
Automate Your Business Processes
Streamline internal operations and optimize front-office and back-office processes with low-code.
IT automation, sometimes called infrastructure automation, involves using software and systems to replace routine processes that are repetitive, time consuming, and error-prone, and reduce manual intervention. It is used to improve efficiency, minimize errors, and save money. By automating repetitive tasks, IT automation frees up IT managers for higher-level, more value-added work, like building new software or developing new strategies.
IT automation can refer to the automation of a single discrete task, or processes based on user actions or event triggers, or of entire autonomous IT deployments, such as rolling out new instances of software services to meet spikes in demand.
The use of IT automation is growing. A 2022 State of IT survey from Spiceworks Ziff Davis found that 50% of surveyed organizations had already implemented an IT automation strategy, while another 20% plan to deploy IT automation solutions within two years. Among companies of 500+ employees, that combined figure rose to 86%.
There is an enormous amount of repeatable work that can be automated in IT. As cloud services proliferated, IT managers learned that automating processes produces efficiency and savings while improving reliability. When organizations need to scale up services or capacity quickly, for example, to provision virtual machines or even thousands of servers within a short period of time, IT automation makes it practical.
As organizations undergo digital transformation — the use of technology to fundamentally change how they do business — IT managers understand that it is essential to automate workflows, applications, and the provisioning of IT infrastructures that enable the business processes they wish to transform.
In some cases, IT automation also helps IT staff overcome the challenges caused by using tools and software that are not compatible across environments. IT automation can address this incompatibility by allowing IT staff to automate end-to-end workflows across siloed environments.
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Visit pageIT staff use tools and software to create code to execute specific, repeatable instructions that are triggered by events or times — for instance, “Every Friday at midnight, run a CRM sales report.”
Complex IT automation may involve combining multiple scripts of instructions — for example, to configure applications and provision infrastructure.
IT managers can further automate tasks based on insights gained by analyzing reports and querying their value among business managers.
IT managers use IT automation widely, from application development and configuration management, to network automation, cloud provisioning, and more. IT staff use IT automation for:
Intelligent process automation (IPA) tools — consisting of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) — are driving more of today’s IT automation systems. Artificial intelligence uses algorithms to process statistics and find patterns in enormous amounts of data. The goal of machine learning is to gather enough intelligence to then improve models and make better decisions, as well as to enhance automated systems and processes.
IPA tools can use AI to process semi-structured and unstructured data using natural language processing and other cognitive capabilities. With this power, IPA tools can be used to create complex workflows for chatbots or for other automated customer interactions. AI, engaged with machine learning, can manage, modernize, and optimize IT environments. In time, systems gather enough data to act in unpredictable situations and to improve task performance.
Another powerful technology that has gained some market traction is robotic process automation (RPA). By 2030, the global market for RPA is estimated to grow to $45 billion, up from $2 billion in 2020. With RPA, organizations can instruct software robots (bots) to perform tasks that humans currently complete. IT managers can create rules to automate processes or parts of processes in various functions. In areas such as manufacturing, finance, HR, sales and support, bots can process invoices, manage inventory, support customers, and help onboard new staff.
As companies demand new ways to accelerate their IT processes, the OutSystems low-code application development platform is here to help. Complement your existing scripts and programs with custom applications to both automate and orchestrate your automated IT processes. Learn more about how you can quickly modernize your IT environment — visit our Process Automation page.