François Rouhban

To assess the automation implementation complexity, the automation feasibility should be estimated.

Computerization

To estimate the degree of computerization of the process, the following exploratory questions can be asked:

• Are the tasks today done manually?
• Is data readable electronically (Excel, Word, email, XML, PDF)?
• Is data stored on a machine [server, laptop, IoT devices]
• What is the % of digital data?
• Is there any of digital input scanned?

Stability

To estimate the degree of stability of the process, the following exploratory questions can be asked:

• How will the process change in the next 6 months?
  • Regulation changes that are upcoming and could change the rules of the process.
  • Organizational changes that could re-distribute the roles between different departments.
  • Industry changes that could shift the business model and hence the logic of the process.
• How will the systems change in the next 6 months?
  • Applications,
  • Interfaces,
  • In-app menus,
  • Reports.

Data structure

To estimate the data structure of the process, the following exploratory questions can be asked:

• What are the data inputs & and outputs?
• Are the data structured?
  • Structured data:
    • Has a predictable format, exists in fixed fields, and is easily detectable via search algorithms.
    • Examples: an Excel cell or a field in a form or tables with fixed structure, and databases where information can easily be extracted through a search function.
  • Unstructured data:
    • May have its internal structure, but this is not highly predictable.
    • Examples: weblogs, multimedia content, customer service interactions, and social media data.
• What % of input/output structured/unstructured data?

Data	Input	Output
Structured
Unstructured

In summary, the automation feasibility can be estimated by questioning the computerization, the stability and the data strucutre of the process.

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