Cloud Without Compromise

Chapter 8. Ecosystem for Automation

Automation, in the scope of technology and its applications for the world of IT, aims to unburden humans from mundane tasks so that more energy and time can be focused on higher-value endeavors— much in the way that automation has applied to other fields and industries. For technology, this can include tasks like business process automation, IT automation, personal applications like home automation, and more. The goal isn’t to get rid of humans, but to pull them from away from time-consuming tasks that could otherwise be handled more efficiently and consistently by a machine. We like to describe the world of automation as having two branches: business automation and IT operational automation.

Whichever branch you’re interested in, there are types of automation you could apply to either:

Basic automation

Simple, rudimentary tasks are automated by centralizing and removing the friction associated with those tasks. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Business Process Management (BPM) are good examples, but so too is learning to manage the deployment of infrastructure, or route service tickets, and more.

Process automation

This type of automation manages business processes for uniformity and transparency. It is typically handled by dedicated software and business apps. Using process automation can increase productivity and efficiency within your business. It can also deliver new insights into business challenges and suggest solutions. Process mining ...