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Just yesterday a potential client asked us a very common question. Where should we start? Like many leaders, they knew they needed to automate more. But choosing the right place to start, and building a business case around automation, was not something they were experts in – and why would they be? They are experts in the functions they lead – rather than the practice of process automation.
If that sounds familiar, then you’re in the right place. It’s not a simple topic because there is more than one factor to take into consideration. But having done this exercise with many organizations, our team is well practiced at it and ready to be your guide towards a successful automation program.
Selecting the right process can reduce manual workload, cut costs, and boost productivity. But choosing the wrong candidate can stall your program, waste budget, and undermine stakeholder confidence. That’s why it’s essential to invest time in prioritizing candidates for automation based on business impact, organizational readiness, and the level of development effort required.
Automation has the potential to transform every process across your organization, but when time, money and people are limited you need to decide where automation can add the most value. Reviewing and prioritizing processes will help you:
Show value quickly: Choosing the right initial process allows you to demonstrate early value and encourage user adoption. This early success can build momentum and scale automation across the business. Scott Forrester, Customer Success Director at Bizagi advises to ‘Deliver at a pace that puts tangible outputs into people’s hands quickly to keep interest and excitement and avoid project fatigue. Start with something small, and aligned to your objectives, not necessarily your biggest pain point.’
Maximize ROI: Targeting high-volume processes that require a lot of manual work and incur high labor costs can show quick time-to-value. Bizagi customer DHL began with their Duty VAT Billing process as they identified this entirely manual process would result in the most savings and achieved a 95% automation rate.
Solve real business problems: Fixing processes prone to delays or mistakes will bring big benefits to process workers and the wider organization. Kyocera automated their previously paper-based Special Pricing Approval (SPA) process to combat the slow turnaround times resulting in them missing out on deals, reducing the average process time by 85% from 10 days down to just 1.5 days.
Bizagi’s Process Prioritization Matrix evaluates processes across three key dimensions: business impact, business readiness, and development effort. Scoring potential processes across these areas helps you compare candidates for automation objectively and select the best place to start.
Focus on what automating the process will bring to the business:
Alignment to strategy
Does the process support the wider business strategy? Consider what business goals automating the process will contribute towards e.g. customer experience improvements or costs savings.
Mission critical
Is it a core business process that has a significant impact on business operations?
Value realisation
What are the tangible and intangible benefits expected from automation? Tangible benefits could include productivity gains and greater accuracy, and intangible benefits could include better compliance.
Business reach or volume
Who’s using the process and how visible is it? Is it contained within a specific department or enterprise-wide? Processes with a broader reach may prove to be more valuable.
Answer whether the business can manage the scope of the project and keep to the timelines to deliver a usable end solution to their stakeholders. Scott advises that “It is useful to break something down into smaller chunks rather than trying to tackle the whole thing in one. Make sure you are putting your resources and skills to best use and balance the workload with the number of people you have.”:
Definition
Is the process fully documented and signed off? It’s impossible to automate a non-existent process so make sure you’ve got a clear picture of each step involved and who is responsible.
Ownership
Is there an actively involved process owner with decision making authority to oversee implementation?
Architecture
Is the business using emails and spreadsheets to manage the process or is there an existing process management platform in place?
Commitment
Are there process experts available to engage with the project? You’ll need SMEs on hand to answer questions, validate logic and support UAT.
Review how technically complex the process is:
Forms and manual activities
Are you dealing with forms with multiple fields and processes with lots of manual interventions? More manual steps or varied input types typically increase development time and maintenance.
Level of AI deployment
What AI functionality is required?
Business rules
Assess the number, complexity, and stability of business rules applied within the process. Complex and frequently changing rules will require more build time.
Integrations
What integrations with external systems, databases, or APIs are required? More complex integrations may need more input from your IT team.
Prioritizing processes for automation enables fast wins, builds internal momentum, and sets the foundation for a scalable automation roadmap. By evaluating candidates through the lenses of impact, readiness, and complexity, you’ll launch automation initiatives with confidence and realize value sooner.
