IT and Enterprise Transformation 101: Why Automation Matters

[MichaelDortch]

Ever had to address a bunch of envelopes, sign a bunch of letters or do data entry for any length of time? Ever notice that the longer you performed the task without a break, the more mistakes you made?

What was happening was basically something we've all experienced in different ways. I like to think of it as repetition fatigue. When you ask humans to do a repetitive task long enough, eventually, the brain, the involved muscles or both begin to wander and drift, and attempts at repetition become inconsistent.

If all you're doing is addressing envelopes or signing letters, having extras around and taking more frequent breaks are often sufficient to overcome repetition fatigue. But if you're doing data entry, or say, resetting user passwords or diagnosing and resolving IT problems, repetition fatigue can induce mistakes that propagate quickly into far more serious and costly problems.

All of this is why automation of key tasks and processes is so incredibly valuable. Automation cures repetition fatigue, because automated systems can do the same things the same ways far more reliably that even the most diligent human beings.

In IT service management, automation enables consistent deployment and scaling of proven processes. Automation is the foundation for the consolidation and consumerization and transformation of IT services and how they are managed. Beyond IT, automation enables the transformational improvement of how key business services are delivered, and of how they and the relationships that interconnect them are managed.

Of course, automation only delivers value if it is used to automate processes that work. But once such processes are identified and proven, automation is the very best next thing that can possibly happen to them. And to the IT and business decision makers who get it right. And to their enterprises.

Check out our customer success stories. Come to Knowledge14 and hear more of them in person. And share yours as you progress along your journey, to automation and beyond. (Got a custom app? Tell us about that too, please. Might be some swag and some props in it for you. Just sayin'…)