# Automation

Automation is letting a system handle repeating tasks, such as sending confirmations, moving data or creating invoices, so you do not do them by hand.

Source: https://ibenta.no/en/glossary/automation
Publisher: Ibenta (https://ibenta.no)
Updated: 2026-09-27

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Anything you do the same way every time can, in principle, be automated. Someone books an appointment, and the calendar updates, the customer gets a confirmation by email and a reminder the day before, without you lifting a finger. Automation does not need AI. Much of it is simple rules: when X happens, do Y.

## What doing nothing costs you

Do the sums. If you spend ten minutes every working day copying enquiries from email into a spreadsheet, that comes to 40 hours a year over 240 working days. And every time something is copied by hand, something can slip: a phone number with a wrong digit, or a [lead](/en/glossary/lead) that was never followed up.

## Ready-made tool or your own system

Tools like Zapier and Make connect services without programming, and are often enough for simple flows. If the task spans many systems, or has to fit the way you work, an [integration](/en/glossary/integration) or a small tool of your own can pay off. That is among the things we build as [web applications](/en/services/web-application).

## Find the first task

Keep a simple log for one week of everything you do on the computer that is the same each time, and write down how long it takes. The task that takes the most time in total and follows fixed rules is the one to automate first.