Fase 1 - Task Automation
Task Automation focuses on automating repetitive and labor-intensive tasks so that employees spend less time on routine operations. This increases efficiency and accuracy within organizations.
Automate single tasks to increase efficiency and minimize errors
Hyperautomation begins with streamlining manual tasks. Automating repetitive operations creates more space for strategic and creative work.
Technologies:
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Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Ideal for repetitive tasks within legacy systems or with sensitive data that should not be shared via cloud flows. For example, consider an employee manually copying customer data from an order form to an invoicing system. With RPA, a bot can completely take over this task.
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Cloud Flows (Automated & Scheduled): For example, when a document is uploaded and automatically forwarded to the appropriate person(s) for approval.
Ready for the next step? Use automated tasks as your foundation and build processes that respond to real-time events such as automatic approvals and notifications or dynamically adjusting workflows.
Fase 2 - Action-based automation
With event-driven or action-based automation, processes start immediately as soon as a specific event occurs. This builds on Task Automation by not only automating individual tasks, but also linking them together intelligently. This eliminates manual operations and makes decision-making faster and more efficient. As a result, an organization becomes more responsive and can proactively respond to events without delay.
Automate and create self-directed processes that respond instantly without manual intervention
Event-driven automation goes a step beyond traditional automation. It allows systems to make decisions independently and in real-time based on events. This makes processes not only faster, but also more intelligent and scalable.
- Minimize delays and optimize your processes
Reduce manual tasks and improve efficiency
Respond immediately to customer inquiries, orders or system updates
Technology:
Cloud Flows (Instant): Direct automation based on triggers, such as an incoming email or new customer interaction without manual intervention.
Ready to move on? Whilst event-driven automation ensures rapid responses to events, process automation combines these separate elements into one cohesive workflow, ensuring tasks flow automatically and business processes run more smoothly.
Fase 3 - Process Automation
Whilst Task Automation focuses on automating individual tasks and Event Processing provides immediate responses to events, Process Automation goes a step further by unifying these elements into complete, end-to-end workflows. This means that manual steps are eliminated and business processes run faster, more error-free and more consistently.
Efficient and reliable business processes
For example, consider an HR onboarding process in which new employees automatically access systems, digitally sign their contracts and promptly receive an on-boarding program, without the intervention of multiple departments. Automating these processes saves the organization time and costs and increases operational efficiency:
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Combine tasks into automated workflows.
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Optimize business activities with agile processes.
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Simplify complex workflows and save time and money.
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Increase consistency and reliability of business activities.
Technology:
Process Mining: Analyzing existing processes identifies bottlenecks and optimization opportunities. This helps organizations eliminate inefficiencies and improve workflows.
For example, Process Mining can show that team leads are a bottleneck in the onboarding of new employees. With Power Platform, apps can then be developed to accelerate and streamline this process.
Similarly, within an ERP system, Process Mining can uncover inefficiencies, then deploy targeted adjustments or custom solutions to make workflows run more smoothly and save time.
Ready for the next step? Process Automation streamlines tasks and workflows, but with Conversational UX you make them more accessible and interactive. Thanks to AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, employees and customers can easily interact with automated processes.
Fase 4 - Conversational UX
Conversational UX builds on Task, Event and Process Automation by adding a layer of natural interaction to automated workflows. It allows employees and customers to interact intuitively with these automated systems through AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants. This allows people to easily request information, perform tasks and make decisions without complex interfaces or technical knowledge.
Smart, human-like interactions
Employees and customers can interact naturally with automated processes through AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants. This provides faster, human-centric interactions and improves both user experience and operational efficiency:
- Deliver 24/7 support through AI-powered chatbots.
- Increase customer and employee satisfaction with quick responses.
- Gather valuable insights to personalize the user experience.
By also incorporating autonomous agents, you can go one step further. These smart systems operate based on predetermined goals, real-time data and established logic. This allows them to reason, make decisions and perform tasks independently without human intervention. This saves hours of manual work, automates error-prone processes and allows teams to focus on what really adds value.
Technology:
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Copilot Studio: Build intelligent chatbots and virtual assistants that respond to natural language and integrate business logic. These AI-powered assistants will be able to answer questions, perform complex tasks and drive systems, making processes smoother and more efficient.
Ready to take it one step further? Whereas Conversational UX provides intuitive interactions with automated processes, Business Operations Automation focuses on optimizing entire business functions. Through data-driven decisions and smart automation, organizations gain greater control over operational processes, increasing efficiency and scalability.
Fase 5 - Business Operations Automation
Business Operations Automation focuses on optimizing operational departments such as HR, finance, sales, logistics and customer service by deploying advanced automation tools.
More efficient and data-driven operations
Business Operations Automation makes operational processes faster, more accurate and less prone to error. By making data-driven decisions, organizations gain better insight into their workflows and can continuously optimize them for maximum efficiency and impact:
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Use Process Mining to identify bottlenecks in operational processes and apply targeted automation to solve them.
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Create seamless integrations between systems to minimize manual transfers.
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Get your organization to respond faster to change by continuously optimizing business processes.
Technologies
- Power Apps: Build custom apps for internal streamlining and handling tasks more efficiently.
Power Pages: Create external portals to interact with customers and partners where they can, for example, upload documents and track approval processes.
Ready for the next step?
Where Business Operations Automation optimizes business processes and makes workflows more efficient, Artificial Intelligence goes even further by automating decision making and analysis. With AI, systems can autonomously recognize patterns, make predictions and make complex decisions, allowing organizations to operate not only faster, but smarter.
Fase 6 - Artificial Intelligence Layer
With AI and machine learning, complex tasks that normally require human input can be automated. This reduces reliance on manual analysis and increases the accuracy of decision-making.
Smarter operations with AI
With AI, systems can autonomously recognize patterns, make predictions and make complex decisions based on large amounts of data. This enables organizations to act not only reactively, but also proactively.
Think AI-driven analytics that predict trends in customer behavior, automated risk assessments or smart workflows that adapt based on real-time data. This makes processes not only faster, but also more intelligent and strategic.
AI makes it possible not only to optimize existing processes, but also to develop entirely new, data-driven business models that allow organizations to lead in innovation and gain competitive advantage.
Technologies:
Hyperautomation is not an end goal, but a continuous process of optimization and innovation. By growing incrementally from simple task automation to AI-driven decision making, organizations can operate ever more efficiently, flexibly and intelligently. Microsoft Power Platform provides the tools to make this feasible and manageable, regardless of a company's size or sector. Whether you want to streamline small processes or make a complete digital transformation, the key lies in a strategic and gradual approach.
Start small, learn from each step and build on successes to get more and more value from automation.