IT automation is the twin of digitization. There are the same challenge and the added value is just as high
IT automation is the digitisation of IT. It digitises IT processes such as the provision of new servers, the installation of new software and the delivery of applications. A Successful implementation can lead to cost savings, increases in efficiency and a reduction in personnel costs. You should paying just as much attention to IT automation as to digitization.
IT automation poses the same challenges as digitisation and the added value is just as high.
As with digitisation, it is important to know all processes and their results. These results are your (technical) IT services. IT automation describes this services in a computer-understandable schema. IT processes are mapped in programs that are executed using software (configuration management systems, infrastructure as code systems).
The development of schemata and automation programs is similar to the development of software. In software development, various principles and working techniques have been evolved. These are for example:
The working techniques can be applied very well to IT automation and facilitate cross-team work, reduce development cost and increase process security.
In addition to the requirements for IT processes and their automation, there are other requirements that need to be met. These are the documentation of processes, IT security, data protection and information security. The implementation of some requirements is simplified, e.g. the documentation of processes and IT security. Other requirements such as data protection and information security must continue to be documented, checked and certified by hand.
Analogous to your business processes, IT processes are not stand-alone. Usually other processes follow. For example, after setting up a virtual server, the operating system is configured and then an application is installed. Of course, the aim can only be to completely digitise/automate these process chains. The result of a process must therefore be transferred to the next process. This means that a process defines the requirements for the preceding process. As in software development, this requires a corresponding architecture that is centrally coordinated. The more flexible and holistic your architecture is, the more possibilities arise.
Think holistically to create and utilize the manifold possibilities
In order to minimize the complexity of the process chains, possible results or (technical) IT services must be simplified. This is achieved through standardisation. You reduce the flexibility of your offers, but increase the reliability, quality and security of your automated processes. This simplification also means that less expertise is required to define an infrastructure element. The result is a collaboration in which specialist teams, project staff and developers define their own wishes in a schema and IT operations provide advisory support.
A difficult part of any strategy or software introduction is the transition phase, meaning the transfer to daily operations. Especially for IT departments and administrators, the introduction of new processes and software is associated with a lot of restraint and skepticism, because the employees trust their existing tools. It is of decisive importance to integrate IT employees early on in the automation process and, if necessary, to have the management clarify the importance of the project in detail.
The number of systems available on the market is huge. Committing to one software vendor always means being dependent in some way. It therefore makes sense to use open source systems in such a critical area as IT automation. In terms of future security, software and training services and interoperability, open source systems are usually superior to traditional vendors.
It’s worth the effort. Through digitisation, IT has become a central component of your company. IT automation increases the reliability and speed of your IT processes. This frees your IT employees from enormous time pressure and not only increases their satisfaction.
