Home topics workplace Chris Ellis, Manager of Technical Evangelism, Nintex Expert Workplace Expert Finding the ‘sweet-spot’ in process automation Chris Ellis October 9, 2019 When an organisation embarks on a process automation journey, a fundamental question quickly arises: exactly where do you start? With hundreds (or even thousands) of processes already in place, the idea of automating them can seem rather daunting. Another challenge stems from the fact that all the existing processes might not be working as effectively as they should. Automating a broken or inefficient process won’t add value, and could actually make things worse. Before any transformation work begins, it’s important to understand the three types of processes that exist within organisations. By focusing efforts on the right ones, an organisation can achieve maximum return on the investment made in the shortest possible time. All processes at work within organisations can be grouped in three ways, and each group has its own criteria and level of impact on operations. The groups are: Moon-shot processes These processes are large and often abstract problems that are challenging for many different organisations and even entire industries. Because they are so challenging, there is a very high return on investment possible if they can be solved.However, because these problems are so broad, they are very difficult to tackle and any success is far from guaranteed. Usually, it’s large consulting and technology firms that have the resources to dedicate to finding ways to improve or redesign such processes. Examples of moon-shot processes