Category Archives: Automation

Autonomous trucks could one day replace more than 90% of all highway trucking, which could have a profound impact on as many as 500,000 long-haul truckers, a new study found.

Why it matters: Automation, and its potential impact on human labor, is a widespread concern for workers in many industries. While labor markets continually evolve, it often takes time for displaced workers to adapt to new jobs requiring different skills.

The big picture: Long-haul trucking is a grueling job, with a high turnover rate. Last year, the industry faced a record shortage of 80,000 drivers.

Driving the news: The study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University assessed the impact of autonomous trucking on operator-hours, depending on how the technology now being tested in Sun Belt states is deployed.

What they found: The impacts of automation might not happen all at once.

How it would work: Many automated trucking developers envision the use of transfer hubs, where cargo trailers would be handed off between humans and robots.

What they're saying: Drivers displaced by autonomous trucks could find work closer to home on short-haul routes, or even in newly created logistics jobs at transfer hubs, AT developers say.

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Automated trucks could replace up to 500,000 long-haul drivers - Axios

Lemonade ( LMND -6.60% ) has emerged as one of the more intriguing disruptors in the financial industry. It has targeted the insurance industry by using artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioral economics to streamline the application process, thus insuring its customers at lower cost.

However, Lemonade stock has experienced a huge decline as losses mount and investors question its ability to weather a crisis. Investors will need to take a closer look at the insurance stock to see whether Lemonade is the vehicle by which they can profit from insurance industry disruption.

Image source: Getty Images.

Lemonade began by selling renters insurance. It later branched out into homeowners, life, and pet insurance. Now, through a pending acquisition of Metromile, it will enter the auto market. It will stand out by charging different rates based on miles driven, and according to the company, Metromile saved its customers an average of 47% compared with their previous rates.

Indeed, automation made such an approach possible and now appears on track to make numerous insurance-related jobs obsolete. According to McKinsey, which also cited the Bureau of Labor Statistics and IPMUS USA, the trend will displace 33% of insurance sales agents by 2030.

Image sources: McKinsey, BLS, and IPMUS USA.

Lemonade relies heavily on bots and machine learning to attract customers, evaluate the risks of specific customers, and offer appropriate products. With bots taking responsibility for selling, evaluating, and closing deals with prospective customers, it could eventually eliminate the industry's need for expensive, commission-based sales agents.

However, the biggest worry in Lemonade's fourth-quarter results may leave insurance agents breathing easier about the future of their careers. The report showed a 96% gross loss ratio, the percentage of premiums paid to pay claims.

This is far above the 73% from the year-ago quarter and makes it nearly impossible to turn a profit. Worse, the higher loss ratio was not prompted by a spike in accident-related claims during the quarter. The company blamed the higher ratio on losses from previous quarters that it did not properly fund at the time. Such results may call into question whether its automated model can compete with traditional insurance products.

Those losses also widened the difference between revenue and net losses. In 2021, Lemonade had a net loss of $241 million on revenue of $128 million. While revenue rose 36% versus 2020 levels, losses climbed by 97% due to a 68% increase in expenses. Although losses are common for fast-growth start-ups, the increase in losses may become uncomfortable for investors.

Additionally, shareholders should expect little improvement. The company anticipates between $202 million and $205 million in revenue for 2022, a 58% increase at the midpoint. Still, it expects the adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) loss for 2022 to be between $275 million and $290 million, a 53% rise at the midpoint from the $184 million reported in 2021.

Given this disappointment, one might understand the share drop of almost 80% from the 52-week high. That decline took the price-to-sales ratio to 13, a level near all-time lows. Still, if Lemonade does not improve its execution, Lemonade may fail to attract new investors even with that significant discount.

The future careers of insurance sales agents may not look promising, but it remains unclear whether the long-term threat will come from Lemonade. Indeed, its AI-based model holds the potential to disrupt industry practices that have not changed in decades.

However, rising loss ratios not prompted by a major disaster event call its current business model into question. Moreover, revenue growth continues to bring increased losses, leaving no clear path toward eventual profitability.

Admittedly, if Lemonade can figure out how to replace agents with AI applications, it could return massive stock gains over time. Nonetheless, with the uncertainty surrounding this business, investors should only consider small, speculative positions if they choose to invest at all.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis even one of our own helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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Automation Is Reducing Sales Agent Jobs: Is That a Reason to Buy Lemonade? - The Motley Fool

The number of roles in North America made up 83% of total industrial automation jobs up from 71.9% in the same quarter last year. That was followed by Asia-Pacific, which saw a 2.2 year-on-year percentage point change.

The figures are compiled by GlobalData, who track the number of new job postings from key companies in various sectors over time. Using textual analysis, these job advertisements are then classified thematically.

GlobalData's thematic approach to sector activity seeks to group key company information by topic to see which companies are best placed to weather the disruptions coming to their industries.

These key themes, which include industrial automation, are chosen to cover "any issue that keeps a CEO awake at night".

By tracking them across job advertisements it allows us to see which companies are leading the way on specific issues and which are dragging their heels - and importantly where the market is expanding and contracting.

The fastest growing country was the United States, which saw 70.4% of all industrial automation job adverts in the three months ending January 2021, increasing to 82.3% in the three months ending January this year.

That was followed by Switzerland (up 4 percentage points), Singapore (3), and Italy (2).

The top country for industrial automation roles in the apparel industry is the United States which saw 82.3% of all roles advertised in the three months ending January.

Some 23.7% of all apparel industry industrial automation roles were advertised in Portland (United States) in the three months ending January.

That was followed by Moreno Valley (United States) with 23.7%, Manhattan Beach (United States) with 5%, and Northridge (United States) with 4%.

Product Lifecycle Management and Digital Transformation Solutions for Retail, Fashion, and Apparel Companies

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North America hiring boom in apparel industrial automation - just-style.com

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UST,a leading digital transformation solutions company, has been rated as one of the leaders in the 2021 ratings ofZinnovZones for Hyper Intelligent Automation (HIA) ServicesandRPA Servicesin Small and Medium-sized Service Providers segment. Powered by UST SmartOps platform, UST's HIA services empower businesses to focus on the digitization opportunities with the highest business impact. As a leader, UST has been recognized as a robust provider capable of delivering results with high impact and meeting future client requirements compared to peers.

Zinnov Zones is an annual rating from Zinnov to assess the prowess and scalability of companies across the HIA ecosystem. Participants are also evaluated across the following segments HIA Services, HIA Consulting, RPA Services, horizontal segments such as F&A, Talent Management & HR, and industries including Retail & CPG, Healthcare, etc.

Sajesh Gopinath,General Manager & Go-to-Market Leader, UST SmartOps,said, "We are thrilled and honored to be named a leader in Zinnov Zones for Hyper Intelligent Automation (HIA) services and RPA services, among Small and Medium-sized Service Providers. It is a testament to our capabilities and commitment to help our clients transform their business processes. UST SmartOps intelligently and continuously improves business processes and accelerates success by reducing costs, streamlining operations, and unlocking value for businesses."

"UST's advanced capabilities in the automation space are driven by its large pool of skilled and certified talent, and strategic partnerships with leading automation platforms including Microsoft and UiPath," shared Nischay Mittal, Partner & Global Head Automation/ AI, Zinnov."UST's deep expertise in automation deployments in Cloud, and full-stack services from large-scale transformation to leveraging its strong IP portfolio including UST SmartOps, has helped it create value-driven outcomes for its clients and firmly anchor its Leadership positionin the 2021 Zones ratings for HIA and RPA Services."

Zinnov recognizes UST as a digital transformation organization with a strong IP portfolio of proprietary Hyper Intelligent Automation solutions. These include:

UST's strategic approach to Automation includesUST SmartStart, a unique 812-weeks consultation process that delivers a strategic blueprint and agile roadmap for clients' Automation journey.

UST SmartOps

UST SmartOpsis an AI-powered Cognitive Automation Platform that learns and reimagines business processes while intelligently digitizing and compressing manual workflows. It delivers results across business and IT operations. Leading global companies partner with UST to support critical business processes like insurance claims processing, healthcare benefit planning, IT Operations, and financial operations.

The UST SmartOps Intelligent Automation platform enables organizations to enrich their Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with Intelligent Automation. It seamlessly integrates with existing RPA investments while also providing a native RPA capability, thus optimizing current investment while delivering maximum flexibility for future deployments.

About Zinnov Zones

Zinnov Zones is an annual rating published by Zinnov which assesses Global Service Providers based on their competencies, capabilities, and market success. Since 2009, Zinnov Zones (previously known as GSPR Global Service Provider Ratings) has become one of the most trusted reports globally, for both enterprises and Service Providers to better understand the vendor ecosystem across multiple domains such as Digital Transformation, ER&D Services, IOT, HIA, and Media and Entertainment.

This is the thirteenth consecutive year that Zinnov has assessed Service Providers for their ER&D capabilities. The detailed ratings and contact information of Service Providers are available at: https://zinnovzones.com/

About UST

For more than 22 years, UST has worked side by side with the world's best companies to make a real impact through transformation.Powered by technology, inspired by people, and led by our purpose, we partner with our clients from design to operation. Through our nimble approach, we identify their core challenges, and craft disruptive solutions that bring their vision to life. With deep domain expertise and a future-proof philosophy, we embed innovation and agility into our clients' organizationsdelivering measurable value and lasting change across industries, and around the world. Together, with over 29,000 employees in 30 countries, we build for boundless impacttouching billions of lives in the process. Visit us atust.com

Media Contacts, UST:

Tinu Cherian Abraham+1 (949) 415-9857

Neha Misri+91-9972631264[emailprotected]

Media Contacts, U.S.:

S&C PR+1-646.941.9139[emailprotected]

Media Contacts, U.K.:

FTI Consulting[emailprotected]

SOURCE UST

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UST Named a Leader in Zinnov Zones for Hyper Intelligent Automation and RPA Services - PR Newswire

Automation has been substantially coming about in garment factories, with modern machinery being used to make high-end garments and increase productivity in attempts to become more competitive globally.

Almost all the regulation-compliant garment factories, especially the 157 with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, have already automated major sections of the factories, producing sophisticated apparel items, mainly outerwear, using robotics.

In the fiercely competitive garment business supply chains, lead time is very important as almost all apparel-producing countries are competing with the same kinds of items and making strategic price offers.

So quick deliveries through the maintenance of quality is a very important factor for retaining competitiveness in the business.

It is not possible to remain competitive maintaining the manual process of garment production using a huge number of workers. As a result, automation has turned key in this competitive business.

Abdullah Hil Rakib, managing director of Team Group, which has a LEED certified garment factory, said he currently uses a semi-automated production line to bring more efficiency in productivity and time management and become competitive.

In his factory, he has had to automate some important sections to enable greater efficiency.

For instance, he said one of his machines can make six pockets at a time, which otherwise, if all the other factors were to remain constant, would have taken six workers.

So the number of workers here has been reduced but efficiency and quality has been maintained, he said.

This is a small example of how the local garment manufacturers have been automating their production.

Like Rakib, many garment manufacturers have been automating their units to be more competitive in the fiercely competitive global garment business.

Rakib said the need to produce intricate, high-end value added garment items, including outerwear, has prompted a rise in the use of automation in the garment sector in Bangladesh.

Previously a lot of workers used to produce the most basic of garment items but that was at the bottom tier in terms of efficiency and profitability, he also.

But now automation has been bringing efficiency and use of a "Standard Allowed Per Minute" (SAPM) measure is also increasing as the wastage of time is not taking place because of real time data analytics in the management system in the factory, he added.

Over the next 10 years, automation in the garment industry will reach new heights as the local apparel exporters have to adopt new technologies to be more competitive.

"The automation in production gives the real data, accuracy, efficiency in management. So we can take a good decision in management of the business," said Rakib, who has automated sections for cutting, sewing and measuring fabrics.

He is now saving up 10 per cent to 15 per cent on costs through the installation of the modern machinery in his factory.

In a normal factory, if a production line requires 700 workers, installation of modern machinery for the same work leads to the need for 600 workers, he said.

"Installation of modern machinery is not a requirement of international retailers and brands but this is needed for survival in the business," Rakib said.

Automation of the production line does not mean that the employment of workers will reduce as the industry has a crisis of skilled workers, he added.

MA Jabbar, managing director of DBL Group, another major textile and garment manufacturer, said automation or use of modern machinery was important for maintaining the quality and for improving efficiency.

"I have already installed many machines in the textile mills of the group. I have to adopt the new technologies for sustainability of my business," Jabbar told The Daily Star over the phone.

Since the industry is growing and the inflow of work orders for the sophisticated garment items is also increasing, the local manufacturers will have to adopt the technologies as the future of Bangladeshi garment business is in value added items, he added.

The local textile mills had transformed their production systems a lot earlier installing modern machineries and now the garment factories are adopting the latest technologies to be more competitive, said another leading garment exporter asking not to be named.

"Special products require special machinery," he said.

Although the local factories have been adopting new technologies, the need for workers will not reduce as the production of value added garment items need more skilled workers, he added.

Miran Ali, managing director of Bitopi Group, a leading user of programmable machines in the garment industry, said the sweater industry has almost become fully automated.

Woven and knitwear sectors are quickly adopting automation, he said.

However, bringing about end-to-end automation is not possible, he said, adding that there was a possibility of unemployment rising for automation in the garment sector.

Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said nearly 80 per cent of apparel factories have been using modern machineries for improving productivity and efficiency.

But in terms of the use of robotics, artificial intelligence and algorithm, it is between 5 per cent and 10 per cent.

Bringing about automation throughout the sector is not possible now, he said.

BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said automation was coming about in phases and full automation would take more time.

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Automation gaining ground in garment - The Daily Star

Research and innovation in industrial automation in the power industry operations and technologies sector has declined in the last year.The most recent figures show that the number of industrial automation related patent applications in the industry stood at 583 in the three months ending January down from 795 over the same period in 2021.

Figures for patent grants related to industrial automation followed a similar pattern to filings shrinking from 548 in the three months ending January 2021 to 334 in the same period in 2022.

The figures are compiled by GlobalData, which tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Using textual analysis, as well as official patent classifications, these patents are grouped into key thematic areas, and linked to key companies across various industries.

Industrial automation is one of the key areas tracked by GlobalData. It has been identified as being a key disruptive force facing companies in the coming years, and is one of the areas that companies investing resources in now are expected to reap rewards from.The figures also provide an insight into the largest innovators in the sector.

Honeywell International was the top industrial automation innovator in the power industry operations and technologies sector in the latest quarter. The company, which has its headquarters in the US, filed 315 industrial automation related patents in the three months ending January. That was up from 279 over the same period in 2021.

It was followed by the Germany-based Siemens with 158 industrial automation patent applications, Switzerland-based ABB (85 applications), and the US-based 3M (70 applications).

Korea Electric Power has recently ramped up R&D in industrial automation. It saw growth of 90.3% in related patent applications in the three months ending January compared to the same period in 2021 the highest percentage growth out of all companies tracked, with more than 10 quarterly patents in the power industry operations and technologies sector.

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Industrial automation innovation among power industry companies has dropped off in the last year - Power Technology

MOORESTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OPEX Corporation, a global leader in warehouse automation technology, has added an innovative, industry-leading goods-to-person (G2P) solution to its Warehouse Automation portfolio.

The Infinity solution combines unparalleled storage density, configurability, and flexibility to meet the most pressing warehouse automation challenges for companies handling micro-fulfillment, omni-channel distribution, store replenishment, and ecommerce.

Our focus is on engineering exciting new solutions that address unmet and evolving customer needs, said Alex Stevens, President, OPEX Warehouse Automation. The Infinity solution represents the next generation of goods-to-person technology to perfectly complement our existing Warehouse Automation product line.

Automated G2P technology delivers the right item or SKU at the right time to the right operator or workstation, increasing productivity, throughput, and labor utilization by eliminating wasted time.

Powered by OPEXs proprietary Cortex software platform, the Infinity G2P solution is engineered for maximum flexibility and scalability in both throughput and storage. Key benefits include reducing labor while increasing efficiency, storage density, and configurability.

Wireless Infinity iBOT robotic vehicles access all inventory and port stations, moving freely underneath and throughout the system with no wasted mechanical motion, saving time and costs. Infinity iBOT robots are easily scalable by adding more iBOTs, presentation ports, and grids.

Unlike other competitive systems, the Infinity solution offers up to 35 percent more storage capacity with bot paths that are up to 65 percent more efficient.

The Infinity goods-to-person system utilizes a unique interlocking system to store totes triple-deep, eliminating wasted space and maximizing storage density. A configurable rack design optimizes warehouse space despite obstructions that may exist, such as columns or other equipment. The Infinity systems flexibility also accommodates varied workflows and layouts.

The innovative Infinity solution was unveiled today at MODEX 2022, the industrys premier material handling expo that showcases the latest in manufacturing and supply chain technology.

Ecommerce is growing exponentially, said Stevens. Companies today need dependable yet advanced technology, the resiliency to meet shifting and seasonal demands, fast and accurate fulfillment, the ability to maximize space, and a partner they can trust. OPEX and the Infinity solution deliver all of this and more.

Founded in 1973, OPEX brings generations of industry expertise and a proven track record developing first-class automation capabilities. The company is vertically integratedinnovating, engineering, manufacturing, selling, and servicing all of its automated solutions. This translates to the highest degree of quality equipment, reliable operations, product longevity, and an exceptional client experience.

The Infinity solution joins the existing Warehouse Automation portfolio at OPEX, which includes Sure Sortthe industry-leading, high-speed, small-item robotic sorting system; and Perfect Pick, a robotic goods-to-person picking solution that dramatically improves speed, efficiency, and reliability. All three solutions are custom configured for each client and designed to completely transform supply chain infrastructure.

To learn more, please visit warehouseautomation.com.

About OPEX

OPEX Corporation is a global leader in Next Generation Automation, providing innovative, unique solutions for warehouse, document and mail automation. With headquarters in Moorestown, NJ, USAand facilities in Pennsauken, NJ; Plano, TX; France; Germany; Switzerland; the United Kingdom; and AustraliaOPEX has more than 1,500 employees who are continuously reimagining and delivering customized, scalable technology solutions that solve the business challenges of today and the future.

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OPEX Introduces the Next Generation in Goods-to-Person Warehouse Automation Technology - Infinity ASRS - Business Wire

WARRINGTON-headquartered BGEN has been awarded a UK industry-first by Rockwell Automation, the worlds largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation.

The specialist, multi-discipline engineering solutions business, is the first company to be approved to provide Rockwell Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform integration in the UK.

The approval gives BGEN certification to integrate Rockwell Automations award-winning FactoryTalk InnovationSuite, powered by PTC, including PTC ThingWorx. PTC ThingWorx simultaneously removes technical barriers to the IIoT implementation, while emphasizing practical solutions that quickly return value. The platform can help companies to realise cost, efficiency and productivity improvements.

BGEN, already a gold level system integrator with Rockwell Automation, secured the approved IIoT status following a rigorous capabilities check. The process included engineers achieving certification for PTC ThingWorx Fundamentals and PTC ThingWorx Professional, and successfully completing a project using the platform. This was alongside the company demonstrating a proven track record of supporting industrial organisations in their digitalisation journeys.

Approving BGEN as our first accredited IIoT system integrator in the UK was a natural step in progressing our long-standing relationship with the company, says Jeff Stewart, Information Solutions Systems Integrator Program Manager EMEA, at Rockwell Automation. They have a team of highly skilled engineers in place to support our industrial end-users in realising the full potential of our award-winning FactoryTalk Innovation Suite including the PTC ThingWorx Platform.

This approval adds to our credentials in the automation and digitalisation space, said Robin Whitehead, chief executive at BGEN. The fact that companies like Rockwell Automation put their trust in us to help optimise the benefits of their technology is testament to the level of investment we place in our people and service we provide to our customers.

BGEN has been using Rockwell Automation technology since 1998 and joined Rockwells System Integrator Programme in 2003, achieving gold status when Rockwell updated its programme in 2021. The company has a proven history of helping a range of companies realise their automation and digitalisation ambitions across a range of sectors including FMCG, heavy industry and utilities.

For further information about BGENs system integration expertise, visit Industrial Systems Integration Company | BGEN Ltd (b-gen.co.uk)

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Warrington-headquartered BGEN awarded UK industry-first with Rockwell Automation - Gary Skentelbery

Welcome toInc.'sFounders Projectpodcastwith Alexa Von Tobel, where we bring you tales of guts,inspiration, and drive that define the entrepreneurs building the future. Each week, we dig into a founder's professional playbook and uncover what makes them tick. On this week's episode:

In 2015, Amit Bendov was not looking to start a company. But he was looking for a way for his sales team to more automatically capture CRM data. So heand his co-founder ended up launching Gong to help sales teams have better conversations with customers and win more deals. Gong quickly found product-market fit, which only accelerated when Covid pushed most sales calls to a digital format. Gong has since grown to over 2,000 customers with a valuation north of $7 billion. Bendov shares why he charged early customers a high price to stay inbeta, why he believes autonomous applications are the way of the future, and why you learn more from successes than failures.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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How This Founder is Bringing Automation to Sales Teams - Inc.

Heath Newburn

Heath is the senior solutions specialist for AIOps at PagerDuty. He has a long background in monitoring, event management and operations in many organizations and is focused on enabling the personal success of individuals and teams across IT. Heath lives in Georgetown, Tex., and is passionate about cooking and finding great Texas barbecue.

The modern world runs on code, and with every company now a software company, its become more important than ever to move quickly when things go wrong. Thats why incident response has become such a critical endeavor for organizations.

Unfortunately, traditional manual approaches are riddled with inefficiency. This leads to excessive mean time to repair (MTTR), which damages not only customer loyalty and the bottom line, but also employee morale.

Fortunately, leaning on automation and machine learning (ML) capabilities can help organizations plot a better path. Teams are looking to reduce repetitive work and human error, optimize responder productivity and drive all-around better outcomes as they adopt automated incident response.

In order to take advantage of this trend and build a culture of resilience, teams must look for opportunities to improve and upgrade manual operational processes with technology that can remove toil, save human cycles and give them an edge.

Many organizations have accelerated their digital transformation plans, in some cases by several years. But weve learned that running fast can break things, and its not uncommon for greater velocity to also introduce more exposure to operational risk.

The infrastructure supporting new digital services could contain hundreds of millions of lines of code and billions of dependencies, so digital incidents are inevitable. Research shows that there was a 19% rise in critical incidents from 2019 to 2020.

To keep up with the pace of innovation required to maintain high availability and deliver on customer experience, organizations need to invest in best practices and develop robust processes to streamline incident response to proactively address and resolve issues when they arise.

Infrastructure and operations wont magically attain the adaptive resilience Gartner talks about with current manual and reactive incident response.

In many organizations, the tools, scripts and manual commands that responders use to get to the bottom of incidents exist in the heads of just a few subject matter experts (SMEs). They may also require manual intervention. This does not make for rapid or effective incident response. All too often, organizations waste previous resources by swarming the problem with maybe dozens of responders. This wont fix the underlying issue.

Manual processes can also lead to copy-and-paste errors, unnecessary repetition of steps, limited collaboration between technical and customer support teams, and use of incorrect documentation. The result is slower MTTR, angry customers and frustrated employees.

Instead, organizations should automate as much of their incident response as possible driving resilience and enhancing their ability to learn from events, and proactively improve on a continuous basis.

Machine learning-powered runbook automation is a great example. At a very basic level, incident response is all about completing repetitive tasks, such as restarting servers, copying artifacts, running scripts and manipulating files. By intelligently capturing these processes and documenting them into runbooks, they can be automatically executed by responders other than SMEs.

Democratizing incident response in this way could have a major impact on MTTR. First responders spend an average of 15 minutes triaging an alert when it first comes in before escalating to a SME who spends another 15 minutes running diagnostics. But by running automated workflows from the outset, first responders could collect that information straight away and potentially fix recurring problems using automated remediation. If not, they can escalate to the SME with the information they need to start working on fixing the issue immediately.

In the most mature organizations, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) can even be used to remediate commonly occurring incidents before responders are even paged. In this scenario, escalations to SMEs and developers only occur for unusual and complex problems.

This is not an overnight journey. Yes, the right tools will go a long way to achieving these goals, but organizations might also have to overcome cultural barriers, which can take longer. The key is to start small with achievable goals, learning as you go. Organizations need to walk before they can run.

That could mean starting with simple, low-risk automated diagnostics that have no impact on service performance or availability, and which require little processing. With automation that runs commands, gathers log information and tackles other common troubleshooting steps, teams can reduce MTTR and potentially avoid mobilizing some responders if nothing out of the ordinary is discovered.

From there, organizations could move to reflex actions for the most common problems (for example, removing temp files to clear up disk space). Once those simpler problem signatures are codified, they can move to automating multistep sequences for remediating common problems. And only automate complex actions with a potentially major impact on performance or availability after successfully working through those earlier stages.

The bottom line is that machines are faster than humans at some tasks, and they dont mind work that is boring and repetitive. Organizations able to use this to their advantage through AI, ML and automation will unleash the talent on their incident response teams while improving IT resilience and adaptiveness. Thats the way not only to happier customers and a burnished brand reputation, but more motivated staff with more time to spend on innovation. And in the post-pandemic digital world, innovation will be key to survival.

Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

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AI-Powered Automation Is Critical to IT Resilience and Adaptability - thenewstack.io