You’re onboarding a user at 8:45 AM. Fixing a license mismatch by 10. Manually routing a misfiled ticket by lunch. Then scrambling to prep a usage report the client wanted yesterday. Sound familiar?
If you’re a managed service provider (MSP), chances are you’re stretched thin. Repeating the same task across ten client environments—like reconciling licenses, creating tickets or running reports—isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive. Automation is the obvious solution, but it still begs the real question: Where do I even begin?
The truth is, most MSPs don’t need to automate everything. You just need to automate the workflows that cost you the most time and slow down your ability to grow. And if you can automate these five, you’re not just saving hours, you’re building a business that can scale.
1. From offer letter to first login: Automate onboarding across Microsoft and PSA tools
A technician receives a ticket that a new hire starts Monday. By Friday, they’ve manually created the account, assigned licenses, provisioned access and updated the documentation—across three different systems.
Now imagine this:
- Ticket is created in your PSA.
- Power Automate triggers a workflow that provisions a Microsoft 365 account, assigns a license, and sets up Teams and SharePoint access.
- Rewst takes it further—logging steps in your PSA, pushing configs to your RMM, and sending confirmation to the client.
Hypothetical scenario: One MSP with 15 clients automated 70% of this process and gained back a full workweek per quarter.
2. From license change to accurate invoice: Automate usage reconciliation
Your client adds five users mid-month. The billing report doesn’t reflect it. You eat the cost.
With Business Central and Power Automate:
- License changes in Microsoft 365 trigger an update to your internal usage tracker.
- Scheduled reports in Business Central match usage with billing.
- Rewst connects these systems to your PSA, flagging any discrepancies and pushing invoice updates automatically.
3. From email to escalation: Automate ticket triage and assignment
A client emails support with a vague subject line: “URGENT HELP.” It sits unassigned for 40 minutes.
Instead:
- Incoming email creates a PSA ticket automatically.
- Keywords trigger Power Automate to prioritize the ticket.
- Rewst enriches the ticket with client data and assigns it to the appropriate tiered tech.
Hypothetical scenario: A mid-sized MSP reduced first-response time by 25% without hiring more staff.
4. From end of month to instant reporting: Automate client-facing reports
You open six platforms to create usage reports. Excel crashes. The client’s still waiting.
With Power Automate and Business Central:
- Usage data is pulled on schedule.
- Reports are generated using predefined templates.
- Rewst pulls in third-party metrics (e.g., security, backup, endpoint health), compiles them into one branded report, and emails it to the client.
The result? You look more organized and spend less time proving your value.
5. From security risk to audit-ready report: Automate compliance checks
You’re asked if MFA is enabled for all users and have no easy way to answer.
With Entra ID and Power Automate:
- MFA status is monitored daily.
- Risky sign-ins are flagged.
- Rewst compiles reports across your Microsoft tenant, RMM, and security stack and stores a log for audits.
This isn’t just good practice, it’s client reassurance, ready to go.
What these 5 workflows have in common
They’re:
- Repeatable across clients.
- Time-intensive when done manually.
- Critical to service quality and trust.
And most importantly? They can be done with tools you already have—Power Automate, Business Central, Entra ID—and scaled with orchestration platforms like Rewst.
Automation isn’t one size fits all. But MSPs don’t need to automate everything to get results. Focus on what’s draining time or blocking growth and tackle it with the right-sized solution. At Sherweb, we work with partners to help them identify which workflows offer the biggest impact and how to automate realistically, starting with the stack they already use.
