Describe the work before looking for a provider
Start with a workflow that takes time from your team today. For example, receiving an inquiry, recording it and assigning a next action to someone. Choosing the company comes after you can explain that work.
- Input and output: What starts the process and which result makes it complete.
- Frequency and volume: How many cases are processed and when they peak. Say whether the number is measured or estimated.
- Tools and data: Where the information lives, who maintains it and what access can be authorized.
- Exceptions and ownership: Which cases fall outside the usual workflow and who decides how to handle them.
An existing tool, an integrator or custom development
Evaluate these options against the same problem. A provider may combine them, but should explain why each part is needed.
Configure an existing tool
This can make sense if your current system covers the workflow through its features or an available connector. Ask for a demonstration using your fields and rules. Confirm the plan, permissions and limits required.
Hire an integrator
This may fit when your tools already do their part and need to exchange information. Check the available actions, duplicate event detection and what happens when a connection fails.
Build a custom solution
Consider this when the rules, screens or connections you need are not covered. Ask for a bounded scope, stages you can verify and an explanation of who will be able to operate and modify the delivered system.
What to ask an automation company
A presentation or a technology list is not enough for comparison. Ask about the process and request evidence you can review.
- Relevant experience: What similar work have they implemented, and which part did they deliver? Ask for a case with inputs, work and outputs. Distinguish an illustrative demo from a client implementation.
- Integrations and access: What connection does each system need, and what if it is unavailable? Ask for the minimum permissions and who authorizes them. A pending integration should not be presented as verified.
- Exceptions and human oversight: What happens with missing data, duplicates or decisions requiring approval? Ask for examples and who receives each unresolved case.
- Testing and acceptance: Which cases will establish that it works? Ask for expected results and a clear acceptance criterion for each stage.
- Operation and failures: Who sees an error, how is it recovered and how do we avoid processing a case twice? Ask for the recovery workflow, not just a successful run.
- Access to the deliverables: Which documentation, data, configurations and code, where applicable, will be delivered? Agree in writing on the access and usage rights needed to keep operating.
- Support and changes: What does support include, and how are maintenance and new features priced? Clarify this before comparing the total.
Compare quotes against the same scope
Send the same process brief to each provider. If one quote includes historical data, several integrations and maintenance, while another only connects two steps, their totals describe different work.
- Initial work: Any additional discovery, configuration, development, integrations and launch work included in the proposal.
- Operating costs: Applicable licenses, service usage, hosting and maintenance. Ask what your business pays directly and what the provider invoices.
- Delivery conditions: Agreed stages, test examples, documentation, training and the person responsible for acceptance.
- Limits and dependencies: What is excluded, what needs third party access and how a scope change is quoted.
When a cost depends on volume or a third party, ask for the basis of the estimate. The initial price alone does not establish the cost of operating the workflow.
See what changes the budget and real examples of project scope
Ask for a test that includes what can fail
Agree on a small stage using representative examples and authorized test data. The demonstration should let you check each result and see what remains unresolved.
Illustrative example: an inquiry should create or update an opportunity and assign a task. Test a new inquiry, a repeated event and an interrupted CRM connection. Define the expected record, notification or review in each situation beforehand.
A demo shows a possible workflow. Accepting your implementation requires checking your tools, access and rules. Do not expand the scope solely because the first case worked.
When to consider ZaTek
ZaTek develops software and automation around business processes, with a focus on small businesses in Argentina. A conversation may help when work spans several tools or needs custom rules and you want to start with a bounded workflow.
These cases describe scopes published by ZaTek. They help you review what was implemented, without attributing unmeasured financial results or savings to them.
- Delma Group: Lead capture, enrichment and qualification, conversations and campaigns with an embeddable chatbot within one system.
- Effect Doctors London: Processing PDF and CSV files, structuring biomarkers and generating clinical PDF reports.
If a feature in your current tool meets the need, compare that option first. To evaluate a project with ZaTek, bring an example of the current work to the diagnostic call. Scope and conditions are confirmed for each project.
What to bring to the first conversation
A short brief keeps the conversation focused on the same problem. Prepare these details without sharing sensitive information the provider does not yet need.
- Current work: What the team does, which tools it uses and who owns the process.
- Volume and exceptions: Approximate frequency, usual cases and situations requiring review.
- Expected result: What you want to stop doing manually and which output should be ready.
- Conditions: Access restrictions, people available for validation and any timing or budget already established.
Choose a provider when you can explain what will be delivered, how you will verify it and how your team will operate it. If those answers remain open, ask for clarification before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a company that specializes in AI?
It depends on the task. A connection or a rule can handle repetitive work. If AI is proposed, ask what it interprets, how it is evaluated and which decisions require human review.
Does a demo mean it can already be implemented in my business?
No. Your actual tools, permissions, data and process exceptions need to be checked. An illustrative demo does not establish that these conditions are already resolved.
How do I compare a fixed price with a staged proposal?
Ask for the scope, deliverables and acceptance criteria for each stage. Separate initial work, operating costs and changes. Compare what is delivered and its conditions as well as the amount.
What if my process is not documented yet?
Start with a real case explained by the person doing the task. Gather the inputs, tools, output and known exceptions. Any discovery still needed should be identified in the proposal.