It goes without saying but buzz words are all over the place – fads & trends come and go, sometimes in a flash. However, you will find that automation is one such word that needs to be considered by all businesses particularly if you are currently operating in the financial services sector.
In our latest blog article, we will take you through how you can change the face of your business with Microsoft Power Automate.
As you will probably already know, automation is not a new concept. We’ve said goodbye to pricey and long-winded automation – this has been replaced with slick, low code, reasonably priced, automation tools. This has the potential to take your business to places you didn’t think existed through automation without over stretching your budget.
Power Automate is a cloud-based application in Microsoft 365 that allows you to create automated workflows between multiple applications and digital services to increase user efficiency.
You will find that there are two specific workflows available in Power Automate: cloud flows and desktop flows.
So, what are Cloud Flows?
You will find that Cloud flows are workflows that operate in the Cloud that are put into action following triggers from events from different cloud-based services such as Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams & OneDrive via a comprehensive library of pre-built connectors or tailored custom connectors. You will be able to create these flows, manage them and launch them directly from within the Power Automate portal so you don’t need to have any additional infrastructure in place.
So, what are Desktop Flows?
You will find that Desktop flows often referred to as Power Automate Desktop are a Windows-based soltuion designed to make it easier for users to both build and run workflows from their very own desktop. It works by automating tedious tasks and processes that couldn’t be completed via Cloud Flow.
It doesn’t come as a surprise to state that using automation across your business can lead to significant improvements in both your efficiency and productivity.
How can Power Automate be applied to the financial services sector?
Onboarding new customers
If you work within the financial services sector, you will realise that onboarding new customers can take ages and become a constant frustration. This is where Power Automate can help as it can automate the whole process end-to-end by building a workflow that triggers only when a new customer account has been created. Once triggered, the workflow can automatically send welcome emails, confirm customer information and update customer records when required. This not only speeds up the onboarding process but it also improves the overall customer experience and helps to improve data accuracy.
If you want to take this further, you can join Power Automate up with the other elements of the Microsoft Power Platform to revolutionise the way that you work.
Enables compliance and regulation requirements to be met
If you operate in the financial services sector, you will know that you need to abide by specific regulations in order to keep your licensing set by the FCA or other regulatory bodies. This is where Power Automate can come in by making sure that you are fully compliant by automating both the process of monitoring and reporting regulatory requirements.
In the past, you would have had to have completed the above manually which would have been almost impossible given the disparate nature of the systems used in addition to the governance issues that have led to data being stored on on-premise systems. Fast forward to the present day by using the power of Power Automate Desktop, businesses are able to train up robotic automation models to repeatedly work through a workflow of disparate systems to enable it to audit, reconcile and securely transfer compliance information to the right recipient. You are also able to maintain compliance by using notifications for both success and failure metrics.
You will find that using the above helps to reduce the risks associated with non-compliance, making sure that all regulatory requirements are met and flagged up when required whilst at the same time avoiding the use of manual processes across your business.
Next Steps?
If you are a business that is operating in the financial services sector or even if you are not in this sector and are looking to realise the true power of Microsoft Power Automate or want to learn more about the different elements of the Microsoft Power Platform then please give our Power Platform experts a call now to discuss your specific requirements.
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