024, Microsoft Power Automate Hosted Process replaces Microsoft Power Automate Hosted RPA. This is a name change. The same pricing and prerequisites will apply.
What is Microsoft Power Automate Hosted Process?
Microsoft Power Automate Hosted Process offers a powerful solution for automating processes, that operate in the background, such as invoice processing and HR onboarding. These processes are vital and usually involve multiple interconnected steps. For instance, an invoice process may include various stages from issuance to final payment, all automated and part of a single business process. It simplifies the setup and scaling of automations, leveraging hosted machines and machine groups:
| Hosted Machines for Attended and Unattended Automation | Hosted Machine Groups for Unattended Automation | |
| Description | Individual hosted machines provide a straightforward way for developers to build, test, and run desktop flows (automated workflows) without the need to set up physical machines. | Hosted machine groups automatically scale workloads to optimize unattended automation in production. |
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Hosted Process Licensing
The Hosted Process licenses the machine/bot, not the user. Here are some more licensing details:
- License inclusions: Each Hosted Process license provides access to one Microsoft hosted machine and one unattended RPA bot. This license covers all desktop flows (RPA) operating on the machine, as well as cloud flows (DPA) that form an integral part of the business process.
- Unattended Automation on foreign bot machine: One Hosted Process license can also be used as a process license to run unattended automation on a customer managed bot machine.
- Expandable AI Capacity: Should you need more AI capabilities, you have the option to purchase additional AI Builder capacity. This capacity is aggregated at the tenant level, offering flexibility across your operations.
- Separate Licensing for Accessed Services: Any services or applications accessed by the unattended bot, such as Windows or Office within Microsoft 365, require their own distinct licenses. In this case, you must purchase the unattended license in addition to the Power Automate Hosted Process license.
The Power Automate Premium user plan is required to run attended RPA, and for RPA developers to build and manage desktop flows on the Power Automate portal. This is because Hosted Process is licensed per machine/bot, while Premium is licensed per user.
What is the difference between Power Automate Hosted Process and Power Automate Process?
Licensed per bot, Power Automate Process licenses a single “automation” bot that can be used for unattended RPA, or business critical processes that need to be accessed by unlimited users within an organization. The Power Automate Hosted Process is a comprehensive solution that builds upon the functionality of the Power Automate Process license. It offers the same capabilities as the Power Automate Process license, with the addition of a Microsoft hosted machine capacity that can be used for hosted machine or hosted machine group.
More information
For FAQ on Power Automate licensing, please visit: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/power-automate-licensing/faqs.
For more information on the Microsoft Power Automate Premium RPA features, please visit: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/desktop-flows/premium-features.
Find all Microsoft Power Automate licensing types here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/power-automate-licensing/types.
For more about Microsoft licensing programs etc., please visit: https://www.schneider.im/software/microsoft/.
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