Connecting and communicating with a global network of suppliers, vendors, and business partners is no small task. Microsoft is tackling this challenge internally with Microsoft Power Automate, a cloud-based app that creates automated workflows.
The result?
Content that previously took the company days or weeks to deliver can now be published in minutes.
Microsoft SupplierWeb is a centralized account management tool for global suppliers who do business with Microsoft. This portal is where suppliers go to stay up to date on important information, such as compliance expectations and certification requirements. SupplierWeb is also how Microsoft communicates critical announcements that impact daily activities, such as COVID-19 updates and changes to expectations for onsite presence.
“Historically, we’ve had a really difficult time getting information to our suppliers,” says Jesica Lancaster, a senior operations manager on Microsoft’s Procurement team.
Publishing content for a global audience was a time-consuming process that required a coordinated effort with the engineering team for every new message or announcement posted to the portal. This created two problems: it took time away from engineering tasks and delayed necessary communication to suppliers.
All we needed was a way to securely connect the apps.
—Wilson Reddy Gajarla, principal engineering manager, Commerce and Ecosystem team
That’s where the Microsoft Commerce and Ecosystem team comes in—it’s the organization at the company that supports the SupplierWeb application, and it had the tools needed to solve both challenges.
[Find out how Microsoft streamlined payment processes with Power Automate. Learn how to access SharePoint content using Graph API.]
Integrating collaboration tools to maximize workflow
The content managers who use the Microsoft SupplierWeb application to reach supplier audiences relied on Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Teams to collaborate and create the appropriate messaging. The opportunity was to use Microsoft Power Automate to manage the manual and repetitive tasks required to do this work.
“All we needed was a way to securely connect the apps,” says Wilson Reddy Gajarla, a principal engineering manager for the Commerce and Ecosystem team.
By using Microsoft Graph API, a RESTful web API that enables access to Microsoft Cloud services, the engineering team set permissions to connect Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Power Automate.
“Graph API has granular-level permission to access the SharePoint Online site, which allows secure integration with other enterprise applications,” Gajarla says.
Once an app is registered with Graph API, you can set permissions to allow web applications—in this case, Microsoft Power Automate—to access Microsoft SharePoint content.
After the initial setup is done, content managers can simply craft a message, add it to a Microsoft SharePoint list, and use Microsoft Power Automate to publish supplier content in up to 24 different languages, all without having to involve the engineering team.
Creating better outcomes with Microsoft Power Automate
Integrating collaboration tools opened a whole new world for content managers, product managers, and business partners. With Microsoft Power Automate handling the repetitive but essential tasks, Microsoft saw the following benefits:
- Content managers are no longer reliant on engineering schedules to communicate with suppliers and can respond to business needs in real time.
- Engineering time is no longer needed for repetitive, manual work, which allows engineers to focus on high-value engineering tasks.
- Business costs are reduced through a more efficient, automated process.
- Suppliers benefit from timely communication in their selected language.
The shift to Microsoft Power Automate has given teams other tools to work with as well.
With Power Automate, we have the ability to reach our audience and move at the speed of business.
—Jesica Lancaster, senior operations manager, Microsoft Procurement
Content managers can publish critical messages instantly, or they can use Microsoft Power Automate to craft future announcements, set a start and end date, and set the level of urgency based on region. Microsoft Power Automate also provides a framework that enables content managers to keep messaging current and relevant to the intended audience. That’s pivotal when it comes to getting messaging out to the company’s many suppliers.
“With Power Automate, we have the ability to reach our audience and move at the speed of business,” Lancaster says.
We leveraged Microsoft technology to automate the end-to-end flow and created business efficiencies that allow people to focus on work, not processes.
—Ashish Sayal, principal engineering manager, Commerce and Ecosystem team
In addition, Microsoft Power Automate’s ability to automatically translate content into multiple languages eliminates the need to engage translation services and ensures that the message will be conveyed clearly to a global audience.
Microsoft’s new paradigm in supplier content management
Managing supplier content was once a clunky and time-consuming operation that required significant resources for every message, and often resulted in delayed communication for vendors.
“We leveraged Microsoft technology to automate the end-to-end flow and created business efficiencies that allow people to focus on work, not processes,” says Ashish Sayal, a principal engineering manager for the Commerce and Ecosystem team. Automating repetitive, manual tasks reduced the workload, lowered operational costs, and increased consistency and reliability of Microsoft’s messaging.
Connecting and communicating with a global network of vendors is still an enormous undertaking, but by integrating Power Automate into the workflow, the Commerce and Ecosystem team transformed supplier content management into an agile, dynamic process that can move at the speed of business.
Here are five things you can do to get started with Microsoft Power Automate:
- Install Microsoft 360 and Microsoft Azure Active Directory.
- Register with Microsoft Graph API.
- Create a Microsoft Power Automate account.
- Set the appropriate permissions with Microsoft Graph API.
- Start generating content on via Microsoft SharePoint or Microsoft Teams.
