Automations in OnePlan: Overview

What are Automations in OnePlan?

Automations in OnePlan are configurable rules that detect events — such as a field change, a date passing, or a new item being created — and automatically perform defined actions in response. They reduce manual effort, enforce consistent behavior, and support governance across plans and work items without requiring users to intervene each time a condition is met.

What you will understand After reading this article, you will understand what automations do in OnePlan, how Plan Automations and Work Plan Automations differ, and how to choose the right type for your scenario.

Who This Article Is For: Automations in OnePlan

This article is intended for:

• Plan managers and portfolio administrators who want to standardize plan behavior at scale
• Project team leads who want to automate work item management within a plan
• Anyone evaluating whether automations are the right tool for a specific workflow challenge

This article explains concepts and context. It does not cover step-by-step configuration; for that, see the guided workflow articles linked in What to Do Next.

How Automations Works in OnePlan

Without automations, plan and work item management depends on people remembering to perform routine tasks — updating a status when a process step changes, notifying a stakeholder when a deadline passes, or creating a follow-up task when an item reaches a certain state. As an organization scales, this creates inconsistency, delays, and administrative overhead. Automations in OnePlan eliminate that dependency by defining the rule once and letting the system enforce it automatically — every time, for every applicable plan or work item.

Context: What Automations Do

Without automations, plan and work item management depends on people remembering to perform routine tasks — updating a status when a process step changes, notifying a stakeholder when a deadline passes, or creating a follow-up task when an item reaches a certain state. As an organization scales, this creates inconsistency, delays, and administrative overhead.

Automations in OnePlan eliminate that dependency by defining the rule once and letting the system enforce it automatically — every time, for every applicable plan or work item.

Context: How Automations Run

Automations run in the background without any user action required. When a trigger condition is met and any configured filters pass, OnePlan executes the defined actions in sequence. Each execution is recorded in the Automation Run History, where you can monitor runs, review outcomes, and cancel in-progress executions if needed. See How to View and Manage Automation Run History in OnePlan for details.

Key Components of Automations in OnePlan

The Two Types of Automations

OnePlan provides two types of automations, each designed for a different level of the plan hierarchy:

For a detailed comparison, see Plan Automations vs. Work Plan Automations in OnePlan - Overview.

The Shared Structure - Trigger, Filters, Actions

Regardless of type, every automation in OnePlan follows the same structural pattern:

1. Trigger — the event that causes the automation to run. Each automation can have only one trigger. Examples: When a Field Changes, When a Date Passes, When an Item Is Created.

2. Filters (optional) — conditions that must be true before the actions run. If filters are configured, OnePlan evaluates them after the trigger fires. If the conditions are not met, the automation does not proceed. Filters narrow the automation’s scope without changing its trigger.

3. Actions — the operations OnePlan performs when trigger conditions are met and filters pass. An automation can include one or more actions, which execute in sequence. Examples: Send Notification, Update Plan, Approval Task Workflow.

Automation Scope

Scope determines which plans an automation applies to:

• Plan Automations — scope is set automatically based on where you open the Automations editor. Opening from the Portfolio Area sets scope to All Plans for a selected Plan Type; opening from an individual plan sets scope to This Plan.
• Work Plan Automations — scope is configured in the trigger editor. End users can set This Plan only; administrators can also set All Plans across selected Plan Types.

How Automations Fits Into OnePlan

Automations works closely with:

• Plan Automations — Automations scoped to a plan or a Portfolio Area’s plans of a given type; use this type for plan-level governance and lifecycle management. See Plan Automations in OnePlan - Overview.
• Work Plan Automations — Automations scoped to work items inside a plan; use this type for task-level execution behavior. See Work Plan Automations Configuration in OnePlan - Guided Workflow.
• Automations Interface — Both automation types are created and managed in the same shared editor; see Automations Interface in OnePlan - Overview for how the interface itself works.
• Automation Run History — Every automation execution, regardless of type, is recorded in the Automation Run History, giving visibility into whether a rule ran and what it did. See How to View and Manage Automation Run History in OnePlan.

Common Scenarios: When to Use Automations in OnePlan

Plan-level governance with Plan Automations: - Automatically send a notification to stakeholders when a plan moves to a new process step - Reorganize a plan into a different portfolio area when it reaches a specific lifecycle stage - Trigger a Power Automate flow when a plan field changes to integrate with an external system - Initiate an approval workflow when a plan is submitted for review

Work execution with Work Plan Automations: - Automatically notify the assigned resource when a task due date has passed - Update a task status field when another field on the same work item changes - Send an update request to assigned team members on a regular schedule - Create a follow-up risk item whenever a new issue is created

Frequently Asked Questions: Automations in OnePlan

Q: What is the difference between Plan Automations and Work Plan Automations in OnePlan? A: Plan Automations respond to plan-level events and their actions affect the plan as a whole — such as updating plan fields, copying plans, or reorganizing plans in a portfolio hierarchy. Work Plan Automations respond to work item events inside a plan — such as task field changes or item creation — and their actions affect those specific work items. Use Plan Automations when automating plan-level behavior and Work Plan Automations when automating work execution. See Plan Automations vs. Work Plan Automations in OnePlan - Overview for a full comparison.

Q: Can I use both Plan Automations and Work Plan Automations in the same plan in OnePlan? A: Yes. Plan Automations and Work Plan Automations operate independently in OnePlan and can both be active on the same plan simultaneously. They do not conflict — each responds to its own set of events at its respective level of the plan hierarchy.

Q: Who can create and manage automations in OnePlan? A: Any user with Contributor or Owner access to a plan can create Work Plan Automations scoped to This Plan. Plan Automations can be created by users who access the Automations editor from a plan they have Contributor or Owner access to. Automations scoped to All Plans require administrator-level global permissions in OnePlan.

Q: Are automations in OnePlan retroactive? A: No. Automations in OnePlan only run in response to trigger events that occur after the automation is saved and active. They do not apply retroactively to plans or work items that already existed before the automation was created.

Q: Where can I see if an automation ran and what it did in OnePlan? A: All automation executions are recorded in the Automation Run History, accessible from the Automations editor. See How to View and Manage Automation Run History in OnePlan for details.

What to Do Next: Automations in OnePlan

Understand the interface and automation types: - Automations Interface in OnePlan - Overview - Plan Automations vs. Work Plan Automations in OnePlan - Overview

Configure Plan Automations: - Plan Automations in OnePlan - Overview - Plan Automations Configuration in OnePlan - Guided Workflow

Configure Work Plan Automations: - Work Plan Automations Configuration in OnePlan - Guided Workflow

Monitor and manage automations: - How to View and Manage Automation Run History in OnePlan - How to Assign Resources to Automation Approval Tasks in OnePlan