The Ultimate Guide to IT Process Automation Tools & Examples

To distill it to its essence, IT process automation involves replacing manual IT workloads with automated software and tools. The aim is to free up your team’s human resources to work on growth and more strategically important tasks rather than bog them down with mundane tasks.

As Jeremy Wanamaker, CEO of Complete Network, says, “IT process automation functions like an efficient co-pilot, handling repetitive tasks to let your team lead with strategy.”

If you’re interested in understanding how IT process automation could benefit your organization, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll take a closer look into exactly what IT automation is and how it works. In the end, readers will have a better understanding of the various concepts, tools, and methodologies involved.

Understanding IT Process Automation

To start, we should first explain what we mean by “process.” In this context, it refers to the entire gamut of duties, operations, and routines your IT team members perform to administer and upkeep the organization’s technology infrastructure.

This list includes tasks such as tracking tickets, performing backups, monitoring cyber threats, reviewing system performance, handling updates, provisioning cloud-based resources, and so much more.

Many of these responsibilities can be reassigned to workflow automation software that runs the tasks according to a preplanned schedule or whenever certain conditions are triggered. This can unlock a wealth of benefits for your business including:

• Lower operating expenditures (OpEx) costs as teams can be leaner, hardware and software utilization are optimized, and expensive delays and bottlenecks are eliminated.
• Reduce errors by implementing strict, rules-based guidelines that the automated tools follow to assure accuracy and improve the quality of deliverables.
• Achieve a proactive approach to IT with the help of anomaly detection and predictive analytics to uncover potential issues at the onset.
• Improve the customer experience by deploying automated chatbots and virtual assistants.

Key Components of IT Process Automation

Now that we’ve explained what IT process automation is and the various ways it benefits organizations, let’s discuss the key components.

1. Self-Service enables end-users, whether employees, customers, or clients, to independently resolve common IT-related issues or requests without direct intervention from IT support staff, which reduces wait times and increases overall satisfaction. Common use cases include password resets, software installations and updates, and account setup among a variety of other tasks.
2. Orchestration is the coordination and management of multiple IT tasks and processes across different systems, applications, and services. The idea is to integrate and arrange various IT resources and workflows to operate as a unified, harmonious whole to achieve a common objective. Companies often turn to automated orchestration to provision servers, configure network services, manage storage resources, and deploy containers at scale.
3. Monitoring revolves around tracking the health of hundreds or thousands of independent systems, applications, and services all at once. Automated tools can generate real-time alerts and notifications when problems are detected by leveraging advanced monitoring agents, sensors, and data collection mechanisms to continuously gather real-time data from various IT components, including servers, networks, databases, cloud resources, and applications.
4. Reporting tools provide immense value since sifting through the sheer amount of data generated by monitoring systems can feel overwhelming and daunting, especially for non-technical leaders. These tools can generate a wide range of reports tailored to the different stakeholders within an organization, from high-level executive summaries that include simple stats regarding key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) to detailed technical reports with precise insight into resource utilization, application performance, and system logs.

Essential IT Process Automation Tools

In this section, we’ll cover the essential tools that make it possible to automate workflows and business operations within an organization.

1. DevOps Tools

Automating DevOps often serves as a foundation for broader automation initiatives.

This is typically achieved through the adoption of various tools and methodologies such as continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines, configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Puppet), containerization platforms (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation). The aim of DevOps automation is to:

• Accelerate the software delivery process, allowing for more frequent and reliable releases, which translates into faster time-to-market.
• Promote consistency and repeatability across environments, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring that deployments are predictable and reliable.
• Foster collaboration and transparency between development and operations teams, breaking down traditional silos.

2. Robotic Process Automation and Business Process Automation

Automated IT solutions can leverage both RPA and BPA technologies, depending on the complexity of the workload being automated.

For instance, simple and repetitive tasks, such as software installations, patch deployments, or user provisioning, can use Robotic Process Automation (RPA) as an effective tool.

However, inherently complex IT processes involving multiple interdependent steps, decision points, and potential exceptions that require human intervention or judgment might fit better under the scope of Business Process Automation (BPA).

3. AI and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning are playing an increasingly significant role in automating IT processes, driving efficiency, accuracy, and intelligent decision-making across various domains. Some essential tools to be aware of include:

• Predictive Analytics: AI and machine learning excel at analyzing vast amounts of monitoring data, identifying patterns, and learning from historical trends. Tools like Splunk Machine Learning and Amazon SageMaker take advantage of these capabilities for predictive analytics and anomaly detection.
• Service Management: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, such as those offered by Serviceaide, Freshworks, and Zoho Desk, are transforming customer service operations by handling routine user requests and inquiries.
• Testing: AI-enabled test automation frameworks like Applitools, Test.ai, and Mabl are great for generating test cases and even self-healing test scripts.
• Security: Darktrace and Vectra use machine-learning models for advanced threat detection, behavioral analytics, and automated incident response.

4. Scripting Languages

Although the aforementioned technologies excel in specific domains, scripting languages often serve as the glue that ties everything together.

Scripts can be used to interlink various automation tools, leveraging their capabilities while ensuring seamless integration and efficient data flow across different systems and platforms. Versatile and widely used scripting languages like Python, Bash, and PowerShell serve as powerful building blocks for automating a wide range of IT processes.

5. Configuration Management

Configuration automation tools have become indispensable in modern IT environments, where maintaining consistent and reliable configurations across a multitude of servers, containers, and cloud resources is paramount.

Puppet, Chef, Ansible, SaltStack, and CFEngine are among the most widely adopted solutions in this domain. These tools grant teams the power to define desired system configurations as code, automate the deployment of these configurations, and continuously enforce their integrity throughout the entire application lifecycle.

Real-World Examples of IT Process Automation

Next, let’s discuss a few real-world examples of IT process automation being used to improve user experiences, thwart cyber threats, and build self-healing IT infrastructure.

1. User Support Chatbots

Chatbots represent a tangible and visible manifestation of automation in action. Powered by AI models trained on natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) data, these conversational agents can interpret and respond to customer queries in a human-like manner, replacing human agents in a variety of basic customer service situations.

One of the key advantages of chatbots is their ability to handle inquiries and tasks with speed and consistency, while also offering 24/7 availability and scalability.

2. Threat Detection

Using IT process automation for threat detection can significantly enhance an organization’s security posture. Automated threat detection systems employ a combination of techniques, including machine learning, behavioral analytics, and rule-based engines, to continuously monitor various data sources, such as network traffic, system logs, user activities, and endpoint telemetry.

By establishing baselines of normal behavior, these systems can quickly identify deviations that may indicate malicious activities, such as unauthorized access attempts, data exfiltration, or the presence of malware.

3. Self-Healing Infrastructure

This is a key concept in modern IT management, especially in dynamic environments. The idea is to create systems that can detect issues, diagnose the root cause, and automatically resolve or mitigate the problem without human intervention.

By monitoring for abnormalities like sudden surges in CPU usage, memory leaks, or network congestion, automated tools can remove the need for manual repair leading to reduced downtime and increased availability.

Implementing IT Process Automation in Your Organization

At this point, you’re probably wondering how your IT team could best implement process automation within your organization. In this final section, we’ll provide advice on how and where to get started.

• Step 1 – Identify the manual processes and IT workflows that would benefit most from automation technologies. Next, prioritize them based on their impact and complexity, feasibility, and cost.
• Step 2 – Gather input from key stakeholders, outline their concerns, and ensure that the automation initiatives address their specific needs and pain points.
• Step 3 – Selecting the most appropriate automation tools for your organization can be a daunting task. We recommend that you conduct thorough research, and possibly enlist the assistance of a qualified partner.
• Step 4 – Once implemented, invest time and resources into creating comprehensive documentation that clearly outlines the automated processes, their dependencies, and any necessary troubleshooting steps.

Get Expert Help with Your IT Process Automation Needs

As a veteran MSP with extensive expertise in IT process automation, we understand the challenges and obstacles teams face in choosing the right tools and methodologies that suit their organization. Rather than swing it alone, a better choice is to work with a partner.

The team of seasoned IT professionals at Complete Network possesses a proven track record helping clients in Albany, New York, Charlotte, North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Bluffton, South Carolina, strategically automate process and reach higher levels of efficiency.

Contact our friendly team at (844) 426-7844. We look forward to speaking with you!