Automation Is Your Friend

Automation is, according to Technopedia, “the creation and application of technologies to produce and deliver goods and services with minimal human intervention.” Since delivering services is what most IT organizations do—whether we’re talking about internal IT departments, or Managed Service Providers (MSPs)—many of the tasks and workflows involved are prime candidates for automation.

In this blog @RoyAtkinson covers the WHAT, the WHY, and the HOW of automation. Check out his thoughts here. #automation Share on X

Why automate?

For years, IT has operated under the edict to “do more with less,” and one way to expedite work without adding more employees is to take advantage of automation. (Remember that by definition automated procedures and processes require minimal human intervention.)

Right now in the US we’re in the midst of The Great Resignation, with workers leaving jobs in record numbers. In addition, companies have discovered the effectiveness of remote work during the past twenty months, and location has ceased to be either a priority or an advantage. Companies from Silicon Valley and other hi-tech areas are now able to pluck good employees from other organizations wherever they might be. Add to the mix a very low unemployment rate in the sector and thousands of open positions. Adding so-called headcount right now is difficult and expensive.

Automation done right produces rapid results and reduces the inconsistencies that will invariably occur when humans are involved – @RoyAtkinson #automation Share on X

Simultaneously, Employee Experience has become a front-and-center topic, especially for those lines of business that touch everyone in the organization: Human Resources and IT. Automation done right produces rapid results and reduces the inconsistencies that will invariably occur when humans are involved. Consistency is a major component of good experience for both employees and ultimately for customers.

We’ll mention more reasons later.

Automate what?

Any procedure or process that consists of a series of repeatable steps can be automated. Since a large percentage of what we do in service management consists of performing repeatable steps, we have fertile ground for automation. The key is to automate the right things in the right way.

How do we choose? I always think of a simple statement by IT thought leader Doug Tedder: Automate the obvious.

Run a report that shows your most frequent incidents and service requests. The steps for resolution of these incidents and fulfillment of the requests are (or should be) known and documented. Your service desk analysts, support technicians, and administrators should not be spending time walking through the same steps over and over again.

The key to successful #automation is to automate the right things in the right way, says @RoyAtkinson Share on X

Automate how?

Start with the simplest “one and done” tasks. A word of caution: Optimize before you automate. Make sure the steps are clear and that there are no unnecessary actions or opportunities for error. If your admins or analysts have different ways to accomplish the same tasks, follow the simplest route. Getting this part wrong can produce poor or unexpected results. Test and test again.

Consider the following simple procedures, for example:

• Password reset (Yes, many organizations are still doing this manually!)
• Account creation
• Adding or resetting printers
• Installing software and adding licenses
• Provisioning new equipment

Optimize before you automate. Make sure the steps are clear and that there are no unnecessary actions or opportunities for error. Getting this part wrong can produce poor or unexpected results. Test and test again – @RoyAtkinson #automation Share on X

Once you’ve optimized and automated those, you can begin to combine them to streamline more complicated workflows, such as onboarding, which includes account creation, software installation, license management, and provisioning equipment, among other things. Many organizations have successfully created “push-button onboarding” so that all the HR and IT tasks required to get a new hire to work can be done with a few mouse clicks, provided that the workflow includes business rules such that any necessary approvals can also be done with a click by the appropriate manager. (See this three-minute video demonstration on Facebook.) With the right toolset, repeatable tasks can be put together to create and configure virtual machines, add and remove access, restart applications, archive log files, compile reports,  assign tickets to the right groups, analysts, or administrators, and so on. The possibilities are endless.

What are the benefits of automation?

To automate properly takes time, thought, and effort beforehand. What do we get back?

• Reduction in employee fatigue and burnout from doing repetitive tasks
• Time saving – no more waiting for messages to be read and actions to be taken
• Accuracy – no more typos or “games of telephone” where messages degrade as they are passed along; reduced rework and fewer reassignments
• Consistency – tasks are performed the same way every time
• Ability to concentrate on more value-added work, such as knowledge management
• For internal IT – better employee experience in your organization
• For MSPs – better customer experience

As a result of these and other benefits of automation, your organization can realize substantial cost savings, and those savings can be demonstrated to senior management. As you begin automating, measure the average times it takes to accomplish routine tasks now, and then the corresponding automated tasks. In many cases, you’ll be going from hours to minutes to seconds. As we know, time is money.

As you begin automating, measure the average times it takes to accomplish routine tasks now, and then the corresponding automated tasks. In many cases, you’ll be going from hours to minutes to seconds – @RoyAtkinson #automation Share on X

There are secondary benefits as well, and they’re not trivial. Historically, IT’s reputation has suffered because of the time it takes to get things done: projects lag, hardware refreshes are late, and so on. When routines are accelerated and employees are spending time performing high-value tasks, progress is also accelerated, allowing organizations to bring products and services to market faster and serve customers better.

In addition, what IT learns automating its own procedures and processes can be applied across the enterprise, allowing all lines of business to experience similar efficiencies and acceleration. What automation can do for IT, it can do for enterprise service management as well.

In summary

• Start by automating common repetitive tasks
• Optimize before you automate
• Test and test again
• Measure the time saved
• Connect automated tasks into workflows
• Share the benefits with other lines of business
• Track employee experience and customer experience to demonstrate gains

Automation can pave the way to your future. Start now.