7 Automation Ideas for an IT Company Worth Stealing from the World's Leading Entrepreneurs

You don't need to be a giant in the IT industry to be “toying” with the idea of automating your business processes. In the name of boosted productivity, efficiency and saving resources, that you could then invest in... innovation instead. The IT leaders of the future work ON and not IN their businesses. They channel their resources on the big-picture tasks, not get tangled up in routine operations. To help you get to a grip with automation, I've selected 7 best automation ideas for an IT company “divulged” by some of the world's leading entrepreneurs.

“Ideas” of building a custom automation system that you should “steal” and turbocharge your own IT business with:

 

1. Inject AI and Machine Learning Superpower into Your Business Processes

And cloud process automation could just be your the “fuel” to turbocharge your business!

Whether it's Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud's machine learning tools that you'll decide to power your automation master-plan with, the benefits are clear and huge.

For instance, you could leverage your AI and machine learning software to:

  • turn business metrics into data points
  • … “data points” to feed an AI engine with, to optimize your... prices, let's say

     

2. Empower Your Team: Encourage Them to Take Ownership of Their Work 

For if you don't want to waste/invest your brain power in day-to-day operations (you should be working ON your business, on those bigger-picture tasks, remember?) then:

  • providing your team with effective training sessions
  • handing them the right tools — clearly set up policies and procedures — so that they grow independent in their work
  • encouraging them to take initiative and ownership of their work... of your business, after all

… is, undoubtedly, one of the most powerful automation ideas for an IT company worth stealing and “exploiting”.

 

3. Identify and Automate All The Repetitive Tasks

For repetition is slowing down your business more than you imagine.

Therefore, work with your team to identify all those tasks that they're performing repeatedly, over and over again (e.g. responding to emails), and put your heads together to come up with an automated solution instead.

One that would free up more time to invest in those tasks/workflows that shouldn't be automated (e.g. most of the customer-facing processes)

 

4. Build Your Toolbox: Best Software to Automate Your Business Processes 

Once you've:

  • decided to transform your IT business through automation
  • selected those specific business processes that you'd automate
  • set up the scaffold of your whole new system

… just pick your “ammunition”! Meaning the proper software to automate your business processes with.

Now the challenge that arises is that:

There so many (and new are being released as we speak) of powerful, feature-packed automation platforms to choose from!

Here, allow me to intrude with just a few recommendations:

  • Buffer and Edgar for your social media operations
  • Zapier, a more than handy tool to set up mini time-saving automation processes between your most used business tools (e.g. you could automate entries from Trello cards to your Google Calendar)
  • Breezy for automating all your recruitment-related operations

And you may want to keep on digging: there are at least as many automation tools out there as business processes. Choose wisely and “power” your system with the right kind of software!

 

5. Automation Ideas for an IT Company: Streamline Communication 

For this, centralizing all lines of communication built around individual items in progress and all tasks, as well, in one streamlined workflow, is crucial.

Again, the automation tools at hand are... plenty and powerful:

In this respect, here are a few specific automation ideas for an IT company that you could use to streamline tasks and communication within your team:

  • create simple tasks systems — sequences of clear steps to take — for your team members. It will help them get things done in a streamlined way
  • set up clearly defined roles and assign them to virtual assistants so that they can delegate tasks to the appropriate employees
  • use the above-mentioned business process automation tools (Trello and Slack) to centralize all communication lines; say goodbye to the email chains-based type of communication 

     

6. Cultivate an Automation and Efficiency-Focused Mindset In Your Team

For yes:

Automation is a state of mind before being a custom system of automation tools and automated business processes.

And it's that state of mind that you want to instill in your team. One that would instantly:

  • help them identify repetition in their work
  • make them aim for efficiency and come up with the right automation solutions to achieve it
  • get them to want to maximize their results by making the most of their resources

I'm talking here about cultivating that type of mindset that would make the following questions pop up naturally in your team members' heads:

  • “How can I automate these tasks?”
  • “Couldn't I streamline this already automated process even more?”

     

7. Outsource Some of Your Tasks to Experts in Their Respective Fields

And if micromanaging is your management style, then this one of those automation ideas for an IT company that you'll find it the hardest to “digest” and to implement!

Yet, it's one of the most efficient ones!

Outsourcing specific operations such as:

  • social media
  • email marketing
  • billing
  • bookkeeping
  • copywriting
  • marketing

… to experts in those respective fields will help you kill two birds with one stone:

  1. you free valuable time for your core team to invest in bigger-picture tasks or simply in key operations for your business where they're the experts
  2. you cut down costs

As for you:

  • you won't be micromanaging every team
  • you won't be putting the business on a full autopilot mode, either

Instead, you'd be... looking over the shoulder! The contracted professionals and your core team's shoulders!

The END! These are the 7 automation ideas for an IT company worth stealing from the world's leading entrepreneurs. And turning into “fuel” to turbocharge your own business with!