Why Automation is a key technology trend and how to start automating in your business!

Automation, that’s the big selling point of IT, right? We’ll be unshackled from the day-to-day repetition and freed to enjoy the things in life that interest us.

Well kind of, but what if Meta isn’t Better and the only Matrix that’s relevant to me is my old Epson MX-80 printer.

Time to think about what we mean by IT automation and how you can probably utilise the software that you’re already paying for, to work harder for you, without additional expense.

The Microsoft 365 suite is so much more than a word processing, spreadsheet and presentation package, in fact you might argue that these are just extensions of a rapidly developing Eco system of connected and connectable Apps.

It is probably easiest to take a commonly repeated business task and break it down into steps or a storyboard if you will. Think about each of the steps and what you might need to do to automate that step. A successfully re-engineered process (remember the 90’s when BPR ‘Business Process Reengineering’ was all the rage?) will probably consist of multiple steps that can be automated and some that by necessity cannot.

Here’s a simple example to help you get the idea:

There is really no need to handle physical documents these days, the paperless office is here, yay!

Once you’ve mastered the simpler processes, you’ll be able to translate that learning into more complex tasks with multiple interactions with both people and systems. Automate your marketing mailshots, automate engagement with your website, move scanned documents to file locations, strip attachments from emails and send those to multiple people and file locations etc etc

Choose ‘Forms’ to create polls and ask questions, choose ‘Lists’ to create forms and actions, choose SharePoint to store and share documents, choose ‘To Do’ to assign tasks, choose Power Automate to string it all together and………choose Life (well an easier life!), choose Corbel!

Here at Corbel in Ipswich we deliver IT Support solutions for businesses throughout the Ipswich and Felixstowe area. As your office IT support experts; we are here to help you to realise your IT automation ambitions using Office 365 solutions. Call us now and find out how our tailored IT Support and Services can deliver business technology roadmaps that deliver tangible benefits.