Automation Consulting for SMEs
We analyze your processes, run an honest cost-benefit assessment and deliver a roadmap your team can actually execute.
What we deliver
Automation consulting is the systematic analysis of business processes to identify automation potential, weigh it against implementation effort, and turn the result into a roadmap you can execute. Blck Alpaca offers this consulting to small and mid-sized companies in Vienna, Austria and the wider DACH region. The outcome is a basis for decisions: which processes to automate, which to leave alone, and in what order.
Consulting before tools
The most expensive mistake in automation projects happens before any tool is chosen. Automate an unclear process and you get the same chaos, only faster. That is why every engagement starts with process mapping: who does what, in which systems, how often, and where delays and errors creep in. Only then do we talk about technology.
The second half is an honest calculation. A process that runs rarely and costs little time stays manual, even if automating it would be technically elegant. This is what separates consulting from sales: tool vendors need you to adopt their product. We need the project to pay off for you.
What you take away
You leave with a working document, not a slide deck: a map of the analyzed processes with the biggest time sinks, an effort-versus-benefit rating for each one, a roadmap with a clear sequence from quick pilot to larger rebuilds, and an architecture recommendation covering systems, data flows and hosting.
Consulting and implementation, cleanly separated
We consult regardless of whether you build with us. If your team implements internally, the roadmap is written so they can work from it directly. If you hand the build to us, the same people who did the analysis take over, from classic workflow automation with n8n to AI agent integration for processes that involve documents and natural language.
AI for mid-sized companies, without the label
A growing share of requests is about AI. Our position is sober: language models are strong where unstructured data piles up, in emails, PDFs, quotes and free-text forms. Anything that follows fixed if-then logic belongs in a classic workflow, which runs cheaper and is easier to maintain. In consulting we make that call per process instead of stamping AI on everything.
GDPR and infrastructure you control
Automation means business data flowing through systems, often personal data too. We work GDPR-conscious and prefer self-hosted and EU tools where it makes sense: n8n on our own infrastructure, PostgreSQL and NocoDB for data storage. Which data a process touches, and where it goes, is settled during the analysis, not as a footnote afterwards.
The next step
Pick two or three workflows that eat the most time in your week. Send them via our contact page and we will tell you in a free initial consultation whether automation is realistic there and where to start.
The Challenge
Many mid-sized companies know they lose time in their workflows, but not where automation actually pays off. Tool vendors do not advise neutrally, they sell their own software. The result is a patchwork of point solutions nobody maintains, while the real time sinks stay untouched.
Our Solution
We look at your processes before we talk about tools. You get a rating of each process by effort and benefit, a clear recommendation for every one of them, and on request the implementation with n8n on infrastructure you control. Where automation does not pay off, we say so just as plainly.
Use Cases
Quote and order processing
Requests arriving as emails and PDFs are captured in structured form and pushed into ERP or CRM instead of being retyped by hand.
Lead qualification
Incoming inquiries are enriched, scored and routed to the right person automatically, before they age in an inbox.
Cross-system reporting
KPIs from several tools flow into one report automatically, without a morning of copy and paste.
Document triage
Invoices, receipts and contracts are classified, named and filed in the right system, including reminders for deadlines.
Our Process
Initial consultation and goals
In a free call we clarify which processes bother you, which systems are in place and whether consulting is the right next step at all.
Process mapping
We document the relevant workflows with the people who run them daily: steps, systems, data flows, edge cases.
Assessment and roadmap
Every process gets an effort-versus-benefit rating. The result is a prioritized roadmap with an architecture recommendation.
Pilot
One process gets implemented and tested in daily operations. The pilot shows whether the assumptions from the analysis hold in practice.
Handover and expansion
You decide how to continue: internal implementation based on the roadmap, further processes with us, or both. Documentation is always included.
Initial consultation and goals
In a free call we clarify which processes bother you, which systems are in place and whether consulting is the right next step at all.
Process mapping
We document the relevant workflows with the people who run them daily: steps, systems, data flows, edge cases.
Assessment and roadmap
Every process gets an effort-versus-benefit rating. The result is a prioritized roadmap with an architecture recommendation.
Pilot
One process gets implemented and tested in daily operations. The pilot shows whether the assumptions from the analysis hold in practice.
Handover and expansion
You decide how to continue: internal implementation based on the roadmap, further processes with us, or both. Documentation is always included.
Technologies & Methodology
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers about Automation Consulting for SMEs
Allgemein
1What does our company need to bring?
Preise
1What does the consulting cost?
Ablauf
2How does your automation consulting work?
How quickly will we see first results?
Compliance
1How do you handle GDPR and data protection?
Related Services
Ready for the next step?
Let's discuss how we can customize this service for your business.