It is a known fact that work is never-ending. With competition rising, economics shifting, and workloads evolving, it can be exhausting for the workforce to keep up. But Microsoft, being a productivity powerhouse, seems to think otherwise. The saying “Don’t work hard, work smart” is the epitome of the Microsoft tool Power Automate.  

What is Power Automate?

Power Automate (previously named Microsoft Flow) is included in Microsoft’s group of products to create and develop complex solutions, automate workflows, analyze and pull data visualizations or create virtual communications agents called the Power Platform. It is built to automate tasks and processes by creating a flow of operations to shorten time-consuming tasks, simplify the workforce life, and help them focus on what is needed. Businesses can turn this to their advantage and boost productivity and efficiency by automating routine processes of the company. These processes can be from supporting data from any API, transmitting task reminders, transporting data among systems, or automating tasks from a local device.

Is Power Automate hard to use?

One of the most common trepidations with anything technology is that it is complicated to use and that you need to employ an IT expert. But Microsoft solutions defy this perception. If there is one thing that Power Automate can vouch for, it is a tool created for everybody – regardless of the business size, IT or coding knowledge, or industry. It truly empowers users and boosts their confidence. While you create workflows from scratch, there are also pre-built ones to work within Microsoft Power Automate. The option to customize these templates to fit the needs of your organization can be done.

What are the Possibilities of using Power Automate in our business?

Simplifying tasks is the epitome of what Power Automate is. Coupled with immense features, here are some ways how you can utilize it:  

Be more efficient with your email  

Emails are the primary communication platform for any company. While it is included in each employee’s duties to monitor email trails, get project updates, and read each message several times a day, it can be tedious, especially to those bombarded with hundreds or thousands of messages daily. In this scenario, it is problematic because it is time-consuming, inefficient, and distracts you from doing more important things.   

While most email providers give the basics when managing the inbox, most also lack the customization and notification features based on content, sender, and priority. The cloud-based automation tool never lets you overlook an essential email. Because you can automize tasks, you can set up your email to only receive notifications for important emails, like those from clients, third parties, specific suppliers, and your boss.   

Streamline your approval process

Approval requests are something that both managers and employees encounter regularly. Whether it is a vacation or sick leave, project approval, or budget consultation, it is a repetitive chore probably no one will enjoy doing over and over again.  

Through Power Automate, you can initiate the approval process and inform the approver that there is pending approval, and allow them to provide an answer either through Outlook or the other Power Automate apps. For more critical documents that require an urgent reply, you can set up Power Automate to send a notification whenever a new SharePoint document is uploaded. You can also link other programs and manage the approval of services on Dynamics 365, Salesforce, SharePoint, ZenDesk, OneDrive for Business, or WordPress.

Save email attachments automatically

When it comes to flawless collaboration, the principal place for storing documents is a must-have. Power Automate’s simple automated flows make storing and updating all your records possible. The available templates can assist you in tracking the building of new files and set up a trigger for the workflow for changes and amendments. Keep in mind that you can utilize the templates available in Power Automate. Some allow you to copy new files from your PC to SharePoint and synchronize them from other locations like Dropbox and Google Drive.

Never miss anything (we mean, ANYTHING) on your to-do list 

Be the boss of your to-do list because Power Automate offers pre-built templates that you can work on and tweak. Since you can link Power Automate to different programs, you can connect it with Planner and Microsoft Teams, two of the most-used productivity programs. The trigger will occur on every name mentioned in Teams. When that happens, you can automatically program a workflow that will add the task to Planner. It is heaven-sent, especially for managers, because they wouldn’t need to find the specific person, assign the job, and fill in each detail. Because it is done automatically, all that is left to do is monitor each project. This template is also applicable for recurring tasks. Moreover, a template gives you a Planner summary of all your accomplished and pending tasks.

Email marketing, easy as 1-2-3

Most companies use the strength of emails to carry out their sales and marketing and sales strategies. While there are many content types that you can build with emails, you can use them for many things. Some examples include orienting your customers about your product launch, touching base with your previous clients, or introducing your company and services to prospects. You can quickly tick off the heavy work without breaking a sweat by automating the email distribution.    

You can also make the most out of Power Automate by connecting it with SharePoint and Excel. With this, you can create and build an email list wherein you can personalize and automate to send out to the SharePoint or Excel contacts you have.

Shy away from human errors

From the name itself, automating what you can automate can be a lifesaver for any business. But more than making lives easier, one of the best advantages is that it decreases the errors in the business processes. Moreover, it empowers the employees and managers by giving them direction and organization of their tasks.

Power Automate Services offered by ECF Data

When it comes to Power Automate, we have only discussed the beginning. The immense number of templates, products, connectors, and capabilities it offers make it impossible for us to discuss everything! But fret not. Our team of experts can help you discuss how Power Automate can particularly help you with your challenges and business goals. Moreover, if you are interested in driving the road of business automation, ECF Data can help you get started. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we offer personalized Microsoft consulting and support. Reach out today and start your digital transformation journey!