Do You Really Need an Internal Automation Team? The Business Case for Managed Automation Services
IN SUMMARY
As more Australian businesses become more serious about automation, an important question always comes up:
Who is going to manage our business automation?
Building an internal automation team is one option. Bringing in consultants project by project is another. But both can introduce significant cost, resourcing requirements and complexity.
However, there is another model.
In this article, we explore how managed automation services can give your business access to dedicated automation capability without building an entire internal function, including:
- why automation needs ongoing management after implementation
- the true cost of recruiting and maintaining specialist internal resources
- how a remote automation team can work alongside your existing people
- why more consultants and more seats don’t automatically create more value
- how continuity helps automation become more effective over time
- why automation ROI can extend beyond direct labour savings into headcount optimisation, reduced operational risk and reputational protection
The key point here is simple:
You don’t need to build an automation department to build strong automation capability.
You need the right expertise, continuity and support around your business as automation grows.
Read the full article below.
Managing business automation doesn’t stop once the workflow goes live
Getting automation up and running successfully is an important milestone for your business.
But it’s not the end of the journey.
Processes change, systems get updated, business requirements evolve, bottlenecks emerge and new opportunities appear.
That means someone still needs to:
- monitor automations
- maintain workflows
- manage changes
- resolve issues
- identify where automation could create further value
This is something we regularly see businesses underestimate.
They’re so focused on who will build the business automation system without considering who will own, manage and improve it over time.
Business automation isn’t simply a technology project.
Over time, it becomes an ongoing business capability.
And once you look at it that way, the automation resourcing question becomes much more important.
Building an internal automation team comes with a bigger cost than just salaries alone
One option is to build your business automation capability internally.
For some organisations with significant and constant automation requirements, that can make sense.
But it involves more than employing a developer.
There’s recruitment, salaries, management, training, upskilling and the challenge of retaining specialist knowledge as technologies and business requirements change.
You also need enough consistent automation work to justify carrying that capability permanently.
There’s also the question of breadth.
Automation can touch many systems, platforms and processes. The expertise required for one workflow may be different for the next.
That’s why, at CiGen, we believe it’s less about asking how you can hire an internal automation team and more about asking:
“What automation capability does our business need,
and what’s the most commercially efficient way to access it?”
More people inside your business doesn’t automatically mean better automation
The alternative to hiring internally has traditionally been consulting, and there are situations where larger consulting teams make sense.
But we’ve also seen businesses end up with multiple people embedded onsite, creating complex management processes and ongoing fees tied to the number of resources allocated.
This can create its own inefficiencies:
- repeated handovers
- fragmented knowledge
- unnecessary layers of communication
- additional internal coordination
- increasing costs as more resources become involved
- paying for ongoing seats rather than the work that’s actually being done
At CiGen, we’ve deliberately built a different managed automation services model for Australian organisations.
Our business automation team works remotely and liaises directly with the people inside your organisation who need to be involved.
Because we don’t believe successful automation requires flooding a business with additional seats.
The goal isn’t to place more people into your organisation. It’s to get more productivity and value out of how your organisation already operates.
That keeps the focus where it belongs: on business automation outcomes, efficiencies and ROI.
What does having CiGen as your business automation partner actually look like?
A managed automation model gives your business another option.
Rather than employing an entire specialist function internally or repeatedly bringing in consultants,
an automation partner operates as an extension of your team.
At CiGen, we typically work with a key internal champion who understands your organisation’s priorities and connects us with relevant stakeholders as required.
We then provide the specialist automation capability around them.
Depending on your organisation, that can include:
- assessing automation opportunities
- designing and building workflows
- maintaining existing automation
- troubleshooting and managing changes
- working alongside your internal IT team
- identifying and expanding further opportunities
Because most of that capability can be delivered remotely, your business doesn’t need to absorb a large external team into your day-to-day operations.
Business automation ROI isn’t only about reducing the hours spent on a task
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make when assessing automation is looking at ROI too narrowly.
Yes, direct productivity savings matter. If business automation reduces time spent on repetitive tasks, there’s a measurable benefit.
But the commercial impact can go further.
Natural employee attrition can become an opportunity.
Automation doesn’t have to mean removing people from your business.
People leave. Roles change. Teams restructure and employees move departments.
When that happens, automation can reduce the pressure to automatically replace every role.
Instead, you can question how much of the work needs to remain manual and where your existing people could create more value.
The ROI isn’t fewer people. It’s needing fewer people to perform low-value
work as your organisation naturally evolves.
Better automation can also reduce business risk
Productivity is only one side of the automation equation.
Manual processes naturally introduce risk.
When important activities rely on people remembering steps, repeatedly entering data or manually transferring information, there’s more opportunity for human error.
Automation can bring greater consistency to those workflows.
That can reduce operational risk and, in some cases, reputational risk too.
Errors that reach customers, partners or other stakeholders can damage trust in your organisation.
Reducing preventable process failures isn’t just an efficiency gain.
It can also help protect your organisation’s reputation.
Continuity makes business automation more valuable over time
Another advantage of having the same automation team working alongside your organisation is that context builds on itself.
Over time, we learn:
- how your system operates
- where bottlenecks occur
- what has already been automated
- why previous decisions were made
If new business automation consultants need to rediscover your environment each time something changes, time and money are spent rebuilding that context.
With continuity, your automation partner already understands the environment they’re working within.
The more we understand your business, the easier it becomes to identify what should happen next.
That helps business automation become an ongoing capability, rather than a series of disconnected projects.
The real commercial question is capability versus overhead
Ultimately, the decision between internal hiring, traditional consulting and managed automation services isn’t purely a technology decision.
It’s a commercial one.
- An internal team creates fixed employment, management and training costs.
- A traditional consulting model can become expensive when large numbers of external resources remain embedded within your organisation.
- Managed services offer the right balance.
At CiGen, our remote model is designed to give Australian organisations access to specialist automation capability without increasing headcount or onsite footprint.
The return can appear through:
- reduced manual workload
- improved productivity
- greater capacity from existing teams
- less pressure to replace roles
- reduced operational and reputational risk
- scalable access to specialist expertise
You’re not just comparing the cost of automation with the cost of hiring. You’re comparing two different ways of building business automation capability.
With a remote automation partner, you’re creating a more practical path to long-term automation ROI.
Your business automation team doesn’t need to sit inside your business
There’s no one correct way to structure automation.
Some organisations build internal teams. Others use consultants on a project basis.
But there’s a practical third option: a dedicated business automation partner that works alongside your people and becomes part of your ongoing operational capability.
At CiGen, that’s how we approach managed automation services in Australia.
We believe in using the right automation expertise
to improve productivity, create capacity,
reduce risk and deliver measurable ROI.
Our objective is simple: to help your business operate better without creating unnecessary overhead around the solution.
FAQs about managed business automation services
No. In many cases, that’s exactly where our managed automation model can help.
We provide the specialist automation capability while working alongside your existing IT, operations and leadership teams. A key internal champion is valuable, but you don’t need to recruit and manage an entire automation function yourself.
No. Our model is deliberately different.
We work remotely and liaise with your team as required rather than embedding large numbers of people onsite. The focus is on providing the expertise and work your organisation needs without unnecessary additional overhead.
Not necessarily, but it can allow your organisation to go through normal employee attrition and internal movement without automatically replacing every role like-for-like.
If automation has removed repetitive work, existing employees can focus on more valuable activities and future recruitment decisions can reflect what the organisation now needs.
Yes. Automating appropriate processes can improve consistency and reduce reliance on repetitive manual actions, helping lower the risk of human error, missed steps and process failures. Depending on the workflow, that can also help reduce reputational risk.
Are you ready for CiGen to become your automation partner?
Building a sustainable automation capability doesn’t need to mean building an entire department around it.
At CiGen, we help Australian businesses plan, build, manage and scale automation around real operational requirements.
Our managed services give you ongoing access to specialist expertise while working closely with the people already inside your organisation.
You bring the business knowledge and strategic priorities. We bring the automation capability.
The result is a model designed to improve productivity, create capacity, reduce operational risk and generate stronger long-term ROI without increasing internal headcount or flooding your workplace with additional resources.
If you’re exploring managed automation services in Australia and considering how your organisation should implement automation for the long term, talk to our team today about whether CiGen could become your dedicated automation partner.
+61 3 8618 6969
Looking forward to chatting soon!
Julian Pullen
Chief Revenue Officer
+61 421 209 752 | julian.pullen@cigen.com.au | calendly.com/julianpullen/30-minute-discovery-chat
AI Automation Solutions and Services
Level 4, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
cigen.com.au | Linkedin
