Scaling & Best Practices
Automation Governance
3 min read
As you build more automations, organization becomes critical. Without governance, you'll face chaos: broken workflows nobody understands, duplicate automations doing the same thing, and security risks from forgotten connections.
The Governance Problem
What happens without governance:
| Week 1-4 | Week 5-12 | Month 6+ |
|---|---|---|
| "I'll just build this quick" | "Which workflow does email routing?" | "Nobody knows how this works" |
| No naming conventions | 3 workflows with similar names | Afraid to change anything |
| Personal API keys | Keys scattered across workflows | Security audit nightmare |
| Works great! | Starting to get messy | Complete chaos |
Naming Conventions
Workflow Naming Pattern
Use a consistent format that tells you what you need to know:
[Department]-[Function]-[Trigger]-[Version]
Examples:
SALES-LeadQualifier-NewEmail-v2
MKTG-SocialPoster-BlogPublished-v1
OPS-InvoiceProcessor-GoogleDrive-v3
HR-ResumeScreener-FormSubmit-v1
Folder/Project Structure
Automation Account
├── 🟢 PRODUCTION
│ ├── Sales
│ │ ├── SALES-LeadQualifier-NewEmail-v2
│ │ ├── SALES-MeetingFollowup-CalendarEvent-v1
│ │ └── SALES-ProposalDraft-SlackRequest-v1
│ ├── Marketing
│ │ ├── MKTG-SocialPoster-BlogPublished-v1
│ │ └── MKTG-NewsletterCurator-RSSFeed-v2
│ └── Operations
│ ├── OPS-InvoiceProcessor-GoogleDrive-v3
│ └── OPS-WeeklyReport-Scheduled-v1
├── 🟡 STAGING
│ └── [Workflows being tested]
└── 🔴 ARCHIVE
└── [Deprecated workflows]
Documentation Requirements
Minimum Documentation Per Workflow
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Purpose | "Qualifies inbound leads and routes to appropriate sales rep" |
| Owner | "Sarah Chen, Sales Ops" |
| Created | "2025-03-15" |
| Dependencies | "HubSpot, Gmail, Slack, OpenAI API" |
| Trigger | "New email to sales@company.com" |
| Output | "Creates HubSpot contact, sends Slack notification" |
| AI Usage | "GPT-4o mini for lead scoring, ~500 tokens/run" |
Where to Document
| Platform | Documentation Location |
|---|---|
| Zapier | Workflow description field + linked Notion doc |
| Make | Scenario notes + team wiki |
| n8n | Workflow notes + README in repository |
Access Control
Role-Based Permissions
| Role | Can View | Can Edit | Can Delete | Can Manage Keys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | All | All | All | Yes |
| Builder | Team | Team | No | No |
| Viewer | Team | No | No | No |
| Owner | Owned | Owned | Owned | Limited |
Connection Security
❌ BAD PRACTICE:
- Personal Gmail account for company workflows
- API keys in workflow names or descriptions
- Shared login for automation platform
- One API key for all workflows
✅ GOOD PRACTICE:
- Dedicated service accounts (automations@company.com)
- Keys stored only in platform's credential manager
- Individual team member logins with SSO
- Separate API keys per workflow category
Change Management
Before Making Changes
CHANGE CHECKLIST:
□ Document current behavior
□ Identify all dependent workflows
□ Test in staging/dev environment
□ Get approval from workflow owner
□ Schedule change during low-traffic period
□ Have rollback plan ready
Version Control Strategy
| Change Type | Action |
|---|---|
| Minor tweak | Update in place, add note |
| Significant change | Create new version, keep old running |
| Major overhaul | New workflow, deprecate old after validation |
Example version progression:
SALES-LeadQualifier-NewEmail-v1 [ARCHIVED]
└── Changed scoring logic
SALES-LeadQualifier-NewEmail-v2 [PRODUCTION]
└── Added multilingual support
SALES-LeadQualifier-NewEmail-v3 [STAGING]
Monitoring and Alerting
Health Checks
| Metric | Alert Threshold | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Error rate | >5% of runs | Investigate immediately |
| Execution time | >2x normal | Check for bottlenecks |
| Queue depth | Growing backlog | Scale or throttle |
| API failures | Any external API errors | Check connections |
Dashboard Essentials
AUTOMATION HEALTH DASHBOARD
────────────────────────────
Total Active Workflows: 47
Runs Today: 1,234
Success Rate: 98.7%
⚠️ ATTENTION NEEDED:
- SALES-LeadQualifier-v2: 3 failures (API timeout)
- MKTG-SocialPoster-v1: High latency (8s avg)
💰 COST TRACKING:
- AI API spend this month: $127
- Platform usage: 78% of plan limit
- Projected monthly: $145
Audit and Compliance
Audit Trail Requirements
| Industry | Requirements |
|---|---|
| General business | Who created/modified, when, basic logs |
| Financial services | Full audit trail, data lineage, retention |
| Healthcare | HIPAA compliance, access logs, encryption |
| E-commerce | PCI compliance for payment data handling |
Regular Audits
QUARTERLY AUTOMATION AUDIT:
1. INVENTORY CHECK
□ List all active workflows
□ Identify orphaned/unused workflows
□ Verify ownership is current
2. SECURITY REVIEW
□ Rotate API keys older than 90 days
□ Remove access for departed employees
□ Check for sensitive data exposure
3. PERFORMANCE REVIEW
□ Identify high-cost workflows
□ Find optimization opportunities
□ Archive deprecated workflows
4. DOCUMENTATION UPDATE
□ Verify docs match reality
□ Update ownership if changed
□ Add missing documentation
Governance Checklist
Before launching any new workflow:
- Follows naming convention
- Placed in correct folder/project
- Documentation complete
- Owner assigned
- Uses service account (not personal)
- API keys properly secured
- Tested in staging environment
- Error handling configured
- Monitoring/alerts set up
- Approved by team lead
Key Insight: Good governance feels like overhead when you have 5 workflows. It feels essential when you have 50. Start early, thank yourself later.
Next: Learn how to manage and optimize your automation costs. :::