Organizations have largely adopted a digital-first model. Manual processes are more than just inefficient; they’re a barrier to the growth and success of a business. Whether it’s hunting down approvals, managing repetitive data entry, or working with (annoying) disconnected systems, these tasks drain productivity and increase the chance of risk. Fortunately, Microsoft Power Automate offers a powerful solution to bring order to this chaos by automating business processes. 

What is Power Automate? 

Power Automate is Microsoft’s low-code automation platform that allows users to create workflows between apps and services. It can help streamline repetitive tasks, reduce human error, and free up time for work that can position your organization better strategically. Power Automate has hundreds of prebuilt connectors and AI capabilities that allows for trustworthy automation.  

Common Business Challenges Solved by Power Automate 

The business world is changing. And if you are not keeping up with these changes, you are doing yourself a disservice. It’s sink or swim. People often fail to realize the power of automation and what it can do for you.  

Below are some examples of how organizations are using Power Automate for automating business processes: 

1. Manual Approvals: Automate document or expense approvals with real-time notifications in Microsoft Teams or Outlook. 
2. Data Collection: Automatically gather and consolidate data from forms, emails, or SharePoint lists into a centralized location. Data is so important for making the right business decisions. Collecting and interpreting your data has truly never been easier.  
3. Onboarding Workflows: Trigger a series of tasks when a new employee is added to Azure AD (provisioning accounts, sending welcome emails, and assigning training, etc.). 
4. Compliance Tracking: Monitor document changes and send alerts when sensitive data is accessed or modified. 

Automating Business Processes Real-World Example: Automating Invoice Processing 

Picture a scenario where a finance team receives dozens of invoices via email every week. That team has to then manually download, review, and enter those invoices into their ERP system. The result, as you can probably guess, is a lot of wasted time and error-prone information entered. 

With Power Automate, you can picture a different scenario. One where the team can: 

1. Trigger a flow when an invoice email arrives. 
2. Extract key data using AI Builder’s form processing model. 
3. Validate the data against business rules. 
4. Route the invoice for approval. 
5. Post the approved invoice to your ERP system. 

The result? Faster processing, fewer errors, and a more scalable operation. 

Why Automating Business Processes Matters Now More Than Ever 

Businesses are facing increasing pressure to do more with less. Automation is no longer optional. It’s essential. Power Automate enables organizations to improve efficiency by eliminating bottlenecks; enhance accuracy with consistent, rule-based workflows; empower employees to focus on high-value tasks; and scale operations without scaling headcount. 

Getting Started with Power Automate 

Another bonus with Power Automate is, you don’t need to be a developer to start automating. A couple of tips on how to start: 

1. Identify a repetitive task that consumes time. 
2. Explore templates in Power Automate to see if a prebuilt flow fits your need. 
3. Build your first flow using the intuitive drag-and-drop designer. 
4. Test and iterate to refine your automation. 

Need help identifying automation opportunities or building scalable workflows? Our Power Platform experts can guide you every step of the way and help automate business processes. Fill out the form at the bottom of the page and someone will be in touch. 

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