What to Consider Before Automating a Business Process
Automation sounds great in theory — fewer manual tasks, faster workflows, fewer mistakes. But before jumping in, it’s worth taking a step back to ask: what exactly should you automate? And how?
Here’s how we help businesses think through that decision — and some tips you can apply right now.
1. Start with the Pain Points
Automation should solve a problem, not create one. That’s why we always start by identifying where things are slowing down:
Are there tasks that are repeated daily or weekly?
Are mistakes happening because someone has to manually copy/paste data?
Are handoffs between systems or teams causing delays?
These are signs of automation-ready processes — things that are mature enough to work well, but inefficient enough to be costing you time and money.
2. Choose High-Impact, Low-Risk Wins First
Not every problem is worth automating right away. The sweet spot? Processes that are simple enough to automate quickly, but impactful enough to save time or reduce errors.
For example:
Syncing leads from a web form to your CRM
Sending invoices from your accounting tool based on task completion
Automatically archiving signed documents in the right folder
These small wins create momentum — and give you the confidence to automate more complex workflows later.
3. Map Out the Data Flow
Before anything gets built, we map out how data moves between systems:
Where does the data start?
What needs to happen to it (transformations, validations, rules)?
Where should it end up?
This step is crucial — it helps uncover hidden edge cases, conflicting formats, or missing fields. And it ensures that your automation won’t break the first time a weird input shows up.
4. Don’t Just Think About Building — Think About Maintenance
A lot of businesses get stuck with automations that “kind of work” but no one knows how to fix. That’s why we always ask:
Who will monitor the automations?
What happens when an integration fails?
How will you update it if your tools or processes change?
At Interlinked, we fully manage your integrations — so you don’t need to worry about any of that. But even if you’re building in-house, it’s worth planning for the long haul.
5. Keep the User Experience in Mind
Automation isn’t just about systems talking to each other — it’s about people having a smoother day at work. So we design automations that feel invisible and intuitive:
No extra steps for the team
Clear feedback when something succeeds or fails
Easy handover points between humans and software
This is where a thoughtful setup makes all the difference.
The Interlinked Way
We don’t just “build what you ask for.” We help you think through what’s worth automating — and then we design and run it for you. All behind the scenes, fully managed, and hosted on German servers for peace of mind.
If you’re thinking about automation but aren’t sure where to start, we’re here to talk it through.