Business analysis and technology roadmaps
Before anything is automated, someone has to understand how the work actually runs, what it costs and what should change first. Our business analysts map your processes with the people who do them, measure a baseline, and turn the findings into a ranked pipeline and a technology roadmap you can fund and deliver.
What we do
Business analysis is the discovery work that makes automation and AI projects succeed or fail. We sit with the teams who run a process, document each step as it really happens rather than as the procedure says, and record the volumes, hand-offs, exceptions and systems involved. The result is a process map everyone recognises and a measured baseline: cycle time, error rate, rework and cost per transaction.
A technology roadmap takes that analysis further. It sets out which processes to automate, which systems to replace, integrate or secure, and in what order, with the return, effort and risk of each stated plainly. It gives your leadership team a sequence of funded, measurable steps instead of a wish list, and it gives delivery teams, ours or yours, a clear brief for each one.
What you get
Process maps people recognise
Drawn with the staff who do the work, including the workarounds and exceptions that never made it into the procedure manual.
A measured baseline
Cycle time, volumes, error and rework rates and cost per transaction, so every later result can be reported against a real starting point.
A ranked pipeline
Automation candidates scored on return, effort and risk, with the first build agreed and the platform choice for each explained.
A roadmap you can fund
A sequence of steps over 12 to 24 months, each with its business owner, dependencies, cost range and the measure that will show it worked.
When to bring us in
Business analysis and roadmapping fit at the moments when a decision is about to be made:
Before an automation programme
You know there is manual work to remove but not where to start, or you have a long list of ideas and no way to compare them.
Before a system change
A core platform is being upgraded or replaced and you need the real processes documented before requirements are written.
When a pilot needs to scale
One automation worked. The roadmap sets out how the pattern extends across the business and what has to change to support it.
When AI is on the agenda
Leadership wants an AI plan. We separate the processes where AI agents will pay off from those that need a robot, a workflow or a policy change.
For a fractional CTO engagement
The roadmap is the working document of our fractional CTO service, reviewed and updated as each step lands.
When a vendor is pitching
An independent view of whether a proposed platform fits your processes, or whether the problem is the process itself.
How we work
Discover
Workshops and desk-side sessions with the people who run the process. We map each step, record volumes and exceptions, and collect the measures for the baseline.
Analyse
We identify where time and errors concentrate, which steps are rule-based and which need judgement, and what the systems involved will and will not allow.
Prioritise
Candidates are scored on return, effort and risk. We agree the first build with you and set out the platform choice for each candidate with the reasons.
Roadmap
The pipeline becomes a sequenced plan with owners, dependencies, cost ranges and the measure for each step, presented to your leadership team.
Review
As each step is delivered, results are reported against the baseline and the roadmap is updated, so it stays a working plan rather than a report on a shelf.
Our work
Craigs Investment Partners
A closed trading platform with no APIs turned into one guided adviser experience, returning 40,000 hours a year to client-facing work.
40k adviser hours returned a year
Contact Energy
From more than 45 enterprise automations to repeatable, automated regression testing for a major SAP upgrade.
43k+ tasks automated every month
Why Flex Consulting
We are a New Zealand automation consultancy with more than 150 projects delivered across over 15 industries, for organisations including Foodstuffs North Island, SkyCity, Craigs Investment Partners, Contact Energy, Chorus, the University of Auckland and Mercury.
Every engagement starts with a free, no-obligation consultation to find your highest-return candidates, followed by a pilot you can measure before you commit to scaling.
Questions we are asked
How long does a business analysis engagement take?
A single process is usually mapped and measured in two to three weeks. A roadmap across a department or business typically takes six to eight weeks, depending on how many processes and systems are in scope.
Do we have to automate with Flex afterwards?
No. The process maps, baseline and roadmap are yours, written so that any delivery team can work from them. Many clients do go on to build with us, but the analysis stands on its own.
What does a technology roadmap include?
A sequenced plan of what to automate, replace, integrate or secure, with each step scored on return, effort and risk and given a business owner, a cost range, its dependencies and the measure that will show it worked.
Can you work with our own business analysts?
Yes. We often pair with in-house analysts, bringing the automation and AI experience while they bring the knowledge of the business, and we leave the method and templates with them.
Start with the process that costs you most
Bring the process everyone complains about. In a free consultation we will tell you what a short analysis would cover, how long it would take and what you would have at the end of it.