Automated approval workflows: Eliminate bottlenecks and enforce compliance

When internal requests bottle up in email chains, IT and compliance teams spend valuable time tracking down stakeholders for simple sign-offs. A manual approval process slows down business processes, creates delays, and leaves gaps in your audit trails. Automated workflow approvals replace this chaotic back-and-forth with a centralized, predefined flow that automatically tracks each step.

This guide defines approval routing frameworks, breaks down the core types of automated workflows, and compares manual habits to an automated approval workflow system. It also reviews the top workflow management and approval management software options on the market to help you find the right tool for your infrastructure.

What is an automated approval workflow?

An automated approval workflow codifies organizational decision logic to turn approval policies into enforceable rules. Workflow automation software routes the request to someone with the authority to sign off on the request. This leads to traceable decisions, enforced rules, and a strong compliance posture. Streamlining the process also frees your team from the reduced efficiency caused by approval bottlenecks.

Key steps in an approval workflow

The automated workflow approval process differs significantly from the manual process. Instead of steps like negotiating with stakeholders for approval, the system follows a shorter and faster series of technical stages with security verification requirements at each phase.

Request submission and data validation

The approval process begins with a submitted request via a form, ticket, or API call. The system then validates the submission against preset rules based on company policies. It also checks the requester’s identity against your identity provider (IdP), such as Okta or Microsoft Entra, to determine whether the user is authorized to submit these types of approval requests. If the submission fails any of these validation checks, the system rejects the request.

Automated routing and conditional logic

After validation, the request moves to the routing stage, where the platform applies conditional logic to assign approvers for decision-making. It makes an appropriate choice based on:

• Request type
• Sensitivity or risk level
• Urgency
• Department
• Organizational hierarchy

The system also checks for segregation of duties at this stage so no user can both submit and approve the request, where those controls are required by policy. Similarly, it verifies that approvers have the authority to sign off on the request. If a request doesn’t have the proper context or violates compliance requirements, the approval workflow software flags the anomaly and drops the transaction before it moves further along in your workflow.

Decision execution and human oversight

While the approval workflow system automates routing, this type of technology doesn’t usually automate the actual decision. But now there is full visibility and an audit trail because the approvers act within the system instead of via ad hoc emails, Slack messages, and paper sign-offs. For more sensitive or critical requests, the system may require multi-factor authentication or even multi-level approvals.

Immutable audit trails and closure

Every approval or denial creates an immutable audit trail. The system achieves this by recording the action and writing a permanent record noting:

• Who requested what
• The decision made
• Who approved or denied the submitted request
• When the decision took place

The software helps ensure continuous compliance readiness by securely committing the log entry and triggering a final status. It then updates all parties involved and closes the file.

Types of automated approval workflows

IT infrastructure teams deploy distinct routing frameworks to manage risk and keep business operations moving efficiently. Matching the correct architecture to your specific IT use case prevents operational bottlenecks.

Sequential routing

Sequential routing is ideal for multi-level approvals. Instead of sending the approval to multiple managers, it sends the request to one person at a time in a fixed order, based on predefined rules. For example, a budget spending request could go from a team lead to a project manager, then the department head, and finally the CFO.

Parallel review

Parallel review works best when requests need to meet a certain number of sign-offs to get approved and when hierarchy is unimportant. The system achieves this by sending the request to all appropriate approvers at the same time. For example, a developer may need three approvals from peer code reviewers before a code change commits in production. 

Conditional path routing

Conditional routing changes the approval path based on predefined criteria, such as risk level, application sensitivity, department, or spending threshold. This type of workflow automation allows low-risk requests to move quickly while applying additional controls to requests that require higher levels of oversight.

Hierarchical escalation

When requests are urgent, a team’s best option is hierarchical escalation. The system assigns an appropriate approver at the start. If that person doesn’t respond to notifications within a set timeframe, the approval software routes the request to another approver further up the organizational chart. Without this option, a single approver could stall the entire workflow.

Manual vs. automated approval workflow comparison

Manual approval workflows work reasonably well for lean teams in flat organizations. Failure points start to show when teams expand, hierarchies increase, and the company scales its operations. Workflow software addresses these failure points by ensuring consistent routing and a trustworthy audit trail.

The more complex the approval workflows and the stricter the compliance rules, the wider the gap you’ll see between manual and automated workflows. 

Best approval workflow software for IT teams

The best approval workflow software depends on the type of approvals you manage. For example, client-facing approvals, document reviews, and IT access requests have different requirements from PTO requests. The tools below take different approaches to the approval process, from routing decisions to executing downstream actions:

• Serval: Serval is an AI-native solution built for internal IT approval workflows that don’t stop at routing. Most approval workflow software sends a request to a human and stops there, but Serval routes the request to the right approver and executes the actions that follow. This may include JIT provisioning, deprovisioning, access updates, and audit logging. It’s a better fit for IT teams that need a management system for the full lifecycle and not just the sign-off.
• Microsoft Power Automate: This is best for organizations that are deeply integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that need to connect standard office tools. It provides a visual, template-driven interface for building an automated approval process workflow across cloud and local applications.
• Kissflow: This tool is best for business teams looking for a low-code workflow management platform to handle everyday operational approvals. It allows department heads to build custom forms and business processes quickly without requiring specialized engineering resources.
• ServiceNow: This solution is a strong option for enterprise IT teams who want built-in approval flows as part of its IT service management platform. Approvals sit inside its broader process automation tools and connect directly to ticketing systems, change management and other digital workflows. This makes ServiceNow most effective when approvals are part of an end-to-end service management environment rather than a standalone solution.

Automate your operational approvals with Serval

Most approval workflow tools handle routing well. The challenge begins after the decision is made, when someone needs to provision access, update infrastructure, or deprovision a user. For example, vendor onboarding often ends with a decision to approve the vendor.

Serval continues to support the process long after a human makes a decision like provisioning access to a vendor account. Serval uses a three Ps approach to ensure every request follows a consistent and compliant path from submission to execution: profiles, policies, and provisioning. 

Book a demo to see our automated workflow software in action.

FAQ

Which business processes can you automate with approval software?

You can automate any process with a well-defined workflow and a clear decision point. Here are some good candidates for approval process automation:

• Provisioning temporary access for special projects
• Offboarding employees
• Reviewing purchase orders
• Paying invoices
• Signing off on procurement requests
• Granting PTO

How does automation support compliance and audits?

Automated workflows provide an immutable record of what happened, when it happened, who was involved, and the final decision. The automatic generation also ensures that it’s not left up to memory for someone to record it. A clear and thorough audit trail is crucial for compliance with regulatory frameworks, especially in industries like finance and healthcare.

How do approval workflow tools connect with your existing software stack?

Most platforms connect via native integrations or APIs. It’s important to check compatibility before committing to a specific choice for automating your approval workflows.