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• ITSM meets AI: Capabilities, challenges and what's next

  AI promises to transform ITSM through automation and intelligence, but success depends on matching the right AI type to specific challenges while weighing benefits against costs. Continue Reading

• What is compliance automation?

  Compliance automation, also known as automated compliance, is the practice of using technology -- such as applications with AI features -- to perform and simplify compliance procedures. Continue Reading

• What is automation bias?

  Automation bias is an overreliance by human operators on automated systems, such as computer hardware, software and algorithms, to make decisions, even when the machine-generated output is incorrect or contradicts human judgment. Continue Reading

• What is DevOps as a service?

  DevOps as a service is a delivery model for software application development. Continue Reading

• What is an automated script?

  An automated script is a code snippet that executes repetitive or complex tasks such as provisioning infrastructure, managing security vulnerabilities, setting up data pipelines and testing software, with little or no human intervention. Continue Reading

• Definitions to Get Started

  • What is compliance automation?
  • What is automation bias?
  • What is DevOps as a service?
  • What is an automated script?

  • What is AI in networking?
  • What is Docker?
  • What is real user monitoring (RUM)?
  • What is infrastructure automation?

  View All Definitions

• Automate PowerShell scripts for self-healing IT infrastructure

  Transform manual maintenance into efficient automated processes and free your IT team for strategic innovation.Continue Reading

• What is AI in networking?

  AI in networking involves the application of artificial intelligence technologies, including machine learning, deep learning and advanced data analytics, to automate, optimize and secure network operations.Continue Reading

• What is Docker?

  Docker is an open source software platform used to create, deploy and manage applications in virtualized environments called containers.Continue Reading

• What is real user monitoring (RUM)?

  Real user monitoring (RUM) is a type of performance monitoring that records user interactions with a website or application.Continue Reading

• What is infrastructure automation?

  Infrastructure automation uses software tools to automate processes related to IT infrastructure provisioning, management and monitoring.Continue Reading

• What is infrastructure as code (IaC)?

  Infrastructure as code (IaC) is an IT practice that codifies and manages underlying IT infrastructure as software.Continue Reading

• What is distributed tracing?

  Distributed tracing is a method used to track the journey of requests as they flow through a distributed system or microservices architecture.Continue Reading

• What is an automation architect?

  An automation architect is a senior IT professional responsible for the strategic design, development and governance of automation initiatives across an organization.Continue Reading

• What is workflow orchestration?

  Workflow orchestration is the process of coordinating and automating tasks across different systems to ensure they run within a defined workflow.Continue Reading

• What is blue/green deployment?

  Blue/green deployment is a change management strategy for releasing software code.Continue Reading

• What is agentic process automation?

  Agentic process automation, also known as agentic automation, is an automation approach that integrates autonomous AI agents and advanced AI technologies to perform tasks with minimal human intervention.Continue Reading

• What is orchestration in IT?

  In IT, orchestration is a commonly used term for the automated coordination and management of different processes, systems and tasks.Continue Reading

• What is a virtual machine (VM) and how does it work?

  A virtual machine (VM) is a virtual emulation of a physical computer.Continue Reading

• What is management information systems (MIS)?

  Management information systems (MIS) is a department within an enterprise responsible for controlling the hardware and software systems that the organization uses to make business-critical decisions.Continue Reading

• What is IT operations (IT ops)?

  The term IT operations (IT ops) describes the many processes and services an IT department manages and maintains within an organization.Continue Reading

• What is application release automation (ARA)?

  Application release automation (ARA) is a process that automatically packages and deploys an application, or application updates, through the stages of development to production.Continue Reading

• What is continuous monitoring?

  Continuous monitoring constantly observes the performance and operation of IT assets to help reduce risk and improve uptime instead of taking a point-in-time snapshot of a device, network or application.Continue Reading

• 6 open source workflow engines and how to use them

  When evaluating open source workflow engines, learn their features and strengths, then view top platforms that streamline data pipelines, roll out microservices and automate tasks.Continue Reading

• What is security automation?

  Security automation uses technology to remove high-volume manual processes from security operations to detect cyberthreats, which saves time by integrating different workflows into repeatable processes.Continue Reading

• Kubernetes automation: Use cases and tools to know

  Kubernetes automation simplifies the configuration, deployment and management of prepackaged container components supporting business apps, but it's not recommended in all cases.Continue Reading

• 8 service desk automation examples to enhance IT support

  NLP-powered chatbots, escalation algorithms, data insights, onboarding, SLA monitoring and faster response times are service desk automation examples boosting IT support.Continue Reading

• What is task automation?

  Task automation uses technology to perform repetitive or routine tasks automatically, improving efficiency, minimizing mistakes and reducing errors.Continue Reading

• What is an automation engineer and how do you become one?

  An automation engineer designs and develops autonomous systems to manage repetitive tasks and improve efficiency and productivity.Continue Reading

• What is tool sprawl? Explaining how IT teams can avoid it

  Tool sprawl is the accumulation of many IT tools by an organization, leading to inefficiency and data siloing.Continue Reading

• What is root cause analysis?

  Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method for understanding the underlying cause of an observed or experienced incident.Continue Reading

• 10 steps to develop your IT automation strategy

  Setting business goals, establishing governance practices, identifying and deploying the right tools, and providing training are the foundations of a sound IT automation strategy.Continue Reading

• What is the Agile test automation pyramid?

  The Agile test automation pyramid is a graphical strategy guide for implementing automated software testing.Continue Reading

• What is continuous deployment (CD)?

  Continuous deployment (CD) is a strategy for software development and releases in which every code change is automatically run through a pipeline of tests and inspections before being pushed into production.Continue Reading

• What is function as a service (FaaS)?

  Function as a service (FaaS) is a cloud computing model that enables cloud customers to develop applications and deploy functionalities and only be charged when the functionality executes.Continue Reading

• 12 steps to effectively implement IT automation

  IT can't automate everything in its purview -- and certainly not all at once. But there are tried-and-true steps IT organizations can follow to automate workflows safely.Continue Reading

• What is serverless computing?

  Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model that lets software developers build and run applications and servers without having to provision or manage the back-end infrastructure.Continue Reading

• What is cloud orchestration (cloud orchestrator)?

  Cloud orchestration (cloud orchestrator) is the use of programming technology to manage the interconnections and interactions among workloads on public and private cloud infrastructure.Continue Reading

• What is a configuration file?

  A configuration file, often shortened to config file, defines the parameters, options, settings and preferences applied to operating systems (OSes), infrastructure devices and applications in an IT context.Continue Reading

• What is AIOps (artificial intelligence for IT operations)?

  Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) is an umbrella term for the use of big data analytics, machine learning (ML) and other AI technologies to automate and enhance IT operations.Continue Reading

• What is change failure rate (CFR)?

  Change failure rate is a software development performance metric that measures the percentage of software deliveries that required remediation after release to production.Continue Reading

• CI/CD pipeline security: Know the risks and best practices

  Rapid release cycles need not compromise the security of an application and supporting infrastructure. Follow these guidelines to ensure security throughout the CI/CD pipeline.Continue Reading

• What are ModelOps (model operations) analytics models?

  ModelOps (model operations) is a holistic approach to building analytics models that can quickly progress from the lab to production.Continue Reading

• Getting started with Argo CD on Kubernetes

  Argo CD can make managing Kubernetes clusters simpler and more efficient. Learn how to install Argo CD and set up an application to get started.Continue Reading

• Building an infrastructure-as-code pipeline in the cloud

  There are key stages to manage infrastructure as code, from source control to deployment. Here's how these functions can be accomplished through cloud services.Continue Reading

• What is LXD (Linux container hypervisor)?

  LXD, pronounced 'lex-dee,' is a unified platform for managing system containers and virtual machines (VMs).Continue Reading

• How to deploy a LAMP stack

  Examine the components and deployment options of a LAMP stack, which provides web hosting, database and scripting platforms that are found in many data centers.Continue Reading

• What is a service mesh?

  A service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer that controls service-to-service communication within a distributed application.Continue Reading

• How to use Linux package managers

  There are many different package managers for Linux distributions. Linux admins should know what to expect from these distributions and how to tackle software maintenance.Continue Reading

• Deploy Azure landing zones using Terraform

  Azure landing zones are well-managed environments that provide a way to run workloads. Deploying them using Terraform lets users build a solid foundation.Continue Reading

• Dive into Terraform basics with this tutorial

  Terraform can save you time and headaches when deploying servers with cloud providers. Get up to speed on Terraform basics in this tutorial.Continue Reading

• Understand the k-means clustering algorithm with examples

  The k-means clustering algorithm groups similar objects or data points into clusters. This approach is popular for multivariate numeric data.Continue Reading

• Deploy a Redis Cluster on Kubernetes

  Redis is a powerful platform with many use cases. Follow this tutorial to run Redis on Kubernetes to simplify deployments and increase reliability and performance.Continue Reading

• GitHub

  GitHub is a web-based version control and collaboration platform for software developers.Continue Reading

• Type 2 hypervisor (hosted hypervisor)

  A Type 2 hypervisor is a virtual machine (VM) manager that is installed as a software application on an existing operating system (OS).Continue Reading

• Virtual Machine Management Service

  The Virtual Machine Management service, also known as VMMS or vmms.exe, is the main module in the Microsoft Windows operating system for controlling the virtual machines (VMs) on a Hyper-V server.Continue Reading

• How to use regex in PowerShell

  A regular expression is a series of characters that determine a matching pattern in text to find or replace input validation. Walk through a regex example in PowerShell.Continue Reading

• IT incident management

  IT incident management is a component of IT service management (ITSM) that aims to rapidly restore services to normal following an incident while minimizing adverse effects on the business.Continue Reading

• virtualization

  Virtualization is the creation of a virtual version of an actual piece of technology, such as an operating system (OS), a server, a storage device or a network resource.Continue Reading

• bare-metal hypervisor (Type 1 hypervisor)

  A bare-metal hypervisor, also known as a Type 1 hypervisor, is virtualization software that has been installed directly onto the computing hardware.Continue Reading

• Master these 5 common Kubernetes troubleshooting tasks

  Not enough nodes? Have some noisy neighbors? Plenty of things can cause containers to underperform. Here's how to chase down and resolve three common Kubernetes problems.Continue Reading

• Zabbix

  Zabbix is an open source monitoring software tool for diverse IT components, including networks, servers, virtual machines (VMs) and cloud services.Continue Reading

• Secure Kubernetes with this Kubescape tutorial

  Kubescape can help discover misconfigurations in a Kubernetes cluster by scanning various resource types. Learn how to use the platform to scan clusters.Continue Reading

• Docker image

  A Docker image is a file used to execute code in a Docker container.Continue Reading

• host virtual machine (host VM)

  A host virtual machine is the server component of a virtual machine the underlying hardware that provides computing resources to support a particular guest VM.Continue Reading

• Compare Nutanix AHV vs. VMware ESXi in the hypervisor battle

  Though Nutanix AHV and VMware ESXi offer similar feature sets, admins' decisions will depend on several factors, such as virtualization needs and workload size.Continue Reading

• Learn how New Relic works and when to use it for IT monitoring

  New Relic is one of many tools that can help an IT team track application performance and health. Before adoption, understand primary use cases and SaaS installation requirements.Continue Reading

• How to respond to 4 common IT alerts

  IT alerts can announce server failures, congested networks and more. When they pop up, administrators need to act. Take steps to look for the source of trouble.Continue Reading

• Containers vs. VMs: What are the key differences?

  Containers are a valuable option for deploying applications, but they have limitations and operate differently than VMs.Continue Reading

• Xen vs. KVM: What are the differences?

  Admins often evaluate Xen and KVM as open source options. The main factors to consider in a primary hypervisor are organizational infrastructure and cloud adoption interests.Continue Reading

• paravirtualization

  Paravirtualization is a type of hardware virtualization that enables the guest operating system (OS) in a virtual machine (VM) to access the hypervisor directly, rather than indirectly through a complex abstraction layer, as is the case with ...Continue Reading

• continuous delivery (CD)

  Continuous delivery (CD) is an approach for software delivery in which development teams produce and test code in short but continuous cycles to improve software quality.Continue Reading

• Server consolidation benefits, types and considerations

  Server consolidation enables admins to boost server utilization and decrease power consumption, which can also reduce costs and improve performance.Continue Reading

• Learn how to use GitLab tutorial for beginners

  GitLab is a complete CI/CD platform. But to really understand GitLab, you must also understand its namesake Git. This Git and GitLab tutorial will get you up to speed on both.Continue Reading

• Full virtualization vs. paravirtualization: Key differences

  Full virtualization and paravirtualization both enable hardware resource abstraction, but the two technologies differ when it comes to isolation levels.Continue Reading

• IT service delivery

  IT service delivery is the way a corporation provides users access to IT services, such as applications, data storage and other business resources. IT service delivery covers design, development, deployment, operation and retirement.Continue Reading

• What's the difference between Type 1 vs. Type 2 hypervisor?

  Choosing between the two hypervisor types largely depends on whether IT administrators oversee an enterprise data center or client-facing, end-user systems.Continue Reading

• declarative programming

  Declarative programming is a method to abstract the control flow for logic required for software to perform an action. Instead, it involves stating what the task or desired outcome is.Continue Reading

• application containerization (app containerization)

  Application containerization is a virtualization technology that works at the operating system (OS) level. It is used for deploying and running distributed applications in their own isolated environments, without the use of virtual machines (VMs).Continue Reading

• How to effectively use DORA metrics in DevOps

  DORA metrics can help organizations standardize their DevOps approach. Explore the DORA framework's benefits and limitations and how to evaluate performance against its metrics.Continue Reading

• containers as a service (CaaS)

  Containers as a service (CaaS) is a cloud-based service that provides a secure environment for running containerized applications.Continue Reading

• hypervisor

  A hypervisor is software that facilitates running multiple virtual machines (VMs) with their own operating systems on a single computer host's hardware.Continue Reading

• on-demand computing (ODC)

  On-demand computing (ODC) is a delivery model in which computing resources are made available to the user as needed.Continue Reading

• ServiceNow

  ServiceNow is a software company that provides a cloud-based, AI-driven platform for automating multiple management workflows in enterprises. The company specializes in IT service management, IT operations management and IT business management.Continue Reading

• guest operating system (guest OS)

  A guest operating system is the operating system installed on either a virtual machine (VM) or partitioned disk. It is usually different from the host operating system.Continue Reading

• An IT ops guide to CMDB automation

  Automating repetitive tasks like software upgrades, lifecycle management and incident reports with a configuration management database can improve IT efficiency and reduce risk.Continue Reading

• Secure your machine learning models with these MLSecOps tips

  By following MLSecOps best practices, companies can introduce AI and machine learning into development pipelines and processes without adding unmitigated security concerns, too.Continue Reading

• Do-While vs. Do-Until in PowerShell: What's the difference?

  PowerShell scripts have several loop options to make automation easy. Learn the difference between Do-While and Do-Until loops and choose which one works best for you.Continue Reading

• How to create and deploy AWS Lambda functions with Terraform

  Deploying AWS Lambda functions with Terraform can save time and reduce risk. In this video tutorial, learn the proper deployment steps.Continue Reading

• Docker Swarm

  Docker Swarm is a container orchestration tool for clustering and scheduling Docker containers.Continue Reading

• From distributed to true edge: 4 edge computing examples

  The optimal applications for edge computing remain in contention as the technology evolves. These examples highlight a shift from distributed computing to true edge environments.Continue Reading

• DevOps engineer

  A DevOps engineer is an IT professional who works with software developers, systems operators and other production IT staff to oversee code releases and deployments.Continue Reading

• ZeroOps

  ZeroOps is when developers spend zero time working with infrastructure and operations, instead spending all their time and creative energy on software product development.Continue Reading

• Microsoft Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere: Feature comparison

  Hyper-V and VMware are in a perpetual battle for supremacy in the virtualization market. Although the hypervisors have similar features, they differ on some key capabilities.Continue Reading

• Top AI tools for DevOps teams to consider

  The DevOps toolchain is at an inflection point as enterprises seek to improve collaboration, productivity, efficiency and security across their DevOps lifecycle using AI.Continue Reading

• Deploy OpenTelemetry to improve Kubernetes observability

  Deploying OpenTelemetry on Kubernetes can give teams a leg up in observability monitoring. It only takes a few simple steps to get the tool up and running.Continue Reading

• Kubernetes

  Kubernetes, also referred to as K8s for the number of letters between K and S, is an open source platform used to manage containerized applications across private, public and hybrid cloud environments.Continue Reading

• SRE vs. DevOps: What's the difference?

  The lines between site reliability engineering and DevOps aren't always clear. Building a harmonious relationship between the teams starts with understanding their distinct roles.Continue Reading

• service virtualization

  Service virtualization is the process of creating replicas of systems that new applications depend on to test how well the application and systems integrate.Continue Reading

• An IT ops guide to Kubernetes Job vs. CronJob

  Jobs and CronJobs both execute tasks in Kubernetes. Their key difference comes down to frequency, and matching a task with the wrong Job type can lead to unsuccessful execution.Continue Reading

• platform engineering

  Platform engineering is a specialized discipline within software development that focuses on designing, building, maintaining and improving the toolchains and workflows software developers use.Continue Reading