Big data, cloud, AI, IoT, robotic process automation, edge computing, augmented reality, blockchain – technology trends come and go. But one thing’s for sure, this digital revolution we’re facing isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, the pace and scale at which businesses have to digitally innovate are only increasing. Those that have embarked on a transformation journey are finding that it is a never-ending one.

The only way enterprises can keep up with the accelerating pace of change is by ensuring their backend IT infrastructure is capable of dealing with any additional complexity brought on by transformative technologies. Today’s businesses have to continue to improve how they carry out their processes, and nothing does that better than automation.

What can be automated in this increasingly digital world? With the technology available today, almost anything. While it’s becoming the norm for companies to automate chunks of IT operations when the need arises, it becomes a problem when the disparate areas of automation don’t gel well together. Taking an enterprise-wide approach to automation is more beneficial in the long-run because complex environments then become more manageable. Moreover, businesses that do so stand to gain better visibility into their operations meaning they can integrate new technologies and processes more effectively.

With growing demand comes more offerings from different vendors, and more options for businesses that want to automate. But it’s important to note that not all solutions can provide your organisation with the capabilities that will enable it to become a truly automated enterprise.

So, what features should you look for in an IT infrastructure automation solution?

• Complete support - Automation platforms that can provide enterprise-grade support, which includes quality and security testing, integration as well as clear roadmaps will give you much better IT availability and reliability.

• Vendor interoperability - By using standard, open interfaces, other vendors can create modules or plugins for integration into your automation platform and strategy. This is important because it allows you to avoid vendor lock-in and continue to use and automate your preferred third-party technologies.

• Easy learning curve - If the tools are too complex to use, it will be difficult to implement an enterprise-wide automation strategy. By choosing a platform that uses simple, human-readable automation and intuitive tools, employees across your company will be able to adopt automation quickly and effectively.

• Scalability - Your business will only continue to grow and as it grows, you want to automate more and more processes. You need a platform that can allow you to deploy automation across your entire organisation consistently. It has to be able to scale across infrastructure, operating systems, management tools and user roles.

• Data centre integration - Unify your entire data centre and organisation with a platform that integrates with all parts of your data centre infrastructure.

While you may think that automation is all about technology, in practice, that is not actually the case. According to open source and automation specialist, Red Hat, the key to success when it comes to enterprise-wide automation consists of a combination of people, processes, and having the right platform. Each factor plays a significant role in your automation outcomes.

With this in mind, Red Hat has designed its Ansible Automation Platform to provide a foundation for businesses that want to build and operate automation services at scale. The platform combines a simple, easy-to-read automation language with a trusted, composable execution environment and security-focused sharing and collaboration capabilities. In short, Ansible delivers all the tools and features that you will need if you want to implement automation throughout your entire organisation.

If you would like to know more, we suggest that you read Red Hat’s report titled, “The Automated Enterprise”, which details how you can transform your business with an automation platform that unifies your people and processes. It also explains how you can create a strategy for adopting automation for different areas of IT, from infrastructure and network automation, to security, DevOps and even hybrid and multi-cloud automation.

Click here to download the report and learn how you can save time, improve productivity and reduce costs throughout your organisation.