Why is your automation failing? The surprising reason it’s not a tech problem

Your company is spending more on automation than ever, yet you’re barely seeing a return. It’s a frustrating paradox revealed in the new “Enterprise automation index 2025” from Redwood Software. 

While 73% of companies increased their automation spend last year, less than 30% are fully utilizing their tools. The data is clear: the issue isn’t a lack of investment or technology — it’s a stubborn execution gap.

In a climate where every budget line is under the microscope, automation is still getting the green light. That’s because the business case is solid.

• 37% of organizations report that automation reduced costs by over 25%
• 43% have cut manual workloads by at least a quarter
• 49% say it increased efficiency by the same amount

Those are meaningful results, but they’re not the norm. The data also reveals a widespread failure to scale. 

From where I sit, working alongside enterprise teams on automation migration and orchestration every day, I can tell you this isn’t a technology issue. It’s a stubborn execution gap.

The 4 traps of underperforming automation

Too many organizations treat automation like an arms race, adding new tools to plug gaps and hoping for the best. My team sees the consequences of this approach daily, typically in these four traps:

1. Ad hoc tool sprawl: Marketing, Finance and IT all buy their own automation tools, creating “shadow automation.” These siloed, ungoverned processes don’t share data, follow security protocols or align with a larger strategy, undermining enterprise-wide visibility.  
2. Stopping at the task level: Teams often automate the simplest, low-hanging fruit and then declare victory, ignoring the cross-functional processes where the real value lies. This technical debt accrues until a critical process, like month-end close or supply chain fulfillment, inevitably breaks, leading to frantic, manual interventions.
3. Legacy tech dependency: Many enterprises still run their most important processes on outdated schedulers or basic scripts. These tools lack the visibility, error handling and security features required for today’s business. When they fail (and they do), the business impact is immediate and severe, but migrating off them is perceived as too difficult.
4. No automation strategy: Without a plan to consolidate, migrate and optimize, the collection of tools becomes a digital junkyard. The organization has technically invested in automation, but operationally, nothing has changed. The tools are there, but they’re underutilized, misaligned or completely isolated.

These execution pitfalls are symptoms of a deeper issue, one that consistently derails even well-funded automation projects.

Complexity: The #1 blocker to automation ROI

According to Redwood’s research, the top challenge isn’t budget, talent or tools — it’s complexity. Nearly 20% of professionals point to complex workflows as their number-one barrier to scaling automation. 

That echoes what I see in the field. Enterprises are sitting on decades of custom scripts, legacy architecture, fragile integrations and undocumented processes. And every time someone says “We’ll automate that later,” the mess grows.

When you delay migration or fail to redesign around orchestration, you lose the ability to scale. You automate the easy stuff and stall out at the first sign of friction. If you want automation to deliver, you need to:

• Standardize before you automate. Don’t just pave the path. A chaotic manual process will only become a faster chaotic automated process. Take the time to map, simplify and standardize workflows first. This initial investment pays dividends in scalability and resilience.
• Migrate strategically. A simple “lift-and-shift” of old jobs to a new platform just moves the problem. Strategic migration involves analyzing, consolidating and redesigning workflows to take full advantage of a modern orchestration platform’s capabilities.
• Orchestrate across systems. True value is unlocked when you manage processes end to end, from the mainframe to the cloud and across all applications. This breaks down the silos between IT operations, data pipelines and business applications, which the report identifies as a key challenge for industries like finance.
• Align to business outcomes. The goal isn’t just to run jobs successfully; it’s to reduce costs, accelerate innovation and improve data visibility — the top three business priorities cited in the research. Frame every automation initiative around these goals.

The path to mature automation: A call to action 

If your automation investment isn’t delivering, it’s a critical warning sign. Don’t fall into the trap of simply adding more tools. The path forward requires a shift in mindset: focus on orchestration, elevate automation to a C-suite priority and build a cohesive strategy. It’s the only way to transform it from a tactical fix to a genuine growth lever for your entire organization. 

Download the full report to get:

• Automation maturity benchmarks across industries
• Barriers and drivers of automation success
• What separates top performers from the rest
• Guidance for aligning automation with business goals