Does Not Compute

Routine decisions tend to be the best candidates for automation. "It frees up your people to do more sophisticated kinds of thinking and higher- level exercises, and allows you to put your resources in places that are going to provide you more value," says Leslee Gault, president of Teradata, a division of NCR Corp., a technology company based in Dayton, Ohio.

Decision automation is less effective if:

• There isn't enough reliable data.
• The criteria aren't clearly defined and quantified.
• The decision isn't made often enough to warrant the investment.
• People don't trust that the decision can be reduced to a formula.