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# Configure pre-automation time

> Learn how to set pre-automation time in Studio to calculate time saved and demonstrate ROI.

**Beta:** Insights is currently in beta. Share your feedback with your Customer Success Manager (CSM) to help us improve.

Pre-automation time is the estimated time required to perform a workflow's tasks manually without automation. Setting this value enables Insights to calculate time saved and demonstrate ROI.

## Why pre-automation time matters

Pre-automation time is essential for:

* **Calculating time saved:** Insights uses pre-automation time to quantify the manual effort your automation eliminates
* **Demonstrating ROI:** Time saved metrics help justify automation investments to stakeholders
* **Executive reporting:** Pre-automation time enables concrete business value metrics in summary dashboards

## Set pre-automation time in Studio

### Before you begin

* You must have permission to edit workflows in Studio
* Consider estimating pre-automation time for your most frequently executed workflows first
* Gather information about manual process times from team members who performed tasks before automation

### Configure pre-automation time

#### Open Studio

Open **Studio**

#### Open the workflow

Open the workflow that you would like to set pre-automation time for

#### Access workflow metadata

Click the vertical ellipses (⋮) to open the secondary actions menu and select **View Metadata**

#### Set and save

Set the **Pre-Automation Time** using the time wheel and click **Save**

## Best practices for estimating pre-automation time

### Be realistic and consistent

Estimate the time an experienced team member would need to complete the workflow's tasks manually. Don't underestimate to make ROI look better - accurate estimates build stakeholder trust.

### Consider the complete process

Include time for:

* Gathering necessary information
* Accessing required systems
* Performing each task
* Verifying completion
* Handling typical issues or retries
* Documentation or logging

## Example estimates

Here are example pre-automation times for common workflow types. These are examples only. Your estimates should reflect your organization's specific processes and environments.

| Workflow Type               | Estimated Manual Time | Manual steps                                                          |
| --------------------------- | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Simple device configuration | 10-15 minutes         | Login to device, apply config, verify, document                       |
| Customer provisioning       | 45-60 minutes         | Multiple system access, coordination, verification steps              |
| Network change deployment   | 2-4 hours             | Planning, change window coordination, execution, rollback preparation |

## Updating pre-automation time

When you update pre-automation time in Studio, only new jobs executed after the change will use the updated value. Jobs that have already completed will continue to use the previous pre-automation time value (or none, if it wasn't set previously).

**Implications:**

* After updating pre-automation time, time saved calculations will gradually reflect the new value as new jobs execute
* Historical jobs will not be recalculated
* If you're correcting a significantly inaccurate estimate, consider noting the change date for context when reviewing historical metrics

## View pre-automation time in Insights

You can see which workflows have pre-automation time configured:

**Summary Dashboard - Workflow Highlights table:**

* The Pre-automation Time column shows the value from the most recent job
* Filter by Missing Pre-Automation Time to identify workflows that need configuration

**At-a-Glance metrics - Time Saved:**

* The Time Saved metric seen in the Summary Dashboard and Workflow Details is based on the pre-automation time set in Studio
* The Time Saved metric displays warnings if pre-automation configurations are missing

### If pre-automation time is not set

When pre-automation time is not configured for a workflow:

* Time saved metric displays as empty ("`--`") for that workflow
* The workflow appears when filtering by **Missing Pre-Automation Time**
* A **Set Time** link appears in the **Pre-automation time** column, directing you to Studio to configure the value
* All other metrics (completion rate, runtime, job counts) display normally

## Should I set pre-automation time for child workflows?

Yes, configure pre-automation time for both root workflows and child workflows. Setting pre-automation time comprehensively provides accurate time saved calculations at all levels of your workflow hierarchy.

A child job's pre-automation time does not impact the time saved calculation for its parent root job. Time saved for root jobs is calculated solely from the root workflow's pre-automation time. Configure pre-automation time for child workflows to track their individual value independently.

> Learn how to set pre-automation time in Studio to calculate time saved and demonstrate ROI.