There are certain turns of phrase that a committed RINGKNOCKER has heard dozens of times. We support our shipmates, obviously: it’s our mantra. But here’s another one, which I say every time I introduce myself to the group: I build machines that help people make better decisions.

When you do that kind of thing at industrial scales, it helps if you can do it with off-the-shelf parts. So process automation is a field I follow closely: new tools are always under development, and the entire technology base turns over once every few years. You have to run flat out just to keep up.

All of which is to explain why I’m so excited to present this week’s guest speaker!

RINGKNOCKER Sponsor Chris Bugg (USNA ’96) is a former fighter pilot with a long history in technology sales. He recently took charge of the financial services vertical at Decisions.com, which—to my extremely skeptical professional eye—is probably the process automation platform to watch for the next few years at least.

So… what is process automation? Partially, it’s about doing more with less. People-based processes don’t scale well, but a solid automated process that runs well at 1x can easily scale to 100x and beyond. RINGKNOCKER itself is a great example: the entire enterprise consists of three people—two of them part-time—and a bunch of automation. It’s a huge force multiplier.

But there’s more to it than that. We all understand that a sharp focus on process over outcome tends to produce better outcomes. Encoding a business process into automation brings to bear the entire arsenal of software engineering practice: versioning, dashboards, key performance indicators, etc. When you put your process out there where everybody can see it, you get a better process, and it’s a small step from a better process to a better outcome and a more profitable enterprise. Solid process automation is often the highest-ROI decision a growing business can make.

This week’s talk will focus on the use cases for process automation in business. Chris is bringing along a few other RINGKNOCKERs who have experience with the tools of the trade, from both the customer and the implementer perspective. There are opportunities on both sides! Sure, automation can help you scale your business. But the implementation of automation is something many RINGKNOCKERs have a knack for, so we’ll also explore what it takes to get going on that end of the field.

Expect to come away from this week’s talk with a head full of new ideas and opportunities. DON’T MISS THIS ONE!