IT Automation: How It Works & Why You Need it BMC Software …

IT automation is an important feature of any successful business, especially one thats undergoing digital transformation. Orchestrating IT automation leads to greater efficiency and can lend itself to a hyper automation business model where automation exists in every part of the business.

If youre considering IT automation, let this article be your guide. Here we will:

So, stay tuned for everything you need to know about IT automation!

IT automation is the process that sets rules for IT tasks so that they can be completed, automatically or upon trigger, by a machine.

Automation leaves humans people to work in areas of IT where their efforts are better spent, like strategizing or developing (and not on rote tasks like password resets). In practice, IT automation replaces manual tasks with automatic ones in important areas like:

When it comes to automating IT tasks, there is a broad scope to consider. Automation could be as minimal as automating individual one-off tasks or as intensive as automatic full deployments. IT automation and orchestration are related but different:

(Go deeper into the automation vs orchestration comparison.)

There are several uses for IT automation. In your digital enterprise, count on automating the following areas for greater efficiency in your organization:

With businesses running multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments, its never been more important to automate routine cloud processes. By including IT automation in your cloud operations, you get closer to full orchestration and, ultimately, running at peak effectiveness.

To get started with cloud automation, single-out individual and clusters of cloud processes to automate. These clouds might not be your most important ones yet. Start small, and as you build on success, you can expand to automating more vital clouds.

The service desk is one area that every company has (or should have!) that is ripe for automation. There are plenty of areas where uncomplicated task automation can have an immediate impact, as ITSM expert Kirstie Magowan points out:

(See tips for beginning to automate the service desk.)

Automation is a key principle of DevOps. Without automation in your software development practice, you likely arent fully embracing DevOps. DevOps automation can apply across the software development lifecycle (SDLC), especially in:

(Explore the close roles of automation and DevOps practices.)

Automating business processes is something Gartner defines as:

The automation of complex business processes and functions beyond conventional data manipulation and record-keeping activities, usually through the use of advanced technologies.

Enhancements to process automation are currently being led by these cognitive technologies, including:

The business process automation (BPA) market is estimated to be worth $232 billion USD by the year 2025.

Configuration is one of those necessary functions when you run a digital business. With multiple cloud services, servers, networks, and environments, there is no shortage of things to configure. By automating configuration, you can:

When working within a digital business, provisioning resources is essential. This refers to sharing and allocating space and user access to servers, programs and cloud processes required to do your job effectively. And its a great place to automate.

(Learn more about infrastructure automation platforms.)

Security process automation, like monitoring and response, can help IT professionals offload routine security processes so they can focus on things like bug fixes, testing and infrastructure issues.

There are many benefits of automation. Here some of the ones we believe are the most critical to digital businesses:

When productivity is at peak efficiency, digital enterprises save money.

Not only that, but labor spending is also reduced and workers spend time and resources working on more important, value-added tasks. The result can be significant cost savings.

While cost goes down with IT automation, operational efficiency increases. Development gets faster when time-consuming tasks like configuration are taken from developers and implemented automatically,instead. This also results in:

Automation helps businesses enhance their security. By removing time-consuming and effort-filled tasks like monitoring from the developers responsibilities through automation, developers and other cybersecurity professionals can focus proactively on preventing vulnerabilities and threats from becoming larger problems.

When you automate IT processes, you reduce the chance for human error. As a result, fewer errors occur and an error-free business is more efficient and better at servicing customers. With less chance for human error, your business can focus on what you do bestnot on resolving issues.

Orchestration and hyper automation are important goals for digital businesses to strive to achieve as they continue their digital evolution. The most successful and competitive digital businesses will automate and orchestrate as many tasks and processes as possible to ensure the best use of resources, service delivery and customer satisfaction.

(Become a hyper automated business.)

Here are some tips that developers can use when deploying IT automation:

IT automation will continue to be useful for companies that want to evolve as a digital enterprise. In todays business economy, companies have only begun to realize the benefits of machine learning. Automation of critical infrastructure will expand as knowledge of machine learning applications in business does.

In addition to more inventive business uses for machine learning, theres also the continued evolution of scripting tools that will change how automation is used in IT. Finally, automation creates opportunities to discover new metrics that offer insights about your companys performance.

These postings are my own and do not necessarily represent BMC's position, strategies, or opinion.

See an error or have a suggestion? Please let us know by emailing blogs@bmc.com.

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IT Automation: How It Works & Why You Need it BMC Software ...