Automation ROI Calculator
Automation ROI Calculator

Build the business case for IT automation.

Model your operational workload, the capacity automation could release, and what it costs to build and run. The result is a net position and a payback period — not a gross saving. Every assumption is an input you control, and the calculator states what it cannot know.

1 · Your IT operational categories

Defaults describe an illustrative mid-size estate of roughly 15 FTE. Replace them with your own numbers — the result is only as good as these are.

Category Monthly volume ? Effort ? FTE allocated ? Automation potential ? Containment ? Blended cost ?

When enabled, Advanced becomes the source for FTE and cost. Those fields lock as “Calculated from Advanced.” Turn it off to return to editable blended assumptions.

GeographyTeam / roleFTE / headcountAllocation %Allocated categoryCost / hour
Advanced changes will update the top table when enabled.

2 · What it costs to build and run

An ROI figure with no investment side is a gross benefit, not a return. These defaults are placeholders — replace them with your own.

Applied to every cost field and result. Enter all costs in the same currency.
use cases
Across all selected categories, in the first phase.
person-days
Discovery, build, test, security review and go-live. Include the process documentation work if it is not already done.
USD / day
Whoever does the building — internal cost or partner rate.
USD / year
Automation platform, connectors, AI usage and any per-execution charges.
%
Automations break when the systems around them change. 15–25% of build cost per year is a common planning figure.
%
Human time retained on successfully automated items — monitoring, verification, handling the edge cases the automation flags.
%
Benefit is not available on day one. This is the share of run-rate benefit realised across the first twelve months.

3 · Service improvement context ?

Cost is one part of the case. Add the baselines you know so the result can discuss service outcomes without inventing benefits.

to
Used only to calculate the resolution-time improvement you are targeting.
to
Shows the service-level gap. It does not promise an outcome.
%
Establishes the quality baseline automation could be measured against.
%
Shows current standardisation. Undocumented work is the usual reason build estimates overrun.
Used to describe reuse scope only when you provide it.
Your automation ROI position

Modelled net position and payback

—Year-one net position, after build and run cost
—Payback period
—Three-year cumulative net
—Annual hours released at run rate, after containment and overhead
—Gross annual value of released capacity
—FTE-equivalent, spread across teams

Where the value sits

From gross to net

Service improvement findings

What this model does not include

  • Change management, training and the adoption effort needed for people to use the automation.
  • Integration or remediation work in the systems being automated, where APIs or data are not ready.
  • Contractual constraints — outsourced towers where released capacity does not convert to cost.
  • Risk cost: the incidents an automation can cause, and the controls needed to prevent them.
  • Any benefit beyond released handling time, such as faster resolution or reduced error rate.