Editor's note
In the fast-moving DevOps age, companies must better connect their silos so processes and tasks can flow more seamlessly and IT departments can work more quickly and efficiently.
Workflows are becoming increasingly essential in the DevOps age because they carry tasks from the application creation stage all the way to deployment more effectively by removing unnecessary steps and configuration issues. When admins introduce orchestration to a workflow, they reduce the risk of human error and free themselves to focus on bigger, more critical assignments rather than the routine, administrative tasks they'd be required to do previously to keep the workflow moving.
Orchestration is often used interchangeably with automation, but buyers should be careful to not confuse the two. Automation makes a single task repeatable without effort, while orchestration is concerned with automating the execution of a workflow or a process. Orchestration software goes beyond executing a workflow -- it aims to streamline these processes to make them as efficient as possible. Orchestration, while not just automation, does control and connect automated tasks.
IT departments of all sizes must navigate a more complex technology world than in years past -- so should their software. Effective orchestration tools piece together and build upon various automation tasks performed by DevOps tools. The purpose of this guide is to educate buyers about the functions of orchestration software, the vendors available on the market and how to choose the most suitable option.