Every organization has repetitive processes that consume hours of employee time—approval chains that require manual emails, data entry that moves information between systems, reports that someone compiles by hand every week. Power Automate can eliminate much of this busywork, but building effective automations requires expertise most teams don’t have in-house.
A Power Automate consultant bridges that gap. They bring hands-on experience with the platform, knowledge of what’s possible, and the ability to translate business processes into working automations. For organizations serious about efficiency gains, consultant expertise often delivers faster results and better solutions than internal trial-and-error.
This guide covers what Power Automate consultants do, when hiring one makes sense, and how to evaluate whether the investment will pay off.
What Power Automate Consultants Do
Power Automate consultants specialize in building automated workflows on Microsoft’s automation platform. Their work typically spans several areas:
Process analysis. Identifying which processes are good automation candidates and mapping how they currently work. Not everything should be automated—consultants help prioritize based on effort, impact, and feasibility.
Flow development. Building the actual automations—connecting triggers, actions, and conditions to create workflows that run without human intervention.
Integration work. Connecting Power Automate to other systems. Power Automate has hundreds of connectors to Microsoft and third-party applications, but making them work together requires understanding both the platform and the connected systems.
Robotic process automation (RPA). Using Power Automate Desktop to automate tasks in legacy applications or desktop software that lacks APIs. This extends automation to systems that can’t be connected through standard connectors.
Error handling and monitoring. Building flows that handle exceptions gracefully and setting up monitoring to catch failures before they cause business problems.
Documentation and training. Ensuring your team can maintain and modify automations after the engagement ends.
Common Power Automate Projects
Consultants work on a wide range of automation projects. Common examples include:
Approval workflows. Purchase requests, time-off requests, document approvals, expense reports—any process where items need sign-off from one or more people.
Document processing. Automatically routing documents, extracting data from forms, generating documents from templates, or organizing files based on metadata.
Data synchronization. Keeping information consistent across systems—syncing CRM data with SharePoint, updating databases when forms are submitted, or pushing data to external platforms.
Notification systems. Alerting people when conditions are met—inventory drops below thresholds, deadlines approach, or items require attention.
Report generation. Compiling data from multiple sources and distributing reports on schedules, eliminating manual report creation.
Employee onboarding/offboarding. Automating the sequence of tasks when people join or leave—account creation, equipment requests, access provisioning, training assignments.
For organizations managing complex projects, automations can support project information management by routing documents, updating stakeholders, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
When to Hire a Power Automate Consultant
Power Automate is designed to be accessible to non-developers, and many organizations build simple flows internally. But consultant expertise becomes valuable in specific situations:
Complex integrations. Flows that connect multiple systems, handle edge cases, or require custom connectors benefit from experienced development.
Business-critical processes. When automation failures would cause significant problems, professional development with proper error handling reduces risk.
Time constraints. Learning Power Automate well enough to build sophisticated flows takes time. Consultants deliver results faster.
Scaling automation efforts. Moving from ad-hoc flows to an organization-wide automation strategy requires planning and architecture that consultants can provide.
RPA projects. Desktop automation with Power Automate Desktop has a steeper learning curve than cloud flows. Consultant expertise accelerates these projects.
Stuck projects. If internal efforts have stalled due to technical challenges or unclear requirements, consultants can diagnose problems and get things moving.
Build vs. Buy vs. Hire
Organizations have three paths for Power Automate work:
Build internally. Train existing staff to develop flows. This builds long-term capability but takes time and may not reach advanced skill levels. Works well for simple automations and organizations committed to developing internal expertise.
Buy pre-built solutions. Some automation needs are common enough that templates or third-party solutions exist. Check the Power Automate template library and solution providers before building from scratch.
Hire consultants. Bring in expertise for specific projects. This gets results quickly and handles complex requirements but costs more per project than internal development.
Most organizations combine approaches—building simple flows internally, using templates where they fit, and engaging consultants for complex or critical automations.
What Skills to Look For
When evaluating Power Automate consultants, consider:
Platform depth. Power Automate includes cloud flows, desktop flows (RPA), business process flows, and various connector types. Ensure the consultant has experience with the specific capabilities you need.
Integration experience. If your project involves specific systems—Dynamics 365, SAP, Salesforce, legacy applications—look for consultants who’ve integrated those systems before.
Microsoft ecosystem knowledge. Power Automate works best as part of the broader Microsoft 365 and Power Platform ecosystem. Consultants should understand SharePoint, Teams, Dataverse, and related tools.
Business process understanding. Technical skills matter, but so does the ability to understand business requirements and translate them into effective automations.
Error handling and production readiness. Building a flow that works in testing is different from building one that handles edge cases, recovers from failures, and runs reliably in production.
Engagement Models
Power Automate consulting engagements typically follow one of several models:
Project-based. A defined scope with specific deliverables—build these five workflows, automate this process, implement this integration. Good for clear, bounded requirements.
Time-and-materials. Pay for consultant hours as needed. Works well for exploration, advisory work, or projects where scope may evolve.
Retainer. Ongoing access to consultant hours at a predictable monthly cost. Suits organizations with continuous automation needs but not enough to justify dedicated staff.
Training engagements. Focus on building internal capability rather than delivering finished automations. Consultants train your team through a combination of instruction and guided project work.
Calculating ROI
Automation investments should pay for themselves through time savings and error reduction. Before engaging a consultant, estimate the potential return:
Time savings. How many hours per week does the current process consume? Multiply by fully-loaded labor costs to estimate annual cost of manual work.
Error costs. What do mistakes in the current process cost? Missed deadlines, rework, customer impact, compliance issues—these have real costs even if not tracked explicitly.
Consultant costs. Get estimates for the automation project. Include ongoing maintenance costs if applicable.
Payback period. Divide project cost by annual savings to determine how quickly the investment pays off. Most worthwhile automation projects pay back within 6-12 months.
A process that takes 10 hours weekly at $50/hour loaded cost represents $26,000 annually. A $15,000 consulting engagement that automates 80% of that work pays back in about 9 months—then continues generating savings indefinitely.
Making the Engagement Successful
To get maximum value from a Power Automate consultant:
Document current processes. Before consultants arrive, map how processes currently work. This accelerates discovery and ensures nothing is missed.
Identify edge cases. What happens when things don’t go as planned? Unusual inputs, exceptions, errors—surfacing these early prevents surprises later.
Provide access. Consultants need access to systems, test environments, and people who understand the business processes. Delays in access delay the project.
Plan for testing. Build time for thorough testing with realistic data and scenarios before going live.
Assign maintenance ownership. Someone internal should understand the automations well enough to troubleshoot issues and make minor modifications.
Nexinite’s Automation Approach
At Nexinite, we approach Power Automate projects with a focus on business impact, not just technical implementation. Our process includes:
Process discovery. Understanding not just what you do today but why—so automations address root needs, not just surface symptoms.
Practical prioritization. Identifying quick wins that deliver value fast while building toward larger automation goals.
Production-ready development. Building flows with proper error handling, logging, and monitoring so they run reliably.
Knowledge transfer. Ensuring your team can maintain and extend automations after we’re done.
We integrate automation work with broader Microsoft 365 initiatives, connecting workflows to SharePoint, Teams, and other tools your organization already uses.
Ready to explore what automation could do for your organization? Let’s talk about your processes and priorities.