21 tasks to automate today to streamline IT operations

IT operations domains

Begin by separating IT operations tasks into various domains, enabling a more focused approach to management and automation. These six domains cover standard IT ops tasks:

• Identity and access management (IAM).
• Systems and server management.
• Cloud and infrastructure lifecycle.
• Networking.
• Security and compliance.
• Incident management and support.

It's likely that your IT operations team already organizes tasks into these or similar categories.

High ROI

Most organizations are looking for high-impact automation efforts. Automation should show benefits and improve processes, so choosing the right tasks to automate is the best place to begin.

The actual value of each potential automation task varies by organization. Evaluate how frequently your IT ops department encounters the following workflows. Let that information guide you in prioritizing your automation goals.

1. User account provisioning/deprovisioning (IAM). High-frequency tasks, time-consuming, error-prone and critical for security.
2. Password resets (IAM). High-frequency tasks, time-consuming and critical for security.
3. Patch management for servers and endpoints (Systems and server management). High-frequency tasks, time-consuming and critical for security.
4. Software deployment and updates (Systems and server management). Scales well for application deployments, time-consuming and critical for security.
5. Storage space monitoring and automated cleanup (Systems and server management). Prevents capacity-related outages, reduces troubleshooting and improves backup performance.
6. Application/service restarts triggered by alerts (Systems and server management). Easy automation task and minimizes downtime.
7. VM provisioning/deprovisioning (Cloud and infrastructure lifecycle). High-frequency task in many environments, time-consuming and benefits from consistency. Providing a self-service component to VM automation significantly increases ROI.
8. Security incident correlation and automated response (Security and compliance). Quicker incident response, time-consuming and might be able to correlate events that humans could not.
9. Incident ticket creation, categorization and routing (Incident management and support). Increases the service desk's efficiency and improves customer satisfaction. Providing a self-service component to ticket management automation significantly increases ROI.

This list is the highest priority for your organization. Automate as many of these processes as possible before moving on to other areas. Don't underestimate the importance of security and compliance; many organizations are behind the curve on industry compliance requirements.

Medium ROI

Once you've implemented the high-value automation tasks, it's time to begin addressing the monitoring, tagging and updating processes that provide less dramatic effects. The key aspects of this portion of the automation plan are ensuring compliance, reducing troubleshooting and avoiding downtime.

10. Access control/permissions updates (IAM). Critical for security and compliance, and automation lends consistency.
11. Server health monitoring and alerting (Systems and server management). Easy automation task, integrated into many systems, reduces troubleshooting and minimizes downtime.
12. Configuration management enforcement (Systems and server management). Requires initial effort but offers long-term ROI, ensures consistency, is critical for security and reduces troubleshooting.
13. Cloud resource tagging and compliance checks (Cloud and infrastructure lifecycle). Improves cloud governance, reduces Opex and is essential to FinOps.
14. Network device configuration backups (Networking). Infrequent but crucial configurations, critical for security and reducing troubleshooting.
15. Certificate deployment, renewal and revocation (Security and compliance). Periodic task, improves availability and is critical to security. Providing a self-service component to certificate lifecycle automation significantly increases ROI.
16. On-call notification routing and escalation (Incident management and support). Less frequent task but saves time and effort for support teams.

Many of these automation tasks provide less benefit, but they can still have a significant impact on support and cost management. You might even opt to move some to your "high priority" list.

Low ROI

Although most organizations will see less value from the following tasks, some operations teams will realize significant benefits. Pay particular attention to compliance and security opportunities with these tasks.

17. Service validation/testing after deployments (Systems and server management). Ensures availability but impact varies by environment.
18. Capacity monitoring and forecasting (Cloud and infrastructure lifecycle). Difficult to achieve without accurate data and tuning.
19. Automated network device provisioning (Networking). Low-frequency task in most environments, useful for scaling and helpful for availability.
20. Log collection, auditing and retention (Security and compliance). Easy to automate, ensures consistency and satisfies compliance requirements.
21. Inventory and asset management updates (Incident management and support). Low-frequency task in most environments, depending on hardware lifecycles.

Many of these tasks occur infrequently, making their return less valuable. Still, they can provide useful task management results that optimize and streamline IT operations.

Getting started

How many of the high- and medium-value ROI items does your IT ops team already benefit from? Any gaps in coverage offer excellent opportunities for improvement next year. Quick wins and measurable results that improve performance, reduce workloads and enhance satisfaction are crucial, so begin with those.

By organizing your automation initiatives by value and domain, you can establish a workable list from which to develop more detailed plans for each automation opportunity, including tooling and skill development. Now is the best time to start.

Damon Garn owns Cogspinner Coaction and provides freelance IT writing and editing services. He has written multiple CompTIA study guides, including the Linux+, Cloud Essentials+ and Server+ guides, and contributes extensively to Informa TechTarget, The New Stack and CompTIA Blogs.