PIPELINEGuide
Checklist: Preparing for Process Automation
What you should clarify before requesting offers for process automation. The more of this is settled beforehand, the more reliable the offers become.
Before deciding on process automation, a quick inventory is worthwhile: which workflow costs the most time, who will maintain the system later, and whether the necessary content is even available. The complete checklist is further below.
01 — Checklist
Clarify before the first quote
- What should improve? In one sentence, no jargon.
- How will you know? One number that should change.
- Who decides? One person, not a committee.
- What budget is available? A range is enough — it makes quotes comparable instead of arbitrary.
- By when? And what the deadline depends on.
- Which systems are involved? And who has access to them.
- What do you already have? Content, data, preliminary work — this reduces the cost.
02 — Participation
What we need from you
- A contact person who can make decisions — not just forward them.
- Access to the affected systems, in time and not on launch day.
- Real examples from daily business — the messier, the more useful for testing.
- Two to four hours for coordination, distributed over the project duration.
- An answer to the question of what success means. Without it, nothing can be assessed afterward.
03 — Questions
Questions you should ask
- What happens if the project becomes more expensive than estimated — who bears that?
- Who owns data, access, and, if developed, the source code?
- What does operation cost in the second and third year?
- What does the documentation we receive at the end look like?
- How would you measure whether the project was successful?
- Is there a case in which you would advise us against this?
04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions
What happens to the people who used to do this?
In practice, a position rarely disappears — the part of the work that nobody liked disappears. The time goes into things there was never time for before.
Do we have to buy new software for this?
Usually not. Most of it runs on the systems you already have, plus an automation layer. We only suggest new software if there's a real gap.
Do we lose control over our processes?
On the contrary: An automated process is fully documented and logged for the first time. You see every run. Before, only the person who always did it knew.
How quickly does it pay off?
For the processes we typically start with, payback is between four and ten months. We calculate that before the quote, not after.
What if our processes change?
Then the workflows are adjusted. We build them so that the variable parts — text blocks, recipients, thresholds — are in a table that you maintain yourself, without needing us.
Are there subsidies for this?
For digitalization projects in Austria, there are several funding programs, such as KMU.DIGITAL or the aws digitalization funding (kmudigital.at, aws.at). Whether and to what extent this currently fits your situation, we check together — important: The application must be approved before the contract is awarded. Plan lead time for this.
How do we know what's worth automating?
Rule of thumb: A process is worth it if it occurs at least weekly, has clear rules and is manual work today. In the current-state analysis, we calculate every candidate — frequency times duration times cost — and you decide based on numbers.
05 — Next
Related pages
- Process automation — Overview
- Process Automation — Funding
- Process automation — risks
- Process automation — Measuring success
- Process automation — data protection
- Process automation — cost-effectiveness
- Process Automation — Practical Examples
- Process automation — team and acceptance
- AI automation
- CRM integration
- Automate Quote Creation
- All guides
Process automation by region
Next step
Let's talk briefly about whether this makes sense for you.
A twenty-minute conversation is usually enough to clarify whether a project makes sense. If not, we'll say so — that's cheaper for both sides than an offer nobody needs.