How do you reduce IT automation risks and costs?

1 Assess your automation needs

Before you automate anything, you need to have a clear understanding of your automation goals, scope, and priorities. What are the problems you want to solve with automation? What are the processes, tasks, or workflows that can be automated? What are the benefits and risks of automation for each case? How do you measure the success and impact of automation? By answering these questions, you can identify the most valuable and feasible automation opportunities and avoid wasting time and resources on unnecessary or ineffective automation projects.

2 Choose the right automation tools

There are many automation tools available in the market, each with different features, capabilities, and costs. Choosing the right automation tools for your IT operations management depends on several factors, such as your automation needs, budget, infrastructure, skills, and preferences. You should compare and evaluate different automation tools based on their functionality, compatibility, scalability, security, usability, and support. You should also consider the total cost of ownership, including the initial investment, maintenance, upgrade, and integration costs. You should avoid using too many or too complex automation tools that can increase your automation risks and costs.

3 Design and test your automation workflows

Once you have chosen your automation tools, you need to design and test your automation workflows carefully. You should follow the best practices and standards for automation design, such as using modular, reusable, and maintainable code, documenting your logic and parameters, and applying version control and backup. You should also test your automation workflows thoroughly, using different scenarios, inputs, and outputs, and verifying the accuracy, reliability, and security of your automation results. You should also monitor and review your automation workflows regularly, and make adjustments or improvements as needed.

4 Manage your automation assets

Your automation assets are the resources and components that you use for your automation workflows, such as scripts, configurations, credentials, data, and logs. You need to manage your automation assets effectively, to ensure their availability, security, and quality. You should use a centralized and secure repository to store and organize your automation assets, and apply access control and encryption to protect them from unauthorized or malicious access. You should also update and clean your automation assets periodically, and remove any obsolete or redundant ones.

5 Train and empower your IT staff

Your IT staff are the key stakeholders and users of your IT automation. You need to train and empower them to use your automation tools and workflows properly and efficiently. You should provide them with adequate training, guidance, and support on how to use, manage, and troubleshoot your automation tools and workflows. You should also encourage them to share their feedback, suggestions, and best practices on how to improve your automation strategy and performance. You should also foster a culture of collaboration and innovation among your IT staff, and reward them for their automation efforts and achievements.

6 Align your automation with your business goals

Your IT automation should not be an isolated or independent activity, but rather a part of your overall IT operations management and business strategy. You should align your automation with your business goals, such as improving customer satisfaction, reducing operational costs, enhancing competitive advantage, or complying with regulations. You should also communicate and coordinate your automation with other departments and stakeholders, such as finance, marketing, sales, or legal, and ensure that your automation supports and integrates with their processes and objectives.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?