Best It Automation Software for Businesses in 2023

Table of Contents

What is IT Automation Software? 

IT automation software is a computer program that creates repeatable instructions and procedures to reduce or replace human interaction with IT systems. It frees up IT staff and helps them save time for more strategic work. 

Features of IT Automation Software

IT automation tools help you get recurring manual processes out of your staff's to-do list. However, it is critical to determine your requirements and the features you need. Different IT automation software can vary in the features and functionality they offer. That being said, let's take a quick look at the general characteristics of an IT automation solution. 

1. Automated provisioning:

Businesses need to set-up infrastructure that's all about virtual assets, networks, and data centers. With most of what we do nowadays being defined in software, there's a need for codification of processes. IT automation tools provide automated codification. Thus, you have a template that enables you to roll out deployments in your data center and existing infrastructure. 

2. Configuration management:

All applications are different – various settings, ports, and filesystems; the list is endless. And storing your application environment in a document or spreadsheet will not help you achieve an ideal environment to host applications. 

IT automation tools provide robust configuration management features that allow you to define your IT infrastructure in an easy and comprehensive way. It simplifies the automation of practices and scripts for system management, thereby making it easier to get the real work done. 

3. Automated orchestration:

In most organizations, IT is more complicated than deploying a single service on a single machine. You need to manage and service several apps across various infrastructures and data centers. Besides, there are different processes of private, public, and hybrid cloud deployments. 

IT automation software lets you combine multiple automated tasks and their configurations across various systems. Furthermore, it allows you to control these orchestrations, along with connecting them all together. IT automation solutions also enable you to keep track of all of them and run more autonomous systems with ease. 

4. Application deployment:

In order to achieve modern expectations, development pipelines need to rely on robust automation practices. The deployment procedure needs to take place in a trusted, proven, and codified manner. 

IT automation tools provide automatic application deployment features. These features allow you to deploy your applications according to the required configuration. Besides, it gives a transparent deployment approach that's easy to understand by your entire IT team. 

4. Security and compliance:

IT teams need to define and enforce security, compliance, and risk management policies. IT process automation software help you be more proactive and move security towards the prominence of your IT operations. They provide standardized security workflows and procedures for effortless auditing and compliance. These tools also allow you to implement new compliance requirements seamlessly across your IT.

Role of an IT Automation Software in an Organization

Most IT managers face the common challenge of getting more work done with fewer resources. Here's where IT automation comes into play. Let's take a look at the role of IT automation software in an organization. 

1. Reduces costs:

With cash inflow plunging, many organizations are looking for ways to reduce costs in every way possible. IT automation is one such way. It provides enhanced work output, reduces human involvement, and mitigates errors, thus, reducing expenses. 

2. Increases productivity:

The lack of productivity is another one of the critical challenges IT organizations face. IT process automation software eliminates the need for manual work. It improves output and frees up IT staff to allow them to use their knowledge and skills in core tasks. IT automation tools also reduce the turnaround time, so more work can be processed daily. 

3. Ensures greater availability:

System outages can not only cost a company millions of dollars in lost revenue, but it can also damage a company's reputation and goodwill. Thus, IT operations readily prioritize maximum availability. IT automation solutions offer 24/7 system monitoring, remote communication, and automated save & recovery, which substantially alleviates the network downtime. And if there is a downtime, these tools also ensure the recovery is fast and smooth. 

4. Provides greater reliability:

IT operations include tasks that are mundane and repetitive, but necessary. So, these tasks are often prone to human error. IT automation systems eliminate the human factor from these processes, making sure there are no costly manual errors. In enterprises with large networks and multiple operating systems, IT automation tools can dramatically improve reliability by relieving staff from manual tasks. 

5. Optimizes performance:

IT professionals need to perform tasks and workflows faster at a higher workload. Keeping up with these demands without losing efficiency can be challenging. IT automation tools act as a facilitator and help you improvise the performance of your staff without hiring more people. 

Benefits of IT Automation Software

As discussed, IT automation helps reduce errors, alleviate costs, and enhance performance. However, the advantages of IT automation goes beyond operational efficiency. Let's take a look at how IT automation software can benefit an organization. 

1. Improved speed:

IT operations consist of various tasks that need to be completed in a specific frame of time. Automation frees IT admins from routine tasks so they can spend time on more productive tasks. They can spend more time on value-addition like IT infrastructure optimization, which can speed up the completion of projects. 

2. Enhanced accuracy:

IT professionals can make various mistakes, such as:

• Skipping a step in a complex task

• Making error while typing CLI

• Choosing the wrong configuration setting

Troubleshooting these errors takes additional time and effort. IT process automation software allows you to construct an accurate sequence of operations. Thus, you can run countless repetitions without deviation, which increases both accuracy and efficiency. 

3. Unified governance:

IT admins can differ in terms of the way they perform a task. These discrepancies can lead to compliance-related issues. An IT automation tool instills consistency in IT operations, which promotes governance and regulatory compliance. 

4. Improved flexibility:

With technologies evolving and IT infrastructure growing, processes are always subject to a change. Automated processes, however, remain constant until someone decides to change them. IT automation software helps organizations have a set workflow, along with the ability to update and transform processes as needed. 

5. Interoperability and integration:

Most IT automation tools are compatible with other software, systems, and elements in diverse IT environments. An IT automation solution integrates with top-of-the-line orchestration tools to facilitate tasks under governed workflows. 

Common Problems while Using IT Automation Software and How to Fix Them

We all know IT automation can pay off an organization in the long term – efficiency and productivity go up, and cost and error rates go down. However, most organizations are likely to face some hurdles with IT workflow automation. Let's take a look at a few common challenges to automatic processes and how to overcome them. 

1. End-user resistance:

Organizations contemplating to implement IT operations for the first time are likely to face end-user resistance. When persons are responsible for particular work processes, they learn it and get into a groove with it. Such users might become resistant to doing things in a new way, even if it is "improved."

To avoid end-user resistance, make sure to include a few end-users in the planning and automation design process. Make them a part of the change, understand their pain points, and make them understand the benefits of the new system.

2. Management resistance:

While end-users are all about usability, management is more concerned about the ROI they'll receive. Thankfully, creating a business case of IT automation is easy. You can sway through the management with the use of case studies of automated workflows and how different organizations have benefitted from it. You can also overcome management resistance by a demonstration that IT automation doesn't require any significant change in the infrastructure or staff. 

3. Privacy and security concerns:

Data security is one of the major concerns of IT organizations. Fortunately, security steps are easy to include in automated workflows. Using the right automation software makes it easy to build security measures right from the beginning. 

4. Bad experiences with technology upgrades:

Tech upgrades and bad experiences go hand in hand. There's hardly any organization that hasn't been through a tormenting technology upgrade experience. However, it is critical to understand that technology upgrades are crucial and make things better. 

5. Disposition of data:

Automated workflows collect data through various sources to dispatch it in a plethora of different ways. This can cause a lot of end-user and management resistance. You can overcome this resistance by demonstrating how this information can be used to track productivity and learn more about customers.