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The Automation Audit: a two-week, fixed-price first step.
Two weeks. One fixed price, agreed before we start. At the end, you hold a map of how your business runs, a prioritised plan and one automation you can see working. The plan is yours to keep, whoever builds it.
Who it suits
Owners and operations directors who know there is repeated manual work, but not where to start.
Businesses that want a plan with costs before committing to a build.
Teams that have tried off-the-shelf automation and hit its limits.
Anyone who has been quoted a large project and wants a second view.
It is not the right first step if a system is failing today. That is a job for Harden.
What happens in the two weeks
Week one: map
We sit with the people who do the work. We map your workflows step by step, the systems they run on, the data they use and the exceptions that break them. We look at where time goes, where errors come from and where work waits.
Week two: plan and prove
We rank the automation candidates by value, effort and risk, and we cost each option. Then we build one working proof of concept of the top candidate, on your real data. You see it work rather than read about it. We present the plan and walk through it with you.
What you get
- A map of your workflows, systems and data, including the exceptions.
- A prioritised automation plan: what to automate, in what order, and why.
- Costed options for each item in the plan.
- One working proof of concept of the top candidate.
- A written summary you can share with your team, your board or another supplier.
- A walkthrough call to answer questions and agree next steps.
The plan is yours to keep, whoever builds it.
Fixed price, agreed before we start
The Automation Audit has a fixed scope and a fixed price.
We agree both in writing, along with payment terms, before the first day. There is no hourly billing, and the price does not change once agreed. If we find during week one that automation is not the answer for you, we say so.
What happens next
After the audit, you choose.
Build with HAE.
Each item in the plan becomes a fixed-scope piece of work with its own price, and the proof of concept becomes the first piece.
Build it another way.
Your own team or another supplier can work from the plan. We will answer their questions.
Wait.
The plan still stands. Come back to it when the time is right.
FAQs
What do you need from us during the audit?
Time with the people who do the work, usually in short sessions, and read-only access to the systems involved where that is practical. We send a short list of what we need before the start.
Will you try to sell us a big project at the end?
No. The plan ranks options by value, effort and risk, and it includes doing nothing where that is the honest answer. You can act on it with us, with someone else, or not at all.
Is the proof of concept something we can use?
It is a working version of one automation on your real data, built to show that it works and what it involves. It is not yet the finished, supported system. If you go ahead, it becomes the first piece of the build.
Can the audit cover more than one department?
Yes, within the two weeks, and we agree the scope before we start. If the business is large, we may suggest starting with the area that has the most repeated work.
Two weeks to a plan you can act on.
Book a call to check the Automation Audit is the right first step for you. We reply within one working day.