Four Types of Automation and how to use them in Dynamics 365

We’ve all been there, working through a tedious task that of course must be done. Yet, it doesn’t stop us from wondering if there is an easier way. Well, I’m here to tell you there is! There are four, depending on the complexity of your action. These are the four types of Automation and how to use them in Dynamics 365.

Business Process

Perhaps the simplest of the four automations in Dynamics 365, a business process can be used when you’re looking to ensure people enter the data consistently and follow the same pattern for every customer or use case. For example, in sales you could use a business process flow to qualify the lead, nurture it, present a demo, quote the project, and close the sale. Having a business process flow in place ensures that multiple team members can go into the opportunity and know exactly what stage of the process the customer is in.

Looking to create your own Business process flow? Check out this tutorial.

Workflow

Next, we have workflows. Workflows are processes in Dynamics 365 specifically designed for non-developers and will help manage both record data and processes using a set of rules. You could use a workflow, for example, to have an email sent to a customer 2 minutes after having created their record in the CRM.

Power Automate

The last two processes described were no-code applications. Now, we’ll move into a low-code option for those feeling a little bit more advanced. Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow) allows for creating automated workflows (like the workflows discussed above but set to run automatically). The main difference between the above-mentioned workflows and Power Automate is that the latter runs asynchronously- meaning you can set up a Power Automate process and it will run in the background at a designated time and day. Power Automate is best for updating multiple entities/lines/records (formerly known as tables/columns/rows respectively) at once, for a task you want occurring every day at the same time.

JavaScript

Our final process is for the most complex type of automation in Dynamics 365. The above three mentioned are accessible to most administrative level employees, however for JavaScript, you might need your IT solutions partner’s help. Using JavaScript can be used to hide entities from the main ribbon or automating fields to be hidden. An example of this could be when a pick list selection form is in place and hiding a ‘text box’ until it is required – by selecting the ‘other’ option.

If you’d like to learn more about any of the four automation processes available in Dynamics 365 mentioned above, we have CRM experts who would be happy to help. Speak to one today.