How has automation changed the way you work? Hear from the DataBlend team.

Our upcoming series will explore how people automate. First, we'll look at how our DataBlend team automates.

In today's data-driven business landscape, seamlessly integrating, transforming, and analyzing data from various sources is critical to success. DataBlend, a powerful data integration platform, has emerged as a game-changer for finance and accounting professionals looking to streamline their data operations. So, as you can tell, it's our business to help finance and accounting automate processes. However, did you know that we at DataBlend also use automation in our day-to-day work lives? It's true! We employ automation both at DataBlend and in our personal lives. Here are a few ways automation has changed how the DataBlend team works!

When thinking about the question, "How has automation changed the way I work," I initially thought: "I'm not sure I automate too much of my work," and that thought quickly changed to: "Oh, wow, a lot that we do can be considered automated." It's so ubiquitous it almost goes unnoticed. For example, the one we all use — from the day we start using a computer — copy/paste. We all are inclined to want to automate things, and for good reason. I think the saying "work smarter, not harder" embodies the idea of using automation at work. You don't hear people saying, "work harder, not smarter," ha!

- Jay Johnson, UX/UI Developer

Automation has significantly helped the way I work by cutting down time to completion without sacrificing data accuracy.

- Jeremiah Rodriguez, Technical Integration Consultant

Automation has changed the way I/we as a society work on a day-to-day basis through more streamlined internal and external operations. As a sales representative, this means engaging with prospective clients quicker and more effectively, helping them to illustrate their business issues more accurately, and allowing DataBlend to solve these problems faster and more precisely. As an Account Executive at DataBlend, I use HubSpot Sequences for efficient one-to-one outreach at scale, allowing me to focus on building better prospect relationships.

- Peter Gregory, Account Executive

Automation has become an integral part of my life. Whether it is testing automation features within DataBlend such as schedules, triggers, notifications, and more; creating complex workflows within DataBlend to save time; setting up shortcuts on my phone that enable do-not-disturb timers; or scheduling automatic pet food shipments. Automation saves time, allowing me to get back to doing what I love, whether working hard at DataBlend, spending time with family, or playing with pets.

- Amanda Schertzer, QA/ Technical Documentation Specialist

Technology automation has become a natural part of our lives. I can automate tasks without realizing it with a reliable and comprehensive integrated technology system. From organizing my emails in HubSpot to sharing a calendar with my spouse, the potential for automation is limitless.

- Ben Julian, Integration Consultant

Automation in the world of marketing is critical. Without it, every single task will be done manually, potentially on a delayed schedule due to bandwidth, or done incorrectly just by the nature of repetition, creating room for errors. I leverage several forms of automation to deliver emails, post to social accounts, generate reports, create reminders, and update databases. It's an essential part of our process within marketing. I couldn't work successfully without it.

- Laura Merola, Director of Channel Marketing

For me, automation has allowed me to have more free time and flexibility in my schedule. Some parts of my job took hours to prep and, with some automation, have been cut down to a single command. Fewer clicks and less waiting for results means I can be more productive and create or update plugins for our customers. Because without them, we wouldn't be where we are.

- Bradley Ploof, Software Developer

I love it when some grunt work goes away because you think of a better way, nifty keyboard shortcuts, and the like. I think a lot of people in finance are so used to messing around with spreadsheets for shifting data – and/or have been scared by the high costs of integration – that they've stopped looking for an automated way.

In my job, I have to share a handful of URLs many times a day, every day – DataBlend information and my scheduler link.  I use a program called AutoHotkey which is a very powerful free program that allows you to script all sorts of automation on your computer and assign them to keyboard shortcuts – so I have quick key combos that automatically add in the relevant URL to whatever I’m writing.  I also have some AutoHotkey scripts which move windows between multiple monitors, which I then assign to a couple of extra buttons on my Logitech mouse, making window management a lot simpler!

- Adam Rakich, Senior Director of Strategic Alliances

I'm so old that my first CRM system was Excel. The first time I had a real CRM that was best practice was critical in my career. I could research the person and the company, make the call, and afterward, press one button to record the activity, send an email, and schedule a follow-up. It changed the game for me regarding productivity, and my goal is to have my customer's experience be just as profound.

- Andrew McDonnell, Senior Director of Revenue, North America

The sales team has been streamlining our internal processes at DataBlend. Over the past few months, we've been experimenting with an app called Firefly. With Firefly's note-taking capabilities, we've concentrated more on our meetings and prospects rather than getting bogged down with taking notes. It's been a game-changer, and I can follow up quicker and not miss a beat.

- Erik Neilssen, Account Executive

From my previous roles, automating the busy yet mundane month-end close steps (however necessary) allowed me to find a better use of my time that added more value to the organization. Now that I'm at DataBlend, I constantly hear from clients that certain finance and accounting processes used to take hours, and after implementing DataBlend, they can do the same processes in minutes with incredible accuracy. Hearing those words is very rewarding. I remember how many hours I used to spend doing similar work.

Other mundane items that finance teams deal with are setting up customers and vendors in systems, DataBlend can automate that process on a regular basis to ensure your system has the latest list available. Recently, I worked with a client to integrate their HRIS to Microsoft using their employee roster. We mapped out employee positions to licenses and were able to create, remove and update their information for MS Teams with the information on the employee roster. This also included updating the Microsoft licenses for each employee based on the position.

- Jonathan Cobb, Integration Consultant

Lastly, we asked our fearless leader, David Furth, how automation has changed his life. Here's what he had to say:

First, if Andrew is so old, I wonder what that makes me 😊. Personally, I cannot imagine what I would do without autopay and the convenience of tapping from my phone. Andrew, I am old enough to remember having to write checks to pay EVERY bill and then addressing each envelope. Yikes. Can’t imagine going back to that. At work, I remember the first time I developed my own integration to pull information from an email to create a contact in a CRM – all by myself. And I am not an engineer by any stretch - right Mike? As everyone has said, all these little things add up. At work, the power of automation is astounding. For example, it is possible to go from lead to order to invoice to receipt without any meaningful data entry. But it has to be done thoughtfully. Automation does not happen automatically. One last one for me.  How about those scheduling apps? How much time have I saved since including a link below my signature to my calendar? It’s insane!

Are you wondering where to start? Once you start thinking about your daily repeatable tasks, you'll most likely pinpoint actions that you could easily automate. For example:

• Chatbots can handle simple customer questions and provide automatic responses, freeing up human agents to address more complex issues.
• Expense reports can be automatically routed through predefined approval processes to ensure compliance with company policies.
• Marketing automation tools can generate, score, and nurture leads through automated email campaigns.
• Automating the financial close process can ensure accuracy and compliance.
• With automation, invoices, and reminders for overdue payments can be sent out seamlessly.
• Automation can assist in paying bills due regularly or for a fixed amount each month.

Have you been inspired by our team? Let us know how automation has changed the way that you work!