Process Automation Maturity · RPA and Hyperautomation
Your automation portfolio, scored by theme and turned into a roadmap.
10 themes, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
Process Automation Maturity · RPA and Hyperautomation
10 themes, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One Process Automation Maturity Framework (RPA, orchestration, hyperautomation) assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
It is this mechanism, one level, the level above, and the action linking the two, that turns a finding into a trajectory.
Are the expected gains from an automation measured after it goes live?
- N1
No gains are measured. Value is estimated before launch and never revisited afterwards.
- N2
A few measurements exist for the most visible automations, done on request and using varying calculation methods.
- N3
A value indicator is defined for each automation put into production and tracked on a set schedule.
- N4
Observed gains are compared against forecast gains, the gap is analysed, and maintenance cost is factored into the calculation.
- N5
Measurement feeds portfolio decisions: automations with no proven value are changed or retired, and qualification criteria are adjusted accordingly.
Action to move from L2 to L3
Define a single value indicator and its calculation method, make it a mandatory field on the go-live form, and track figures for the whole portfolio at the monthly automation committee.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurementon RPA.
What this framework covers
Process automation covers several distinct approaches that usage tends to blur together. RPA has a software robot execute repetitive tasks on existing interfaces, without altering the underlying applications. Orchestration coordinates chains of human and automated tasks across an entire process. Hyperautomation adds process discovery, document reading, rules engines and AI models to handle unstructured cases. A maturity framework assesses how the organisation identifies candidates, builds, runs, monitors and retires its automations, and the value it actually derives from them.
The difficulty is not building a first robot. It appears when moving from prototype to portfolio. How many automations are running in production today, and who owns them? What happens when the target application changes screen or version: is the robot fixed within hours, or does it stay down for weeks? Is the value promised in the business case measured after go-live, or does no one ever revisit it? These three questions separate organisations that steer their automation from those that simply accumulate robots.
A recent shift is moving the centre of gravity. Low-code platforms and generative assistants put automation-building in the hands of business teams, outside IT’s control. At the same time, agents built on language models promise to handle the variable cases that resisted rules. Two practical consequences follow: the scope to govern widens to automations no one has inventoried, and the question of controlling decisions made by a model enters the automation remit, with requirements for traceability and human oversight.
One common confusion is worth clearing up: automating is not the same as improving. A poorly designed process, automated as is, produces its flaws faster and at greater scale. The assessment therefore distinguishes the technical capacity to automate from the capacity to select what deserves it, which requires documented process knowledge, a candidate qualification method, and alignment with existing improvement initiatives.
The framework is ready to use in Datamensio and adapts to your context. AI can adjust the themes, rephrase questions in your internal vocabulary, refine the maturity levels, or build a variant from your own documents: centre of excellence charter, automation catalogue, development standards.
Reference standard: Process Automation Maturity Framework (RPA, orchestration, hyperautomation)
The themes assessed
Strategy and alignment
Existence of a formalised ambition, alignment with the transformation programme, trade-off between tactical automation and process redesign, multi-year target.
Governance and operating model
Centre of excellence or decentralised operation, roles and responsibilities, arbitration committee, rules applicable to automations built by business teams.
Candidate identification and qualification
Identification sources, tool-based or declarative process discovery, selection criteria, business case analysis before commitment, pipeline prioritisation.
Process knowledge and preparation
Documentation of target processes, prior simplification, handling of exceptions and variants, alignment with continuous improvement initiatives.
Design and development
Development standards, component reuse, version control, test environments, code review, documentation delivered with the automation.
Operations and monitoring
Execution scheduling, failure monitoring, time to restore service, management of impactful application changes, manual fallback plan.
Security and access control
Technical accounts and secrets management, robot permissions, action traceability, segregation of duties, compliance with internal control rules.
Technology and integration
Platforms in place, use of APIs rather than the interface, document reading, rules engines, integration of AI models and the associated level of human oversight.
Skills and change management
Team upskilling, support for staff whose roles change, communication on objectives, buy-in from business teams.
Value measurement and improvement
Indicators tracked, measurement of gains after go-live, total cost of ownership, decision to retire obsolete automations, lessons learned captured.
A short version of the framework is available for the online self-assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Does this assessment lead to a certification?
No. No body certifies process automation maturity. The assessment measures the real level of your practices and produces a progression roadmap. It is a transformation steering tool, not a credential.
How is this different from a compliance audit?
An audit checks whether requirements are met and concludes compliant or non-compliant. The maturity assessment places each practice on a progressive scale and points to the action that moves it up a level. The output is not a finding, it is a costed trajectory.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version takes 20 to 30 minutes for a manager familiar with the portfolio. The full version, run collaboratively with IT, business teams and finance, typically spans one to two weeks, most of the time going into data gathering.
Does the framework work if we only have a handful of robots?
Yes. Levels 1 and 2 describe start-up and experimentation situations in detail. The assessment then helps frame the move to scale before the portfolio becomes hard to maintain.
Can the framework be adapted to our context?
Yes. You can change the questions, levels and themes, or start from your own documents: AI then builds a variant aligned with your vocabulary and operating model. You keep full control of the framework.
How do we compare several business units?
Each entity takes the same framework and gets its score by theme. The benchmark compares entities against each other and against their own previous assessments. A cross-entity roadmap consolidates action plans where gaps are shared.
Are AI-based automations covered?
Yes. The technology and integration theme assesses the use of models to handle unstructured cases, along with decision traceability and the level of human oversight in place.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, backed up at Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European providers.