Preparing your records
A data-licensing preparation checklist for company owners
By Automati · Updated
How we prepare these guidesYou do not need to export your records to prepare for an initial conversation. Make a small inventory of the work, systems, retained history and questions that need resolving. Keep the actual records inside your company.
1. Choose one workflow to describe
Start with a task your team understands: quoting an order, resolving a quality issue or coordinating a delivery exception. List the request, important decisions and outcome. This gives the inventory a purpose and helps avoid an indiscriminate collection of files.
An illustrative example: a packaging business revises an estimate after a material change, updates its production plan and records the result of a quality check. The inventory describes those steps and their systems; it does not include the customer’s artwork, names or messages.
2. Record what is actually retained
Use one row per system or archive. Put the earliest accessible record year in the history field, rather than the year your company was founded. A rough range is more useful than an invented precise count. Mark an archive as unavailable if nobody can currently access it.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| System or archive | A tool name or descriptive label, not a login |
| Record type | Quotes, work orders, procedures or another high-level category |
| Retained years | Earliest and latest accessible years, or unknown |
| Approximate volume | A number, range and unit, or unknown |
| Languages | Languages actually present in the records |
| Internal owner | A team role that can answer questions |
| Restrictions to review | A question or category; do not copy sensitive details |
3. Separate an inventory from permission to share
A record being stored in your system does not establish that your company can license every part of it. Keep unresolved questions visible. Your company and its advisers should review the actual obligations and proposed use before sharing records.
- Which records were created for a customer or supplied by a third party?
- Are there confidentiality terms, prior licenses or contractual restrictions?
- Could the records contain personal information or sensitive company information?
- Who can approve the proposed scope and any access?
- What will be excluded, and who will check that the exclusions work?
4. Prepare questions for a potential buyer
Ask the buyer to explain the intended use and review process. A request for a sample should say what it includes, who will receive it, how it will be handled and what happens if the opportunity does not proceed.
- What record types and context does the buyer need?
- What would make this opportunity unsuitable?
- Who prepares and checks any sample or export?
- What rights, onward uses and retention does the proposed license allow?
- How are acceptance criteria, payment timing and preparation costs set out?
5. Keep a working copy inside your company
Download the blank CSV below and open it in your spreadsheet software. The worksheet is an aid for your own discussion, not an application or a valuation. It contains no buyer scoring formula and does not establish eligibility.
Do not add passwords, customer identifiers, message contents or confidential attachments. Nothing you enter in your local copy is uploaded to Automati. When you are ready, our initial review accepts high-level descriptions without requiring the worksheet.
Automati is an independent referrer and may receive a referral fee if a deal completes. Buyers decide fit and any offer. This guide helps prepare questions; it does not determine rights, eligibility or a dataset’s price.