Spend five minutes on LinkedIn, and you'll see tons of so-called “thought leaders” bragging about how they’ve automated their IT processes and strategies.
From multi-stage vulnerability remediation pipelines to fully automated compliance reporting across dozens of frameworks. You name it. And some MSP has (claimed to) automate it.
It’s all very impressive. But when you’re just starting your IT process automation journey, it can also be very overwhelming.
We’re here to help. Automation is one of the most reliable levers for improving an MSP’s service desk profitability.
But the goal isn’t to develop flashy AI workflows to impress your peers on Linkedin. It’s to automate the tedious work that shows up in your queue every day and distracts your team from higher-value projects.
Why starting small is the smartest IT automation strategy
Service desk automation is serious stuff. It touches live systems, real users, and real businesses.
Which is why many MSPs are — understandably — hesitant to get started. If one thing goes wrong, it doesn’t just slow down your processes. It can impact your client relationships and end up creating more work for your team down the line (which is the exact opposite of your goals).
The good news is that there are service desk workflows that can be easily automated without putting clients’ environments at risk. And without creating more downstream work for your team.
Here are three low-risk, high-reward IT processes we recommend MSPs automate first to free technicians from repetitive work, improve the client experience, and boost your margins.
Service desk automation ideas: 3 IT processes every MSP should consider automating
Ticket triage and classification
Every service desk knows the time and opportunity cost of manual triage.
Tickets arrive half-written, priorities are unclear, and work gets bounced between queues before it lands in front of the right tech.
Automating triage solves all this and more.
Instead of waiting for someone to read, interpret, and sort each ticket manually, IT process automation tools can analyze each ticket as it comes in, figure out its intent, and apply pre-approved classification and routing workflows based on how your service desk typically handles each type of request.
You can also create guardrails so automation only runs where it’s appropriate, with clear handoffs when a ticket needs review, approval, or human judgment. That means fewer boomerang tickets, fewer mistakes, and more time for your team to devote to higher-value IT projects.
Password resets and account unlocks
Let’s be blunt. Password reset requests are among the most repetitive, tedious, and time-consuming tickets MSPs handle. The process is always the same. And the work interrupts everyone’s time and flow, without adding much business value.
Automating these tickets to follow your pre-approved processes ensures the work gets done the same way every time, without waiting in a queue or pulling techs away from more profit-driving projects.
It’s a small, admittedly boring task to automate. But it can have a significant impact on your techs’ time and well-being, as well as your client satisfaction.
Basic onboarding and offboarding steps
Onboardings and offboardings are another low-risk, high-reward service desk task MSPs can automate pretty easily. Like password requests, the work is predictable and repeatable. And you likely already have a standard process to follow.
But rather than relying on memory or manual checklists, service desk automation tools can recognize user lifecycle tasks and execute a defined set of repeatable actions, such as creating or disabling accounts, assigning standard access, or flagging tasks that need review.
That reduces rework, limits missed steps, and helps ensure every change is handled the same way, even when the service desk is drowning in tickets.
Meet Pia: AI designed to help MSPs automate their most tedious and time-consuming IT processes
Once you understand where AI can make a real difference in your service desk (beyond developing flashy workflows to impress other MSPs), the next step is finding a platform that can actually deliver those results quickly and consistently.
That’s where Pia comes in.
Pia was built by MSPs who know how small, tedious tasks can zap your time and energy. With more than 60 out-of-the-box automations designed for real service desk workflows, Pia helps your team close more tickets, manage more endpoints, and resolve issues faster, without burning out your techs or putting clients’ data at risk.
If you’re ready to see how easy automating your most tedious IT processes can be, book a demo today.
