Essential Infrastructure Automation Use Cases Every IT Leader Should Consider
In this article
The challenges and opportunities of infrastructure automation
We like to say that the key to automation isn't to automate everything, but rather to automate everything right. This means identifying the right automations and then executing them correctly. This is easier said than done when it comes to infrastructure automation.
With so many long-standing manual processes baked into the management of IT infrastructure, there's a lot for IT leaders to consider. For example, leaders must identify automations that their teams can execute given their existing skillets. They must identify automations that deliver value. And they must figure out how to grow automation without disrupting operations.
However, when done right, infrastructure automation can pay dividends. Organizations that successfully automate their IT infrastructure enjoy many benefits such as more efficient workflows, reduced human errors and accelerated development of IT services, just to name a few.
To simplify infrastructure automation, we've identified essential infrastructure automation use cases and tips for implementation.
Use case 1: Software image management
Software image management (SWIM) is a unified approach to maintaining, updating and securing software images within IT environments.
Traditional approaches to software image management can be labor-intensive as staff must meticulously test and validate numerous software images both pre- and post-upgrades. This can lead to manual errors that produce rework, or worse, introduce security vulnerabilities.
Automating SWIM can accelerate technology refreshes, scale system upgrades and remediate security vulnerabilities. Plus, it frees staff from performing tedious tasks.
IT leaders will want to focus initial efforts on extracting configuration data and defining the desired state of infrastructure. Once complete, automation tools can be used to execute the necessary steps to deploy updates, configure settings, etc.
Use case 2: Zero-touch provisioning
Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) fully automates the deployment of devices such as servers, routers or storage arrays without manual intervention. This differs significantly from a traditional approach to provisioning that requires manual and sometimes on-site configuration.
With ZTP, IT staff can set up configuration templates that are abstracted into code. These templates can then be consumed by automation tools to provision systems according to defined policies. Organizations that adopt ZTP benefit from fast and accurate infrastructure deployments, with staff freed to focus on more strategic work.
IT leaders can pilot ZTP by deploying a small number of devices — for example a batch of laptops — using automated setup scripts and management tools for configuration. Staff will want to define and test templates during this process to make sure devices are provisioned correctly.
Over time, IT leaders can consider integrating ZTP with device management platforms, monitoring tools and other systems for even greater efficiencies.
Use case 3: Infrastructure refreshes
Infrastructure refreshes are becoming more challenging for IT due to increased data volumes, heightened security concerns and the acceleration of hardware and software updates. These challenges only stand to grow given the complex demands on hardware running AI workloads. By automating infrastructure refreshes, IT can streamline processes, improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors.
IT leaders can start by identifying refresh inefficiencies, examining processes related to asset lifecycle tracking, provisioning and configuration management. Leaders can then use the next refresh cycle to experiment with inserting automation.
For example, this could include abstracting configuration data from the infrastructure into a centralized database or repository, allowing staff to define the desired state and use automation to provision and manage the infrastructure at scale.
Because infrastructure refreshes touch so many different groups, it's important for leaders to garner stakeholder buy-in early. As they do, they should be mindful that some groups might be resistant to changing longstanding manual processes.
Use case 4: Developer experience
Automating the developer experience is a consistent way to onboard applications while providing organizational best practices, allowing developers to focus on writing code without worrying about infrastructure.
IT leaders can start by identifying common infrastructure and platform tasks developers perform manually, for example troubleshooting application infrastructure. Infrastructure teams can integrate automation with CI/CD pipelines so developers can consume automation in a self-service manner, deploying environments with a single click.
Close collaboration between infrastructure teams and developers is key. Remember to regularly gather feedback from developers about their experience using automated processes. Additionally, focusing on developer experience has the added benefit of paving the way for platform engineering.
Use case 5: Test automation
Oftentimes, IT hardware and software must go through rigorous testing and certification processes before it can be procured or put into production. As hardware and software updates increase in velocity, automated testing allows staff to keep up.
IT leaders will want to start by identifying configuration/validation tests that can be scripted using tools such as Ansible, PyATS, ROBOT, Framework and Pytest.
Staff can then build out more robust tests that replicate real-world scenarios such as vulnerability patching. For example, one WWT client that implemented test automation significantly reduced the amount of time unpatched devices are exposed to vulnerabilities.
As teams mature, software development best practices such as CI/CD pipelines can be applied to test automation for even greater efficiency.
Use case 6: IT asset lifecycle management
Rapid advances in technology have forced organizations to manage a far greater number and type of IT assets using manual processes. This can lead to unreliable budgeting, technology lock-in and non-compliance.
Some key benefits of applying automation to IT asset lifecycle management include operating from a single source of truth for all assets, optimized asset utilization, streamlined OEM renewals and better visibility into assets nearing end of support.
Asset management teams can start by automating asset discovery that can continuously scan and update inventory. Data should then be fed into an asset management platform to create a single source of truth that allows teams to know the status and consumption of assets in real time.
When evaluating tools that automate IT asset lifecycle management, leaders should look for those that can scale to support asset growth and easily integrate with management platforms.
WWT's Asset x360 provides organizations with a comprehensive framework for automating the lifecycle of IT assets.
Conclusion
Infrastructure automation provides significant opportunities for IT organizations to achieve new levels of operational efficiency. The trick is to not go after everything at once. Focus on a use case that can be executed given existing skills and apply it to a small subset of infrastructure.
By taking an incremental approach, IT leaders can learn best practices for infrastructure automation and identify areas for skill development without disrupting operations.
In our experience, infrastructure automation is contagious. As teams start to see how much time they save from executing one of these use cases, IT leaders might be surprised at how eager they are to tackle another.