Implementing Automation for Information Sharing

The best automation platforms don’t replace developers. They liberate them. AI steps and visual flows let business owners model what they know best: the process and strategy-aligned outcomes. But behind those flows? Clean, reusable, API-driven actions — safeguarded by devs. It’s not either/or. It’s teamwork. Developers focus on what matters most. Business areas get more autonomy. This is the future of integration. And it’s being built today. 🚀 At Frends, we are looking at every step of this process: 1. Implement AI-augmented development: Use LLM code generation features to let developers focus on architecture while AI handles routine task configuration and documentation. 2. Create reusable component libraries: Build a catalog of pre-tested, developer-approved integration tasks that business users can safely combine in visual workflows. 3. Establish governance boundaries: Define clear rules about what business users can modify (process logic, mappings) vs. what requires developer approval (security, APIs, data schemas). 4. Deploy Business Automation Portals: Give business departments self-service access to configure and monitor their automations while maintaining IT oversight and control. 5. Use Decision Model Notation (DMN): Implement business rules engines that let business experts define complex logic visually while developers maintain the underlying technical framework.

I made a ton of mistakes when implementing Automation in businesses. Do these if you do not want to repeat my mistakes and save dozens of hours and thousands of dollars per year: 👥People are the most crucial part of the process. Have them on your side when automating. 📝Use forms to streamline your processes. That will help to standardize your data. Fillout, Tally, or Typeform should be your friends here. 📊Use predefined dropdown fields in the form whenever possible. You do not want to have 245 variations of lead sources in your database. ⚠️If you automate a flawed process, you will have an automated flawed process. Automating such a process will do more harm than good. 🔄Create your processes based on highly descriptive conditions. The "If this, then that" rule is the basis of each automation. 🔍Process mapping before the actual automation reveals gaps in processes that would probably not have been discovered otherwise. Use Whimsical or Miro to visualize processes. and Use this opportunity to correct them. 🌱Start small and then iterate as your learning curve grows. Begin with one process in one department. 🔧Keep your automation simple if possible. It is much easier to maintain such automation. 📚Document every automation. Use relationships in ClickUp or Notion to connect Process documentation with Automation documentation. You'll thank me later. 🚨Automation sometimes breaks down. A proper error notification system can be a lifesaver. Slack notifications are the easiest solution here. 🔗Use API-First operational tools whenever possible. Only tools with APIs support data flow and reduce waiting waste. 🗃️Establish your operational database. SmartSuite or Airtable are the best one. 🕸️Use webhooks whenever possible. When using webhooks, the data appears immediately. 🔀Starting and ending a single automation with a webhook allows you to create a "system" of simple, short automations that communicate with each other. 👩💻Use an API-friendly project management tool -> ClickUp 💼Use an API-friendly CRM -> HubSpot or Pipedrive 🤝Zapier and Make can live together. Use both if needed. 🔬Always be testing, before rolling out new automation. Warn all the process stakeholders that within the testing phase, things will get a break, and this is completely normal.

This Make automation saves hours every run and is just one of 70+ automations for this client. Here’s what it does: 1. Downloads client reports from a Google Drive folder. 2. Fetches the specific client from the CRM we built in monday.com 3. Finds the Drive folder for the client. 4. Uploads the report to the client's folder. 5. Uploads the report to monday for the client. 6. Sends an email with the report to the client and partner. 7. Updates any needed information in the CRM. 8. Sends an SMS with the report to the client (only during business hours, or the next day). We never build singular automations; we build systems. Processes are interconnected. This is just one of 70 automations. Siloed automations don’t streamline processes; they make you work to catch up. Our automations, mostly triggered by humans, are easy to use so you never have to look at complex systems. With just a click of a button, files are uploaded, data is manipulated, and messages are sent. Automation often exceeds expectations. Once you realize the possibilities, a new world opens up. It's a moment that always happens with our clients during the process. Curious about automation and automated systems? Send me a message. --- Automagency builds structured and automated internal systems to help your company achieve operational excellence.

In the business environment Excel is more common than what some people might think, and a "clean" [ Server > ETL > Visualization > Sharing ] solution is not always possible. Example of businness needs: "We have an Excel sheet for our costs on the product categories x, y, z, etc., and every week when we make changes, we need to recreate our tables to send to our stakeholders. Can we automate this process?" "We have periodic Excel extracts on our sales, and every time we make a new export from the system, someone on the team needs to clean it, add it to our Excel database (Excel is not a database), re-run the pivot tables, create charts, and send them to stakeholders. Can you help with that?" A while ago, I was having conversations with a friend who also works in data analytics about how common these types of requests are and how much many business teams heavily rely on Excel data. In fact, granting access to SQL servers to everyone in an organization is not feasible or secure. Some individuals may not know how to query data from SQL servers, and others may not even require access, or simply, they are just comfortable with things as how they are. To address these challenges, tools like Power Automate come in handy, and a solution combining Excel, SharePoint, Power BI, and Power Automate can be implemented by a data analytics specialist to help these business people/teams. Excel files that a business team relies on can be stored in SharePoint. This location can be utilized by Power Automate to trigger data refreshes in Power BI reports as soon as a file is changed or a new one is added. Ultimately, Power Automate can share specific pages of the just-refreshed report by email to the targeted audience. Looping in Maven Analytics on this one as I think this could be an interesting topic for the community. Detailed instructions on how to implement such a solution in the link below. #powerautomate #sharepoint #powerbi #excel #powerplatform #etl #reporting #sharing #businessneeds #datanalytics

🚀 Unlocking New Capabilities with Salesforce Agentforce! Learn How to Retrieve and Share Files Seamlessly. 📂🔗 Salesforce's Agentforce now includes powerful custom actions built with Apex, enabling your teams to fetch and distribute files efficiently across systems. Here's what you need to know: 🔹 Effortless File Retrieval: Implement custom Apex actions to retrieve documents, like invoice PDFs, from third-party accounting systems directly into Salesforce. 🔹 Secure and Scalable Sharing: - Public URLs: Generate publicly accessible URLs to share documents easily. - Custom Settings: Configure expiry dates and optional password protection to meet your security needs. 🔹 Integration and Automation: - Seamless Integration: Use REST API calls for real-time data retrieval and sharing. - Automated Workflows: Combine file retrieval with email drafting actions to automate document sharing in customer communications. 🔹 Developer Resources: - Check out our sample GitHub repository to explore the source code and implement these features in your setup. 🔹 Key Benefits: - Enhanced Productivity: Save time and reduce manual effort with automated file handling. - Improved Customer Experience: Provide customers with instant access to their documents, enhancing service and satisfaction. Read more: https://buff.ly/3DJVmmg #Salesforce #Agentforce #TechnologyLeadership #DigitalTransformation #Integration #API #REST