Powering Up Your Business Efficiency with Power Automate

Power Automate improves business efficiency by taking repetitive, rules-based work such as approvals, notifications, data entry and report distribution, and running it automatically across Microsoft 365 and your other systems. People spend less time chasing and re-keying information, mistakes from manual copying drop, and every step leaves a record you can check.

Power Automate is Microsoft's workflow automation service and part of Power Platform. You build automated workflows, called flows, which start when something happens, such as an email arriving, a form being submitted or a file being added to SharePoint, and then carry out a sequence of actions across the apps and services you connect.

What can Power Automate do?

There are two main kinds of flow:

• Cloud flows connect services through connectors and run automatically when an event happens, on a schedule, or when someone starts them from a button, an app or a Teams message.
• Desktop flows use robotic process automation (RPA) to repeat the clicks and keystrokes a person would make in an older desktop or browser application that has no API, such as copying data from one system into another.

Flows can connect Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Excel, Forms, Dynamics 365 and Dataverse, plus a long list of third-party services, and AI Builder adds things like reading text from documents and processing forms.

How does Copilot help you build flows?

Copilot in Power Automate lets you describe what you want in plain language, for example "when a new response is submitted in this form, add it to a SharePoint list and email the team", and generates a first version of the flow with a trigger and actions. It sets up the connections, and you can keep refining the flow by asking Copilot to add or change steps, or to explain what an existing flow does, which is useful when you've inherited one from someone else.

Copilot is on by default in the new designer, although your admin can turn it off. It's a good way to get started, but a person still needs to check what it produces before the flow goes live. You can read more about our wider Microsoft Copilot work.

Which business processes should you automate first?

The best candidates are processes that happen often, follow clear rules, and currently rely on someone copying information or sending reminders. Some examples from different parts of a business:

Data entry between systems

Moving data from one application to another is one of the most common uses. A flow can take a new enquiry from a web form and create a record in your CRM, or pick up details from an email and add them to a SharePoint list, without anyone retyping it. Sales and marketing teams use this to get leads into Dynamics 365 or another CRM quickly and consistently.

Approvals

Flows can route documents, purchase requests, quotes, invoices and holiday requests to the right person, chase them if nothing happens, and record the decision. Multi-stage approvals, where a request goes to a line manager and then to finance, are straightforward to set up. Approvals also appear in the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams, so people can respond without leaving Teams.

Notifications and onboarding

HR teams use flows for absence and sickness forms, notifications when policies change in SharePoint, and onboarding checklists that create tasks for IT, facilities and the line manager when a new starter is added.

Reports and alerts

A flow can send a Power BI report or a summary of key figures to the right people at a set time each week, or alert someone when a value crosses a threshold, so managers aren't relying on someone remembering to send it.

A good example is the defect reporting solution we built for CalMac. When crew log a defect in a Power Apps app, Power Automate notifies the relevant supervisors and technicians straight away, which has sped up approvals and given every defect an auditable trail across the fleet of 33 ships.

What are the business benefits of Power Automate?

• Less time on routine work. People stop re-keying data and sending reminders, and can spend that time on work that needs their judgement.
• Fewer errors. Information is copied the same way every time, so typing mistakes and missed steps drop.
• A consistent process. The steps are built into the flow, so the process is followed the same way whoever starts it.
• An audit trail. Run history and approval records show who did what and when, which helps when you need to demonstrate compliance.
• Faster responses. Approvals and notifications arrive as soon as something happens rather than when someone gets round to it.

What should you put in place before rolling out Power Automate?

It's easy for flows to multiply once people see what they can do, so it pays to decide a few things early. Important flows should live in proper environments and solutions rather than the default environment, they should have more than one owner so they don't stop when someone leaves, and data policies should control which connectors can be used together. Licensing is worth checking too, because premium connectors need a standalone licence. We've written more about why ongoing support matters for Power Platform.

Frequently asked questions

Is Power Automate included with Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 licences include rights to create and run cloud flows that use the standard connectors, such as Outlook, SharePoint and Teams. Premium, on-premises and custom connectors need a standalone Power Automate or Power Apps licence, and unattended RPA is licensed separately.

How long does it take to automate a process?

A simple Power Automate flow typically takes us 2 to 4 weeks from discovery to go-live, including testing with real scenarios. Complex automation or replacing a legacy system usually takes 8 to 16 weeks, with the timeline confirmed after discovery.

What is the difference between cloud flows and desktop flows?

Cloud flows connect services through their APIs using connectors and run in the cloud. Desktop flows use robotic process automation to work through the user interface of desktop or browser applications, which is useful for older systems that don't have an API.

Can Power Automate work with systems outside Microsoft?

Yes. There are prebuilt connectors for a large number of third-party services, custom connectors can be built for any RESTful API, and desktop flows can handle applications without an API. Some of these connectors are premium and need a standalone licence.

Talk to us about Power Automate

If you have a process that relies on emails, spreadsheets and reminders, we can help you work out whether it's a good candidate for automation and build it properly. Get in touch or read more about our Power Automate services.