Picture this: Your automation program has been running successfully for months. The C-suite is impressed with the results, and suddenly, there’s demand to scale fast. Three major departments want automation solutions, and your best RPA developer just put in their two weeks’ notice, and the CIO is asking for a five-year automation roadmap by next week.
Sound familiar?
In the rush to scale automation capabilities, many organizations find themselves building what we call “glass houses” impressive structures that
deliver tremendous value, but shatter at the first sign of pressure. The challenge isn’t just about adding more resources; it’s about creating systems that can flex without breaking.
When Traditional Scaling Methods Fall Short
Imagine you’re the head of an automation Centre of Excellence (CoE) at a manufacturing company. You’ve successfully automated invoice processing, reducing processing time by 70% and errors by 95%. The CFO is thrilled and now wants similar results for accounts receivable, inventory management, and supplier onboarding all within the next quarter.
Your immediate instinct might be to:
- Hire more automation developers (which takes months)
- Train existing staff (pulling them from current projects)
- Engage consultants (at premium rates with knowledge transfer concerns)
- Delay some initiatives (disappointing stakeholders)
None of these approaches truly solves the underlying problem: the need for flexible capacity that doesn’t compromise quality or create fragile dependencies.
Traditional scaling methods often fail because they treat automation talent as interchangeable components rather than specialized expertise. They create systems where knowledge becomes siloed, documentation remains incomplete, and processes depend heavily on specific individuals.
The Resource Scalability Paradox
Here’s the paradox many automation leaders face: you need specialized expertise to deliver high-quality automation, but specialization creates dependency and potential fragility.
Consider what happened at a consumer goods client we worked with. They built an impressive RPA program with ten developers, each responsible for different business domains. When their lead developer left unexpectedly, dozens of bots required rework because they used his unique coding approach. The entire automation program stalled for nearly three months.
This highlights a critical truth: In automation, how you scale is just as important as whether you scale.
The goal isn’t just more resources; it’s resilient resources that can expand and contract based on organizational needs without creating single points of failure.
Extended Workbench: A New Approach to Automation Resource Scaling
What if there was a middle path between building everything in-house (slow, expensive) and outsourcing completely (loss of control, knowledge gaps)?
That’s precisely what the Extended Workbench (EWB) model provides.
Think of EWB as having a dedicated automation “pit crew” that seamlessly integrates with your internal team.
Unlike traditional staff augmentation or project-based consulting, the Extended Workbench creates a hybrid model where:
- Specialized automation experts become extensions of your team
- Knowledge is systematically shared rather than siloed
- Resources can scale up or down based on project demands
- Governance and standards remain consistent
- Your organization maintains strategic control
How Extended Workbench Creates Flexibility Without Fragility
The fundamental difference between the Extended Workbench model and traditional scaling approaches is its focus on resilience, not just capacity.
Embedded Knowledge Transfer
In traditional consulting engagements, knowledge transfer is often treated as a distinct phase at the project’s end. By then, it’s too late; the most valuable insights have already been lost.
With Extended Workbench, knowledge sharing happens continuously through:
- Paired programming between internal and EWB team members
- Regular technical deep-dive sessions on solution architecture
- Collaborative problem-solving rather than siloed work
- Documented decision-making processes, not just technical documentation
Flexible Scaling Without Commitment Anxiety
Organizations often hesitate to scale because they fear creating permanent overhead. Extended Workbench addresses this by providing:
- Resources that scale up for implementation phases
- Reduced involvement during steady-state operations
- Ability to quickly scale up for new initiatives without recruitment delays
- No long-term commitments to specific staffing levels
Governance Without Gatekeeping
Many organizations struggle with the balance between governance (ensuring quality, security, and standards) and agility (delivering automation quickly).
The Extended Workbench model embeds governance experts who help establish guardrails without creating bottlenecks. They ensure:
- Security and compliance requirements are met from the start
- Coding standards are consistently applied
- Reusable components are identified and developed
- Technical debt is minimized through proper design
The Extended Workbench in Practice: Three Success Patterns
Over years of implementing the Extended Workbench model across industries, we’ve identified three patterns that deliver exceptional results:
Pattern 1: The Capability Accelerator
Organizations with established automation programs but limited specialized expertise benefit from targeted capability enhancement.
A manufacturing company with limited UiPath automation developers used an Extended Workbench to rapidly build automations. Rather than spending months learning through trial and error, they achieved production-ready solutions in weeks with UiPath developers from RPATech.
The key elements included:
- Skill gap analysis to identify specific capability needs
- Targeted Extended Workbench composition to address those gaps
- Focus on both implementation and knowledge transfer
- Gradual transition to internal ownership as capabilities mature
Pattern 2: The Scale Multiplier
Organizations with successful pilots but insufficient resources to scale benefit from rapid expansion capabilities.
A telecommunications company had successfully automated their customer onboarding process but lacked resources to extend this to their enterprise customer division. Using an Extended Workbench model, they scaled from 3 to 10 automation developers in under two weeks, maintaining consistent architecture and coding practices while dramatically accelerating delivery.
The approach included:
- Core team of internal leads defining standards and architecture
- Extended team of RPATech specialists implementing solutions
- Regular synchronization to ensure consistency
- Phased handover as internal capacity increased
Pattern 3: The Innovation Catalyst
Organizations looking to explore emerging technologies without building full-time specialized teams use Extended Workbench to access cutting-edge expertise.
A financial services firm wanted to explore AI-enhanced automation but was concerned about the learning curve. Their Extended Workbench included machine learning specialists who worked alongside their RPA team to develop intelligent process automation solutions that incorporated predictive analytics.
This model featured:
- Specialized experts joining for specific innovation initiatives
- Cross-functional teams combining internal business knowledge with external technical expertise
- Rapid prototyping and concept validation
- Knowledge transfer enabling internal teams to maintain the solutions
Implementing Extended Workbench: Starting Points
If you’re considering an Extended Workbench approach, consider these practical starting points:
Assessment and Opportunity Identification
Begin by mapping your automation initiatives against available internal resources. Look for:
- High-value projects stalled due to resource constraints
- Specialized capabilities required for limited periods
- Peaks in demand that exceed baseline capacity
- Areas where knowledge gaps create delivery risks
Core Team Definition
Identify which roles and responsibilities must remain internal versus those that can be extended. Typically:
- Strategic direction and prioritization remain internal
- Business process expertise stays within the organization
- Technical leadership may be shared
- Development and implementation resources can be extended
Engagement Model Design
Create clear structures for how Extended Workbench members integrate with your team:
- Reporting relationships and communication channels
- Collaboration tools and methodologies
- Knowledge transfer expectations and mechanisms
- Performance metrics and quality standards
Beyond Resources: The Cultural Element of Scalability
While we’ve focused primarily on the structural aspects of Extended Workbench, it’s important to acknowledge the cultural elements that determine success.
Teams that get the most value from Extended Workbench approaches share these characteristics:
- They view external specialists as team members, not vendors
- They focus on knowledge exchange rather than knowledge protection
- They celebrate collective accomplishments rather than source of contribution
- They maintain transparency about challenges and constraints
Common Challenges and How to Address Them
Despite its advantages, implementing an Extended Workbench isn’t without challenges:
Challenge: Security and Access Concerns
Organizations often worry about providing external resources with access to systems and data.
Solution: Implement role-based access controls, clear security protocols, and appropriate NDAs. Many RPATech clients use specialized secure access methods for their Extended Workbench teams.
Challenge: Maintaining Consistent Standards
With more hands involved, maintaining consistent coding and documentation standards can be difficult.
Solution: Establish clear standards upfront, implement automated quality checks, and conduct regular code reviews. RPATech’s Extended Workbench includes standard frameworks that adapt to your organization’s requirements.
Challenge: Long-term Knowledge Retention
Organizations worry that when Extended Workbench resources roll off, knowledge will leave with them.
Solution: Implement continuous knowledge transfer through pairing, documentation requirements, and recorded knowledge-sharing sessions. RPATech’s model includes specific knowledge transfer deliverables throughout the engagement.
Starting Your Extended Workbench Journey
If you’re facing automation scaling challenges, consider these steps to begin your Extended Workbench journey:
- Assess your current automation delivery capacity against strategic objectives
- Identify specific capability or capacity gaps impacting delivery
- Evaluate which elements of your automation program would benefit most from extension
- Start with a defined scope to test the Extended Workbench approach
- Measure both delivery outcomes and knowledge transfer effectiveness
Remember, the goal isn’t just to deliver more automation faster; it’s to build a flexible, resilient automation capability that can adapt to changing business needs without creating fragile dependencies.
Conclusion: Flexibility with Foundation
In today’s rapidly changing business environment, automation resources must be both flexible and resilient. The Extended Workbench model provides a proven approach to achieving this balance.
By extending your team with specialized expertise that integrates seamlessly, transfers knowledge continuously, and scales according to demand, you can avoid the fragility that often comes with traditional scaling methods.
The most successful automation programs aren’t necessarily those with the largest teams or the
most advanced technologies. They’re the ones that can adapt quickly to changing priorities while maintaining consistent quality and governance.
As you consider your automation scaling strategy, ask yourself: Are you building a glass house that looks impressive but risks shattering under pressure? Or are you creating a flexible foundation that can grow and adapt with your organization’s needs?
The Extended Workbench approach offers a path to the latter—automation capabilities that are flexible but never fragile.
RPATech’s Extended Workbench service provides specialized automation talent and capabilities to organizations looking to scale their automation initiatives without creating fragile dependencies. If you want to learn how EWB can help your organization achieve flexible, resilient automation capabilities, fill out the form below and our experts will reach out to you!
