Automation as a service: what it is and what to ask
Automation as a service is a provider building, running and looking after a business's automations for a recurring fee: watching that they work, fixing them when a connected system changes, and adding new ones as the business asks. It treats automations as systems to be managed, not projects to be handed over.
Why automations need managing
A flow that saves a team ten hours a week is now part of how the business runs. When it stops, the work stops, often silently. Connections expire, suppliers change their software, a new kind of invoice turns up, someone leaves and their account was the one the flow ran under. A business with a handful of automations needs the same things it needs for any other system: monitoring, fixes, change control, documentation and a backup plan.
What a good service includes
- Discovery and mapping: how each process runs today, agreed with the people who do it, before anything is built.
- Build: on a platform you can see into, in your own tenant or accounts where possible.
- Monitoring: failed runs alerted and dealt with, not discovered by a customer.
- Maintenance: fixes when connected systems change, included in the fee.
- Governance: service accounts rather than personal ones, least-privilege permissions, and a register of every automation and what data it touches.
- A roadmap: the next processes worth automating, valued in time and money, reviewed with you each quarter.
Why your MSP, and when someone else
Your managed IT provider already runs the identity, Microsoft 365, security and backups your automations will depend on, and is already paid to keep systems working. That makes automation a natural extension of its service, and many providers are adding it. Ask yours.
For large or highly custom integrations, a specialist automation agency may suit better, ideally working alongside your MSP so that access and security stay joined up. Our sister site lists UK automation and AI implementation companies.
Questions to ask a provider
- Which platforms do you build on, and will the automations run in our own accounts?
- How do you find out when an automation fails, and how fast do you fix it?
- What is included in the monthly fee, and what is a new automation priced at?
- How do you decide which process to automate first, and how do you measure the saving?
- What does each automation have access to, and under whose account does it run?
- If we leave, what do we get: the flows, the documentation, the service accounts?
Is your MSP offering this?
Most businesses already pay a managed IT provider that holds the keys to their systems, their data and their Microsoft 365. It is often the best-placed partner for AI and automation, and many are starting to offer it. 6 providers have told the register where they stand so far: 0 exploring, 0 piloting and 6 offering a named AI or automation service.
Ask your MSP where it stands Two minutes. We write the email; you send it from your own mail.
Quick answers
What is automation as a service?
Automation as a service is a provider building, running and looking after a business's automations for a recurring fee: watching that they work, fixing them when a connected system changes, and adding new ones as the business asks. It treats automations as systems to be managed, not projects to be handed over.
Why do automations need ongoing support?
Because they sit between systems that change. A software update, a renamed field, an expired connection or a new exception can stop a flow without anyone noticing. Somebody has to monitor them, fix them and keep a record of what each one does.
Why is an MSP well placed to offer automation as a service?
It already manages the accounts, permissions, Microsoft 365 tenant, security and backups that automations depend on, it monitors systems for a living, and it works under a recurring contract. Automation extends what it already does.
How is automation as a service priced?
Usually as a monthly fee per automation or per bundle of automations, a retainer that includes a number of build hours, or a platform fee plus usage. Ask what is included when something breaks and what a new automation costs.
Who owns the automations if we change provider?
You should. Ask for the flows to run in your own tenant or accounts, under service accounts you control, with documentation of each one, so they can be handed to another provider.
Written 5 November 2026. General guidance, not legal advice.
From the publisher: OurIdea.ai, which publishes this register, makes abi., which maps how a business actually runs and finds the automation worth building. It is not a listed company, no provider pays to appear in these guides, and nothing on the register depends on using it.
More on AI and automation: What is business process automation? · AI strategy for a small or mid-sized business · AI implementation: from pilot to everyday use · Is your MSP offering AI and automation?