Proto Software

Proven
The process delivers proven value to your business, and the results are relied upon for ongoing operations.

Repetitive
The process is recurring and must be completed daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Additionally it may be necessary to create multiple versions of the outputs for different audiences, time periods, client accounts, etc.

Multiple Data Sets
The process relies on combining data that exists in more than one, but only a few places. The data sources could include values that a user has to input, a daily CSV or Excel file, a database query, etc. Scrubbing 200 Excel files every day is not a good Proto use case.

Manual Steps
The process requires manual steps such as copying and pasting data, adjusting formulas, typing over incorrect values, rerunning queries, etc.

Requires a Human Touch
The process is unlikely to ever be fully automated because user discretion is required to clean source data, categorize results or interactively analyze and explore results.

Time consuming
The process is time consuming due to the manual operations, and on average takes at least 2-5 hours per week to complete (i.e. - 60 minutes a day, 8 hours at month end, etc.)

Errors are Unacceptable
Errors in results are costly or unacceptable.

Process Needs to be Institutionalized
A combination of local knowledge and a complex manual process make it difficult to document and pass ownership of a process between employees. If multiple people or departments carry out the same process, there is concern that the results are not generated using a standard methodology.

Results Need to be Interactive
The results are currently static and would benefit from a more dynamic environment. Examples include picking a new date range for a report, drilling down to details, scenario or sensitivity analysis, visual data mining, etc.