Article
Aug 10, 2023

Common Ways Customers Leverage Automation Workflows in Canopy

Discover how Canopy customers are leveraging our automation workflow capabilities to drive labor savings and reduce downtime.

Remote Management Tactics

- Automation is about using software to perform certain actions when certain conditions are met. In other words, the software can observe data coming from unattended smart devices and hardware solutions to initiate a task when the data reaches a certain threshold.

The combination of these technologies will unleash productivity gains for years to come and help all sorts of business processes become more efficient.

And while many of the use cases will be unique to individual businesses, there are some general processes that we are seeing automated across multiple industries. Here are some examples of automation happening right now:

Provisioning of new equipment

Buying new hardware equipment for your company is easy. With a few clicks of a mouse, equipment from almost anywhere can be delivered to your doorstep.

But, getting that device ready to be used within your organization can be time-consuming and complicated. For example, a new server needs to be secured, given an identity in your network and then updated with the software required to carry out its function within your organization.

Automation can make the provisioning process much simpler. In organizations that have adopted automation already, it’s as easy as connecting the device to the internet and then pressing a few buttons to initiate the entire provisioning process. Once complete, the device is ready to be used safely and efficiently within your network.

Device onboarding

Provisioning hardware solutions is similar to onboarding a new employee. But, in this case, software licenses will need to be assigned, network access will need to be granted and equipment needs to be assigned.

On top of those technical requirements, the account management department will need to provide equipment information, device ID, and other relevant attribute information to inside the CRM or asset management tool.

Again, automation can handle many of these processes and cut down on the number of steps involved. This is especially true on the IT side where equipment and networks need to be kept secure and activity needs to be tracked. Automation can help ensure that a process was followed, and no steps were omitted.

Sending notifications

Automation is flexible enough in most cases that it can be applied to a wide variety of use cases. Sending notifications fits squarely within this flexible environment and can be used for alerting managers and operators about all sorts of issues – everything from equipment failures to trespassing being detected inside a smart building.

For one of our customers, sending text and email notifications to managers when issues are noticed is one way they have implemented automation through Canopy. Incidentally, the system also records the problem automatically in a log that can be reviewed by support personnel later.

Schedule fixes automatically

One area that holds great promise for improving efficiencies in operations is using automation to fix problems as they arise (instead of waiting for someone to report them). The efficiency improvements in this area will come from removing steps needed to initiate a fix once the system observes a problem. In an unattended device environment, the data coming from the equipment will detect a malfunction or other issue and the automation software will create a ticket to track the problem, attempt to fix it remotely and only then schedule a technician to service the equipment with the necessary parts and diagnosis in hand.

Pushing software updates as needed

Another way that smart devices can benefit from automation is by automating the entire software update process. Networks of machines often have software updates that need to happen at various times. Some machines may not need every update while other machines may have been introduced to the network in the time period since the last update and will require special patches to bring them up to speed with the other networked equipment.

Automation can detect and provide the updates as required throughout the network, removing the need for constant monitoring and manual patches whenever something changes.

Have other thoughts on how unattended device solutions or systems can benefit from automation? Contact us today to schedule a meeting and receive a demonstration of our software.

Ramon Munoz

Ramon is a Senior Customer Success Technician at Canopy. He focuses on enhancing customer success, Canopy operations, and providing technical support.

Download the FREE eBook

Please fill out the following information to receive a free download of our informational eBook.

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5
Heading 6

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Block quote

Ordered list

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3

Unordered list

  • Item A
  • Item B
  • Item C

Text link

Bold text

Emphasis

Superscript

Subscript