Top 50 Blue Prism Interview Questions You Must Know In 2023

Robotic Process Automation has emerged into the market for quite a long of a time, but has only gained popularity recently. With RPA helping the users to do tedious mundane tasks with the help of RPA Tools, it has increased the job opportunities for an RPA Developer.  Multinational companies such as  IBM, Accenture, Cognizant, Deloitte, Genpact, Ernst & Young use Blue Prism. But there is a lack of  RPA Certified professionals in the market. I believe that you already know these facts, which has made you land on this Blue Prism Interview Questions article.

In this article on Blue Prism Interview Questions, I will be discussing the top Blue Prism related questions asked in your interviews. So, for your better understanding I have divided this article into the following  sections:

• • Basic RPA Interview Questions
  • Basic Blue Prism Questions
  • Advanced Blue Prism Interview Questions

Basic RPA Interview Questions

Q1. Mention the differences between Blue Prism, UiPath, and Automation Anywhere.

Q2. What is Robotic Process Automation?

The process of automating tasks with the help of software/tools to deploy bots which will reduce the involvement of humans to perform any task is said to be Robotic Process Automation.

There are three terms that you need to understand i.e: Robotic, Process, and Automation. Let me explain to you each of these terms one by one.

• Robotic: Entities that mimic human actions are called Robots.
• Process: A sequence of steps that lead to meaningful activity. For example, the process of making coffee or your favorite dish, etc.
• Automation: Any process which is done by a robot without human intervention.

When we summarize all the above terms together then, mimicking human actions to perform a sequence of steps that lead to meaningful activity, without any human intervention is known as Robotic Process Automation.

Q3. What are the differences between robotic automation and Screen Scraping?

The major differences between robotic automation and screen scraping are as follows:

• Robots are considered to be application orchestrators, as any machine used by man can be used by modern robots also. They could be either web service-enabled applications, legacy applications, mainframe, etc.
• Robots build a shared library by collecting procedural knowledge. This knowledge can be r-used by any other robot or device.
• Also, the applications are read by the robots either through the operating systems prior to application display, through the screen in the context of the native application or through dedicated APIs. In the case where the applications are read through the screen in the context of a native application, the robots read the same way as that of the user. So, while a robot is trained, it is shown how to read the application’s display. Similar to that of a user.

Q4. Can you elaborate on the stages of the RPA life cycle?

The RPA Lifecycle has mainly 5 stages and an additional stage. Refer to the image below.

• Discovery Phase – As the name suggests, in this phase, the requirements of the client are analyzed to decide whether the process can be automated or not. After that, the complexity of the process is analyzed along with the benefits.
• Solution Design Phase – The solution or the steps to automate a task is designed in this phase.  Apart from the basic requirements, a few other requirements for the project such as Budget, Time to be spent, the number of people working on the project are decided. Then an Object Model Diagram or a Flowchart is created to understand the flow of the process.
• Development Phase – The Development Phase is the phase wherein the Automation Developer creates Automation Scripts in the chosen RPA Tool.  Depending on the task to be automated or the kind of automation required, there may or may not be coding required.
• UAT(User Acceptance Tests) – In this phase of the RPA lifecycle, the developed bot is tested either by the Testing team or the Development team itself. The bot is tested in the pre-production environment to test how the users can use this bot to automate a specific task.
• Deployment & Maintenance Phase – After developing and testing a bot, the bot is deployed into the production environment. 
• Execute Bots – In this stage, the bots are executed and thereafter checked to generate meaningful results.

Q5.  What are the differences between RPA and automation?

Q6. What are the features of RPA?

The features of RPA are as follows:

• Accurate: Less prone to errors and work with high precision and uniformity
• Consistent: The RPA software are built in such a way that, all the repetitive tasks are performed in the same manner.
• Cost Cutting Technology: Aims to reduce the manual workforce and thus reduces the cost used to perform any task.
• Productivity Rate: The execution time to perform any task is much faster when compared to the manual approach.
• Reliable Software: This software is reliable, as bots can work 24*7 without a break, with the same efficiency.
• No/Less Coding Required: RPA tools do not require much coding knowledge. 

Q7. Mention the differences between thin clients and thick clients.

Q8. Can you mention a few general requirements of RPA for front and back-office processing?

Well, there is no definite answer to this question. But, you can answer the interviewer by saying that apart from the tools, and the client requirements, most of the requirements are the same for both front office and back-office processing. The same configuration can be easily deployed and the results that can be derived are always superior in every aspect.

Q9. What are the differences between Selenium and RPA?

Q10.  What points are to be considered during the planning phase of automation.

During the planning phase of automation you have consider the following:

• Best RPA Tool for your project
• Collect the in scope and out of scope parameters
• Testing environment
• Project timelines
• Identification of deliverables

Basic Blue Prism Interview Questions

Q1. Do we require coding skills to use the Blue Prism tool?

Well, this is one of the most common questions asked in interviews. The answer to this question is NO. Blue Prism does not require any prior programming knowledge as it has developed its digital workforce in a way that it can be built, and managed by the users. Apart from this, Blue Prism has also made sure that its digital workforce adheres to the spanning technologies, operations and the robotic operational model, to make sure that it can be implemented in any department of an enterprise. Also, to the matter of fact, all the RPA Tools require no or less programming knowledge as all their platforms are built in such a way that a user does not sit and writes code.

Q2. What is the need for Blue Prism in the market?

Since Robotic Process Automation aka RPA cannot be implemented without the RPA Tools, Blue Prism is one of the most popular RPA Tools is used to design automation scripts for various departments and tasks. Blue Prism supports both internal and external encryption or decryption of keys.

Apart from this, it also enables Audit Logs which makes it easy for the users to debug. Well, these were just a few points, but I am sure once you start using the tool, you will understand the benefits of the Blue Prism.

Q3. What do you understand by the Environmental variable in Blue Prism?

Environmental variables are those variables that are available to all processes and business objects. So, these variables are used as dynamic variables, to make sure they can be used whenever required across the Blue Prism platform.

To use an environment variable follow the below steps:

• Add a new data item to the chosen Process or Object
• Open the Data Properties form
• In the ‘Exposure’ combo box select the ‘Environment’ option
• The ‘Name’ edit box at the top of the screen will become a combo box. Select the Environment Variable you want to use from the combo list
• Click OK

Q4. What kind of support is required from the Blue Prism Professional Services?

Blue Prism offers a wide range of services. So, it completely depends on the abilities that you already have and what you wish to learn next. Blue Prism can provide complete training to learn the tool, 24*7 support to ensure that you learn the tool quickly and start automating tasks. Here, Blue Prism takes the responsibility of delivering business benefits within the agreed service levels.

Q5. Can you mention the hardware requirements used to execute the Blue Prism Platform?

Well, there are as such no hardware requirements. But since Blue Prism is designed to match with the IT standards suitable for IT security, operational integrity, and operational supportability, this software is designed in a ready to be deployed manner.

In front-office processing, it runs on the standard/ local desktop whereas in the back office processing it runs on a large number of systems.

Q6. What do you understand by Visual Business Object?

The Visual Business Objects are used to provide an interface to an application.  This application interface is not configured in the Process Studio but is configured in a separate environment called an Object Studio environment.  So, a Business Object is not exposed to the Control Room but is always used by a Process.

Q7. Mention the components in Blue Prism

Blue Prism comes with various tools, libraries and run time environments to enable the users to automate tasks.  Out of all of them, there are mainly two components of Blue Prism. They are:

• Process Studio – Process Studio is the area in which the Process Diagrams are created. This component of Blue Prism offers features such as business logic, object call, control loops, and variables. Each and every process created has the Main Page which gets executed first.

• Object Studio – Almost all enterprises need to have communication with external applications to automate tasks. Since it cannot happen in Process Studio, Object Studio is used. Object Studio is the area where Visual Business Objects(VBO) are created.  These objects are nothing but diagrammatic programs interacting with external applications that perform operations. One Business Object provides an interface with only one external application. Also, let me tell you that each Object Studio, does not have the Main Page, but it does have two default pages organized as a flat group.

Q8. What do you understand by the Process in Blue Prism?

A process is quite similar to that of a business object. It acts like a human user and implements a software robot logic. Each and every process is defined by using one or more pages, where each page contains various stages. A process always starts at its main page and then carries forward to the other pages. Here, each page has its own individual tab to ensure that the processes are divided into various logical groupings.

Q9. Mention the steps to create a Process in Blue Prism

Follow the below steps to create a Process in Blue Prism:

• Open the Blue Prism window, and choose the Studio icon.
• Then right-click the Processes heading under the Studio tab and select “Create a Process”.
• After that, enter the name and description of the Process
• Once the process is created, it will appear beneath the Processes heading. Just double-click on it to open.
• Now, once the Process is opened, the next step is to add a stage. To do that, go to the Stages toolbar on the left-hand side and drag it into the workspace.
• After the stage is added, you can go forward and create the process flow.

Q10. How can you get started on delivering processes using Blue Prism?

Well, Blue Prism recommends a phased approach to get started as the Operational Agility framework is scalable. This kind of environment is used to target the configuration between 1 to 10 processes initially, and then rolling program of processes being introduced once the framework is established.

Q11. What are the steps to deploy Blue Prism applications?

To deploy Blue prism applications, we need the tools Control Room and System Manager.

These tools let perform tasks as follows:

• Start and stop the instance of Blue Prism processes.
• View the logs produced by each and every Blue Prism process, either when the process is running or after the process is ended.  Apart from this, the log records when each and every stage in the process is executed.
• Create process schedules according to the schedule defined by the user.
• View work queues to examine how far the processes have got an input file and what are the exceptions which have occurred.

Q12. Mention the steps to create an action in Blue Prism and publish it.

Actions are used to implement the logic of a Business Object. Each Action contains data items having the information used by each action along with a set of stages. 

To publish an Action, it has to be called by the Processes or any other software. An Action can also remain private. When you make an action private, it is only available to other actions in the Business Object.

An Action always starts with the Start stage and finishes at the End stage.  Between both these stages, other stages responsible to carry out the task are present.

The steps to publish an action are quite simple:

• Right-click on the action’s name and choose Publish from the context menu.
• Once the action gets published, an icon appears next to the name of action to indicate it is published.

Q13. What do you understand by Blue Prism Process Template?

Blue Prism Process Template is used as a base for all the processes created in Blue Prism. These templates ensure processes are easy to configure and support. They also help the user understand how the work queues are used in all the processes created.

With the help of the Process Templates, you can do the following:

• Know where the work queues are loaded with the new work and where the Get Next Item action is used.
• Route all the complete cases through the Resolve Item page and the exception items though the Resolve Exception page.
• Develop and support having multiple Mark Exception and Mark Completed stages throughout the process.
• Do fast process development since examples are provided for different work queues loading scenarios.
• Easy to familiarize yourself with the existing process following similar templates.

Q14. What do you understand by SDD and FRQ?

• SDD – SDD aka Solution Design Document is used to describe the Blue Prism automation process derived in the Process Definition Document.
• FRQ – FRQ aka Function Requirements Questionnaire is used to provide areas for consideration and also a checklist for required details.

Q15. Can you mention a few ways to secure your applications in Blue Prism?

There are three ways through which you can secure your applications:

• User: Used to assign new user information
• Credentials: Used to store the secret information
• Options: Used to set rules for setting passwords

Apart from this, Blue Prism provides role-based access control for security. Through this, the Blue Prism administrator defines what roles a user can act in, the system will allow that user to perform only the actions allowed by these roles. An administrator can also examine the records of activities such as when a user logs into Blue Prism, when that user starts or deletes a process, when that user changes her password, and more.

Q16. What is the use of Global Mouse Click and Global Send Keys?

Global Mouse Click and Global Send Keys are examples of operations that need an active application. In the scenario, where the application is not front-end, operations will click or type into whichever window is active. This could also be a different application or an empty desktop.

Q17. Elaborate on the different phases of the Blue Prism life cycle.

There are three phases of Blue prism life cycle:

Phase 1: Developer and tester work with each other to prove that the automation solution verifies the Process Definition Document.

Phase 2: You will repeat Phase 1 in Process Studio,  tests are executed in live data testing more often.

Phase 3: This phase will have the following:

• To test the final solution, the process solution is installed with a test environment.
• The solution is in such a way that it should be able to manage the performance of the environment, and any remaining issued.
• Finally, the process runs in the control room of Blue Prism.
• Then the acceptance criteria must publish the sign after meeting a full test report. Once it is done process is executed in the production.

Q18. What are the work queues in Blue Prism and mention the steps to set the priority for work queues in Blue Prism? 

Work Queues are mostly used to break large volumes of work to small volumes. To do this, multiple bots can be used to reduce time consumption. Also, a work queue is one of the most efficient ways to deploy bots. If you are working in queues, you have to set the priorities of the queue item. To do that,

You have to add the first item to the queue with the help of Add to Queue action.

Next, you have to work with the Queue item, to start the priority of the process started.  Once the priority of item is added to the queue, then it cannot be changed.

Q19. Where are Tags used in Blue Prism?

Tags are keywords of terms assigned to the work queue items. These tags are used when you want to retrieve the next item from the work queue. You can also filter the items to be retrieved the presence or absence of a specific tag and by giving appropriate arguments to the Tag Filter input parameter of the Get Next item action. Multiple tags can be used by using semi-colons. 

Example:

“+Work Type1;+Student Type2;-Work Type2”

Here, the next item will have Work Type1 and Student Typ2 tags and will not have Work Type2 tags will be returned.

Q20. Is Blue Prism’s platform secure and auditable?

Yes, Blue Prism’s platform is secure and auditable, as both security and auditability are built into the Blue Prism platform at several levels.

In Blue Prism the run time environment is separate from the process of editing the environment.  Also, there are specific permissions to design, create, edit and run processes for each and every authorized user.

Apart from this, a full audit trail of changes to any process is kept, with the comparisons of the before and after effect of the changes provided. Also, the log created at run-time for each and every process provides a detailed, time-stamped history of every decision and action taken within an automated process.

Q21. What do you understand by Multiple-Part Processes?

As the name suggests, Multiple-Part processes are used in a scenario where a case needs to be worked in multiple parts at different items. It comes with parent-child relationships where individual work queues items must be linked to a single request.

This can also be used where work is driven from an external system rather than from the Blue Prism work queue.

Not only this, but thew Multiple-part processes can be used where the requests are added throughout a day and must be executed in the service-level agreement period.

Q22. What is the Application Modeller?

The application Modeller is used to interact with the applications. Through this, you can configure only one Application. But,  you can go forward and override or Replace Existing Configuration with New Configuration.

Apart from this, you can also answer the interview by adhering to the local naming convention, where it is typically {element type} -{element name}

Example: To create sections for the screen with each part, the Application Modeller makes the support easier and mitigates the risk of being repeatedly spying at the incorrect elements.

Q23. Explain the Attach option in Blue Prism.

The Attach option is used to identify which application is being used. You need to input the value to help it identify the application. For example: “Window Title” or “Process Name”.

Q24. What do you understand by the “Preserve” checkbox and when to use it?

When you check in the Preserve checkbox, the Exception Type and Exception Details fields are disabled. So, when we check-in the Preserve checkbox, the current exception is to be re-released or thrown again, and no further details are necessary.

Due to this, the Preserve checkbox must be used in the Recovery Mode which is between the Recover stage and a Resume stage.

Also, if you use the checkbox outside the Recovery mode it will generate an exception.

Q25. Explain the usage of dynamic match type?

The Dynamic Match Type allows the user to specify the value of an attribute from the diagram rather than use the one present in the Application Modeler.

You can understand the Dynamic Match Type, as a mandatory input parameter required by any of the stage using elements.

Advanced Level Blue Prism Interview Questions

Q1. What do you understand by OID and PDI?

OID aka Operational Impact Document is used to inform the operations team what is responsible for the changes after the automation solution is designed.

So, it is basically a description of the change which has impacted them after the implementation of the solution successfully.

Also, to check the execution of the automated solution its impact on the business, a workshop is conducted by Process Definition Document. 

Coming to PDI aka Process Design Instruction, is a blueprint that develops a process where the information with a low level can be included in PDI after excluding it from Software Definition Document that makes the process clear.

Q2. What is the Active Accessibility interface in Blue Prism?

The Active Accessibility interface is much slower than the default Win32 interface, but Active Accessibility is compatible with more types of interface elements. When automating Windows-native applications, Active Accessibility should only be used when elements are not compatible or cannot be reliably targeted using the Win32 spy mode. To improve the performance of the Active Accessibility interface, the Match Index and Match Reverse can be used. While using this interface, multiple matches can be found even though the element seems to be unique. This might happen because some elements may exist even when they are not displayed. 

Q3. What are the steps to create a Web service in Blue Prism?

You can follow the below steps to create a simple calculator process in Blue Prism.

• Open the Blue Prism Studio and create a web service group. 
• Then, create a simple object, let us say SampleCalc. Also, enter the details of the web service. 
• Once the object is created, double-click on the object and open the object studio. Here, click on the Action1 button, and add an action by right-click on the button.
• Then double click on the Action, and this will navigate the page information where you have to provide the description such as Multiply two numbers and return the results. After that click on OK.
• Now since we are trying to Multiply two numbers. To do this, you need to select the calculation option.  So, to do that double click on the SampleCalc1, you will be navigated to the calculation properties. Here, you have to provide the name as: Multiply two numbers.
• Then, in the expression field, you have to create two numbers just by clicking on the numbers option. Let us say we create two input numbers Data1, Data2, and an output number Data3.
• Next, you have to drag the input numbers and drag the output ‘Data3’ in the result. Then, click on the validate button. 
• After that, click on the evaluate expressions, where you have to enter the value of Data1 and Data2. These will be sorted in temporary values, and then you will find the result value after clicking on the Test button.
• Next, you have to link the start button where input numbers are given. To multiply two numbers box, add it to the end where the output number is Data3. 
• You can then test this diagram by clicking on the Go button, and save the Business object by clicking on the Save button.
• Finally, you can check the process by clicking the go button if the inputs are given.

Q4. Elaborate on how does a process a run in the control room

 When a process is running in the control room, you can stop the process either by clicking the Stop Section or by selecting the Process Session. Both of these methods will stop the process immediately. In case, if the current process is not completed, then Blue Prism will mark it as an Exception at Clean-Up.

There are mainly two-stop options, you see while making the right-click on the running process session:

• Request Stop – Asks the processes to stop at a configured safe stop in the process
• Immediate Stop – This option behaves just like a Stop section

Q5. What do you understand by Wait stage and the options: Always throw an exception on timeout and Always with for the screen to change?

The wait stage is used to get the wait timeout upon double-clicking on the wait stage, the default timeout should be 5 seconds. So, as we give the wait stage upon running the object it will wait till the time given by the user to perform an action. This aims to increase the resilience of the process.

 Always throw an exception on timeout –  You should not try to retrieve the process through the wait stage. Instead, you should try an exception and let the process handle it, as it may choose to restart the system/ retry after a few times/ retry after an alert.

Always with for the screen to change – You should use the wait stages after navigating to any stage which is the reason that is required to update screen. This ensures to run fast by not absorbing any latency.

Q6. What are the recommendations for automated solutions working short SLA?

Listed below are a few of the recommendations for automated solutions working short SLA (Service Level Agreement) or real-time requests:

• Since Blue Prism follows the practice of never finish the work instantly, and always follows a queue to process the work via the user interface, you can separate the work request confirmation from the work. For example, if a work request comes via a Web Service call, the  Blue Prism must add the request to a Work Queue and give an output that the request has been received.

• You can also allocate enough robots to ensure that those robots work with the work queues at peak times, with the expected SLA. Apart from this, a method of controllers must be designed into a solution to inform the users if an SLA is being missed or if its at risk. Work queues can be also reported up to estimate whether the available capacity is enough to meet the expected workloads at peak time.

• Robust contingency can be met, as it is an integral part of the Blue Prism framework. Here, you have to make sure that the expected SLA are included in the contingency plans. 

Q7.  What is the purpose of Business Objects and also explain the way to check the object attached with the application or not.

The main purpose of Business Object is to provide an interface to a single application. Business Objects are not exposed to the control room and are used by processes.

To check whether an object is attached to the application or not, you need to use the top or the root element in an application model. Then, you have to select the option – Read operation. Once you select this option, the Business Object will be connected. 

Q8. What do you understand by Session variables and where are they used?

Session variables are those variables, which are applicable to sessions like running processes. Similar to the Environment variables, the session variables are exposed outside the diagram.

On running processes, Session variables are very specific. If two instances of processes are running at the same instance of time, both these instances will have the same session variables with different values.

There is no need to set up the Session variables in the System Manager, but in the Control Room, you can see and modify the Session variables. Also, all the data Items are writable and exposed as Session variables.

Q9. What do you understand by the new Environment Variable “Stopping Time”, a value of “three or four minutes from now” and with data type “Time”?

A new Environment variable named as “Stopping Time” has a value of “three or four minutes from now” and with data type “Time”. To use this variable, you have to create the latest Process named as “Stopping Time”. Then you have to create a data item named “Stopping Time”. Finally, you can use the exposure field to link it with the Environment variable.

Q10. What do you understand by Mark Exception and System Unavailable Exception in Blue Prism?

The Mark Exception has two flag inputs(Keep Locked and Retry) used to control the features. So, as soon as a new item is developed, it will return its ID into the output parameter of this new item. Also, if the Keep Locked flag is set to TRUE, then a new item will be under the control of the process.

Coming to System Unavailable Exception, these exceptions are generally seen when you are not able to launch the application. This could be either because of not-responding applications, a new screen of an application, application crashes or changes within an application that were not considered during the design and development stage. 

Q11. What do you understand by Match Index?

If you want to search for an element from top to bottom, then you have to use Match Index. Once the element is found, the Blue Prism will stop searching instead of continuing to search for potential duplicates.

Using this attribute, you can increase the search speed. But this is generally used when duplicate elements are either ignored or are unlikely to be present.

Also, if you use the Match Reverse option, this will make Blue Prism search in the bottom-to-up order rather than the top-to-bottom order.

Q12. What are the steps to run more than one instance of a process?

While accessing the more than one instance of the Process, there are chances that those instances clash with each other. For example, let us say you have a process that holds the task to access a shared file. But, you need to run more than one instance of that process.

How do you think, you will avoid the clash between instances?

Well, you can do that by removing the file accessing sequence from the Process and put it in a separate process which will run on a single machine. 

One more way is to use the Blue prism’s Environment Locking feature to control the access to the file.

This lock is a token or a  key which a Process must obtain as a “permission” to take a particular path as input.  When there are more than one instance of a Process running and only a single lock is present, the instances must “compete” for the lock.

Q13. What are two main methods of a Blue Prism process getting work from a Workflow System in Blue Prism?

The two main methods of a Blue Prism process getting work from a Workflow System in Blue Prism are as follows:

Method 1: Load all the work from the Workflow system into a Blue Prism Work queue all at once. Through this, the Bluer prism robots will get the items to work from the work queue instead of the workflow system.

Method 2:  The robots in Blue Prism get cases to work directly from the workflow system. For each and every case, an item is added to the Blue Prism work queue and is immediately locked for work.

Q14. What do you understand by the Recover stage?

The Recover stage catches the exception giving the user the opportunity to create various kinds of recovery sequences. As soon as an exception is caught, the Business object or the Process is said to be in the recovery mode, implying that the exception is live.

Q15. What is a connector in Blue Prism and mention the types of it?

A connector in Blue Prism is used to handle low-level interactions with an application’s user interface. As a user can use various kinds of application interfaces,  Blue Prism provides the following variety of connector choices: 

• HTML Connector – This connector allows the user to work with HTML, ActiveX controls JavaScript, and other components of the browser interface.
• Java Connector – Allows the users to work with Swing, Oracle, Java applets and other JVM based technologies.
• Windows Connector – Gives users access to windows[the applications using the .NET framework,  PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, the Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) library and other windows based user interface. Technologies.
• Citrix Connector – Allows the users to access applications which provide user interfaces via
  technologies such as Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and Citrix XenApp
• Mainframe Connector – This connector is used to allow access to mainframe applications through terminal emulators from various vendors such as IBM, Attachmate etc.

So, folks! With this, we come to an end of this article on Blue Prism Interview Questions. If you wish to give a jump start to your career as an RPA Developer, then starting learning RPA and it’s various Tools.

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