What:
Add a configurable Time Saved field to Scripted Actions, and ideally to other task types, allowing administrators to define how much manual effort (in minutes) a successful automation execution replaces.
Value:
This would enable customers to quantify the real business impact of automation in terms of:
- labor hours saved
- operational efficiency gained
- estimated cost savings
It would give administrators a defensible way to demonstrate ROI, justify automation investments, and communicate value to leadership.
How it should work:
When creating or editing a Scripted Action, allow the admin to define an estimated time savings value, such as:
- 5 minutes
- 15 minutes
- 60 minutes
When the Scripted Action runs, Nerdio calculates total time saved based on successful executions only.
Example:
If a Scripted Action replaces a 60-minute manual process and runs successfully on 40 session hosts, Nerdio could report:
- 40 hours saved
Suggested reporting outputs:
- Time saved per Scripted Action
- Time saved per Host Pool
- Time saved per Workspace
- Time saved over a selected date range
- Estimated cost savings (optional labor rate input)
Critical accuracy requirement:
This metric is only meaningful if success vs failure is reliable and intentional.
To ensure accuracy, Scripted Actions should follow a predictable pattern where:
- Scripts assume failure by default
- Scripts explicitly validate success criteria
- Scripts only return Success when those criteria are met
- Otherwise, scripts intentionally return or throw a Failed outcome
In practice, this is straightforward to implement and aligns well with how robust scripts are typically written. For example:
- Validate before/after state (e.g., application presence in appwiz.cpl)
- Confirm registry value changes
- Verify file existence and/or Windows service state
- Combine multiple checks to determine a true success condition
This approach ensures that:
- Success = meaningful, validated outcome
- Failure = actionable signal (not noise)
Important note:
Only successful executions should contribute to Time Saved calculations.
Failed executions should be excluded from savings metrics but remain available for:
- troubleshooting
- script improvement
- reviewing output (especially when paired with a “Result” field)
This distinction is critical to maintaining trust in the reported data.
Why this matters:
Nerdio already tracks when tasks run, where they run, and whether they succeed. However, without a way to attach meaning to those executions, it is difficult to translate activity into measurable business impact.
Adding a Time Saved metric—grounded in reliable success validation—turns operational data into something that can be:
- measured
- trusted
- communicated
Dependency / related request:
This feature becomes significantly more valuable when paired with:
- an aggregated Scripted Action runtime view by scope
- a Result/output field for task execution
Together, these would provide both quantitative (time saved) and qualitative (what actually happened) insight into automation.
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