IT automation is the digitisation of IT
Automation increases efficiency and speed and softens the skills shortage – if you treat it like digitisation: with a strategy.
IT automation digitises IT processes: provisioning new servers, installing software, delivering applications. Done well, it delivers cost savings, efficiency gains and relief for scarce specialists. It deserves as much attention as the digitisation of your core business – and makes the same demands.
The classic reflex looks different: administrators speed up recurring tasks with scripts. The result is a landscape of isolated one-off solutions with barely documented outcomes.
Configuration management as the foundation
Configuration management systems such as Ansible, Puppet or Chef are the foundation of IT automation: they define a desired state and enforce it reproducibly. State definitions and automation code must be treated as software – with everything that has proven itself in software development:
- version control for every state of the automation,
- reusability through abstraction into modules,
- automated testing and CI/CD pipelines with syntactic (linting) and semantic checks.
This eases cross-team work, lowers development cost and increases process reliability. As a side effect it simplifies duties like process documentation and IT security evidence – data protection and information security remain tasks of their own, though.
The real challenges
The biggest challenge is not technical but a holistic concept. Without one, you get isolated solutions again – just faster.
- Think in process chains: IT processes never stand alone. After the virtual server comes the operating system, then the application. Each process defines requirements for the one before it – which demands a centrally aligned architecture.
- Standardise: Simplified, standardised IT services reduce the complexity of process chains. You trade some flexibility for quality and reliability – and enable specialist teams to define their needs themselves in a schema, with operations in an advisory role.
- Bring people along: The transition into daily work is the hardest part. Administrators trust their proven tools – involve them early or reap scepticism instead of speed.
- Avoid vendor lock-in: In an area this critical, open source deserves a close look. For future-proofing, interoperability and available know-how it usually beats traditional vendors.
The effort pays off: automation increases the reliability and speed of IT processes – and frees IT from relentless time pressure.