Migrating 40+ robotic process automations to Microsoft Power Platform for enhanced reliability and scalability.
Executive Summary
Building on established RPA automations, Fortune 500 food manufacturer undertook a significant project to migrate over 40 processes from a legacy automation platform to Microsoft Power Platform. This transition not only improved automation reliability and cost-effectiveness, but also allowed for broader employee participation in automation initiatives.
Key Metrics:
- 40+ automations successfully migrated to Microsoft Power Platform
- Increased number of employees capable of assisting with automation initiatives
- Improved overall reliability and cost-effectiveness of automated processes
The Client
A Fortune 500 food manufacturing company with over 14,000 employees and nearly $9 billion in annual sales (2022). Operating across a dozen plants and 30+ offices, the company is a leader in its industry, leveraging cutting-edge technology to drive efficiency and innovation.
The Challenge
Following a successful proof of value using the Microsoft Center of Excellence Starter Kit, a pre-built toolset designed for larger organizations to kickstart their Power Platform adoption, the company faced the challenges of their existing legacy automation platform. While they had established numerous automations, the system proved complex and unreliable. Frequent modifications were necessary as processes would unexpectedly fail, leading to increased maintenance time and reduced overall efficiency, hindering the company’s ability to fully leverage their automation capabilities.
The Approach and Solution
Building on the success of the initial Power Platform implementation, the Withum team proposed migrating legacy automation platform processes to Power Platform.
The implementation strategy included:
- Creating a command center: A model-driven Power App to centralize automation inventory management.
- Developing standardized templates: Base templates for Cloud Flows and Desktop Flows that included standardized logging and metrics tracking.
- Streamlining process migrations: Migrating all 40+ automations to Power Automate, optimizing them for the new platform.
The Power App inventory system allowed non-technical employees to easily maintain and update automation information. It provided insights into each process’s purpose, run statistics (including completions, failures and average run time) and enabled users to view detailed logs for each execution.
This approach not only addressed the reliability issues but also aligned with the company’s goal of empowering citizen developers, allowing more employees to participate in creating and maintaining automations.
The Results
The migration to Microsoft Power Platform yielded significant improvements to the client:
- Successful transition of 40+ automations to a more stable and accessible platform
- Increased visibility into automation performance through the Command Center application
- Reduced dependency on specialized expertise, enabling broader employee participation
- Improved ability to identify and address issues quickly through centralized logging and metrics
Stakeholders reported a noticeable improvement in overall reliability and a decrease in time spent on maintenance tasks. This project further solidified the company’s commitment to leveraging Microsoft 365 and Power Platform for their automation needs, setting the stage for continued innovation and efficiency gains across the organization.
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