Willis Towers Watson: Streamlining Back-Office Processes with Microsoft Power Platform

Overview

Automation that connects the systems people already use

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company. Like many large organisations, much of its back-office work depended on people moving information between systems, chasing approvals and rekeying data.

Those processes worked, but slowly. They consumed time that skilled colleagues could have spent on client work, and every manual step was an opportunity for delay or error.

Konsolute worked with WTW to identify processes suited to automation and rebuild them on Microsoft Power Platform. Power Automate workflows, Power Apps and connectors integrated existing technologies, so information moved between systems automatically and colleagues interacted with one consistent process.

The challenge

Manual effort hidden in everyday processes

Back-office processes often span several systems that were never designed to work together. At WTW, colleagues bridged the gaps manually: copying data from one application to another, sending emails to request approvals and tracking progress in spreadsheets.

This made processes slow and hard to see. It was difficult to know where a request was, who was holding it up, or whether data in one system matched another.

Any automation had to work within a large, regulated enterprise. Solutions needed appropriate security, clear ownership and governance, so they could be supported after launch rather than becoming unmanaged shadow IT.

WTW needed to:

Our approach

Understand the process, then automate it end to end

We started with how the work was actually done, not with the technology. Mapping each process first showed where automation would remove effort and where people still needed to make decisions.

Process discovery. Konsolute worked with business teams to map priority processes step by step, including the systems involved, the decisions made and the exceptions that arose. This identified the manual handovers and rekeying that automation could remove.

Integration of existing technologies. Rather than replacing established systems, we connected them. Power Platform connectors and integrations allowed data to flow between applications, so information entered once was available wherever the process needed it.

Automated workflows and apps. Power Automate flows handle routing, approvals, notifications and system updates. Where colleagues needed to capture or review information, Power Apps gave them a simple, consistent interface in place of emails and spreadsheets.

Exceptions and human decisions. Each workflow was designed with its exceptions in mind. Where judgement was required, the process routes work to the right person and records the outcome, keeping people in control of decisions that matter.

Governance and ownership. Solutions were built within WTW's Power Platform governance arrangements, with defined owners, appropriate access and documentation. This makes each automation supportable once it is in everyday use.

Result

Faster processes, with less manual effort

WTW replaced manual handovers in its back-office processes with automated, connected workflows. Information now moves between systems without rekeying, and requests follow a defined route with clear visibility of progress.

Colleagues spend less time on repetitive administration and more on work that needs their expertise. Consistent workflows have reduced the scope for delay and error that manual steps introduced.

Because the automations integrate existing technologies, WTW gained these benefits without replacing systems its teams depend on. Governance and ownership mean the solutions can be maintained and extended as needs change.