How to Automate Your Business Processes with ITSM

Automating business processes using the ITSM framework can save time, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. From handling customer support, payroll, or marketing campaigns, ITSM automation can streamline operations and eliminate repetitive tasks. This guide will walk you through the first steps to successfully automate your business processes using IT tools and technologies.

Step 1: Identify Processes that can be Automated

The first step is determining where to invest in automation and which tasks can be automated. For best results, look for repetitive, time-consuming, or error-prone activities.

Common areas to introduce automation include:

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Customer Service: AI chatbots and automated ticketing systems improve responsiveness 💻 IT and DevOps: Approvals, installs, patching, server commissioning, user account control

📈 Finance & Accounting: Invoice processing, expense tracking, and payroll management

💵 Sales & Marketing: CRM automation, email marketing, and campaign workflows

💼 HR & Staff Management: Onboarding, offboarding, availability and scheduling

📦 Supply Chain & Inventory: Automated ordering and real-time inventory tracking

💡 Tip: Start with small, high-impact tasks before scaling up to complex processes

Step 2: Choose the Right Automation Tools

Once you've identified processes within your business to automate, the next step is selecting the right tools. Lida Solutions has experience working across the entire automation landscape, from ITSM to Enterprise. We can help you to get the most out of your chosen solution platform or provide comprehensive assessment and advice. There are various options, some of which you may already use, and it's essential to keep the future of your service offerings in mind when making a selection.

Different automation platforms cater to various solutions:

📤 Workflow Automation: Streamline processes and tasks across teams

🤖 Machine Learning & AI: For predictive analytics and decision-making support

🏢 Enterprise Resource Planning: Managing business functions in a single system

🤝 Customer Relationship Management: Automating customer interactions

💡 Tip: Consider if a cloud or on-premise solution platform is right for your business

Step 3: Develop a Business Automation Plan

Before implementing automation, create a strategic plan that includes:

🎯 Goals & Objectives: Define what you want to achieve (e.g. reducing manual work hours)

🌐 Process Mapping: Outline workflows in their current state and the ideal automation result

⚙️ Integration Strategy: Ensure automation tools will work with existing data and systems

⚠️ Risk Assessment: Identify potential downtime and any weaknesses that might arise

Making sure that there is a clear path forward and checkpoints to assess progress is important; likewise, breaking down the plan into smaller projects allows for flexibility. Consider running pilot implementations to get feedback before overhauling critical systems.

Step 4: Monitor, Optimise, and Scale Automation

Automation is not a one-time task—it requires continuous improvement. Track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:

⌛ Time saved on manual or repetitive tasks

📉 Cost reductions from automation or efficiency improvements

📌 Accuracy improvements in error-prone activities

👷 Employee and customer satisfaction levels

Use this data to refine your automation plan, expand into other processes and ensure that long-term projects stay on track.

💡 Tip: Stay updated on the latest business automation trends to see what else is possible

Automating business processes with IT can transform your company's operations, making it more efficient and scalable. By following these steps: identifying tasks, selecting tools, planning, implementing, and optimising, you can successfully leverage automation to improve productivity and drive growth.

Ready to start automating? Lida can help set your automation efforts up for success. Check out our latest offers or contact us for more information.