After almost 20 years of being on the back burner, IT Automation is finally gaining visibility again. Today, IT Management is very sophisticated and in the middle of an AI renaissance. However, IT Automation has not reached a level of maturity that is on par with the other aspects contributing to IT Management, which have clear terminology, frameworks, certification programs, and maturity models. 

IT Automation is not end-to-end formalized

The terminology related to IT Automation is murky and inconsistently driven by the most influential vendors, market research companies, and flavored by the industry buzzwords of the day.

From my experience the lack of standardized IT Automation terminology is often confusing to individuals responsible for buying automation products to resolve their business problems. Moreover, it is even confusing to the vendors that are trying to position and sell their automation products against their competition.

Organizations lack an IT Automation defined strategy

Organizations have operating strategies for many functional and cross-functional goals, but automation is not one of them. How can this be expected if IT Automation is not end-to-end formalized in the first place? 

You may ask, why would any organization strategize around IT Automation in the times of organizational agility and adaptivity? Shouldn’t organizations allow automation to happen in an emerging fashion by enabling functional teams and business units to self-organize? I will answer that in a future blog.

Welcome to “IT Automation – standardize it!”

In my “IT Automation – standardize it!” blog series I will discuss best practice IT Automation from end-to-end, with the goal of improving the selection process for organizations seeking to identify appropriate products and map their capabilities to address immediate and future business needs. If you are interested, please subscribe to my blog and contribute to the discussion!