Know which automations will pay before you build any of them.Assess

Find the automations that actually pay, in weeks not quarters

Automation programmes stall for a predictable reason: the first project is chosen by enthusiasm rather than economics. When it fails to show a return, the whole programme loses its sponsor. We replace that guess with a measured, ranked portfolio and a defensible business case per initiative.

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Workshop session mapping out a business process

2–4 weeks
from kickoff to a costed, ranked roadmap: 5–20×
typical spread in return between the best and worst candidate: 100%
of shortlisted initiatives with a defensible payback figure: Zero
build spend committed before the case is proven

What it looks like today

The pattern we find in almost every operation

The failure mode of automation is rarely the technology. It is the selection.

Every department believes its process is the most manual one in the company.
Nobody has a defensible cost per transaction, so business cases are estimates dressed as evidence.
The technically easiest process gets automated first, and it turns out to be the smallest one.
Duplicate initiatives run in parallel across business units with no shared platform.
Pilots finish and quietly die because nobody agreed who operates them afterwards.
The board asks what the automation programme has returned and there is no answer.

How we do it

The approach, step by step

Each of these is a decision point rather than a formality. Skipping any one of them is what turns an automation project into an expensive pilot.

Quantify the current state

Structured interviews and process observation across the target functions, capturing volumes, touch counts, cycle times, exception rates and fully loaded cost. Where people are involved, we measure rather than ask for an estimate.

Build the candidate inventory

Every automatable process becomes a candidate with a consistent data model: annual cost, addressable share, implementation effort, integration complexity, risk and dependencies. This is what makes the ranking honest.

Score value against feasibility

Candidates are plotted on value versus feasibility, so you can see the quick wins, the strategic bets and the money pits in one view. Effort estimates are ranges with the assumptions stated, not single numbers.

Model the financial case

For each shortlisted initiative: investment, annual run cost, gross and net savings, payback period and three-year return. Sensitivities included, so you know how the case behaves if adoption is lower or volume is softer than planned.

Sequence the roadmap

A delivery order that respects dependencies and platform reuse — so the third automation costs less than the first because the foundations already exist. Each wave has a stated owner, budget and success measure.

What you receive

Deliverables, stated up front

Everything below is in scope on a standard engagement. If something here is not relevant to your situation we will say so and price accordingly rather than padding the scope.

Measured baseline of cost, volume and cycle time for the processes in scope
Ranked candidate inventory with a consistent economic model per process
Value-versus-feasibility portfolio view across the business
Financial case per shortlisted initiative: investment, savings, payback, 3-year ROI
Sensitivity analysis on the assumptions that matter most
Sequenced multi-wave delivery roadmap with owners and success measures
Operating model recommendation: who builds, who runs, who owns the benefit
Executive-ready board pack with the methodology documented

You are a fit if

An automation budget is approved but nobody agrees what to spend it on
A previous automation pilot produced no measurable return
Multiple business units are independently pursuing overlapping initiatives
The board or CFO is asking for a quantified automation case
You suspect the biggest opportunity is not the process everyone talks about

We will tell you it is a fit problem if

You already have a measured baseline and a ranked portfolio — skip to the build
The board needs a delivery outcome next quarter rather than a strategy
No one internally can sponsor the change the roadmap will require

Systems we work with

Your ERP, CRM and ITSM reportingTime and attendance systemsFinance actuals and cost-centre dataProcess mining exportsExisting BI stack (Power BI, Tableau, Looker)

Not on the list? We integrate against anything with an API, a database, a file interface or a documented import format.

Questions we get on this

Automation consulting: the practical answers

Do we have to use you to implement afterwards?

No, and the deliverable is designed to be executable without us. Every initiative ships with the assumptions, the effort range and the methodology documented, so your internal team or another supplier can pick it up. Clients frequently continue with us, but that is a commercial decision made after the evidence is on the table.

How do you get real numbers rather than estimates?

We measure. Where system logs or process mining data exist we use them. Where they do not, we observe the work directly and time it, then reconcile against payroll and finance data. Every figure in the model carries a stated confidence level and its source.

What access do you need?

Typically two to four weeks of access to process owners and frontline staff, read-only access to relevant system reporting, and cost-centre or payroll aggregates for the functions in scope. We work under NDA and handle all data under your existing classification policy.

What if the answer is that we should not automate much?

Then that is what the report says. We are paid for the assessment, not for a predetermined conclusion. An honest 'the payback is not there for these nine processes, focus on these three' is more valuable than a roadmap padded to justify the fee.

Also consider

All 11 capabilities

Workflow automation

Remove the manual steps, not just the keystrokes.

Custom internal software

Software shaped around your process, not the other way round.

Platform builds

When the automation becomes a product, not a project.

Bring us the process you already know is costing too much

Thirty minutes with an engineer is usually enough to tell whether it is worth automating, roughly what it would save, and whether the payback is inside a window your finance team will accept. If the answer is no, we will say so on the call.

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