Overview 

In order to regulate the hardware, software, networking, operating system (OS), and data storage components necessary to supply information technology services and solutions, infrastructure automation is the use of technology that executes tasks with less human help. 

Building effective processes across these moving tools, platforms, and component ecosystems are challenging. Success demands a fundamental shift in strategy for those trying to coordinate consistent cross-organizational automation and integration methods. 

Providing cross-vendor, cross-domain automation, and integration capabilities that link the company while enabling new strategies to coexist with the old IT infrastructure automation is the missing piece for many. Accelerating value creation while safeguarding and maintaining investments is possible with automation and orchestration solutions that create new workflows and processes while combining those from existing scripts and tools. 

Let's get started and dive in. 

The Fundamentals of IT Automation 

Businesses are depending more and more on their IT. We now handle tasks digitally that were formerly performed in various ways. Additionally, IT opens up the possibility of whole new sorts of activities. This implies that an organization is increasingly defined as a group of individuals coordinated around a goal and a collection of hardware, software, firmware, and peripherals that are ideally coordinated around the same task. 

IT automation may be used to identify jobs that need to be completed within this framework and automate them to reduce or eliminate the need for human labor. As a result, you eliminate "grunt labor," a rule-based, predictable, and repetitive activity that offers little value and doesn't involve much insight or innovation. 

Infrastructure automation – what is it? 

Theoretically, any IT-related work can be automated. IT infrastructure automation focuses on explicitly automating infrastructure functions. So, what exactly is IT infrastructure? The foundations upon which the rest of your IT is constructed are made up of hardware, software, networking elements, operating systems, and data storage technologies. These may be created and deployed in a dizzying array of ways, but they all aim to make it easier for the IT that powers your company to perform. 

What aims does automation of IT infrastructure pursue? 

Automation of IT infrastructure aims to increase the effectiveness, speed, and accessibility of all processes involving the resources we've already stated. 

Many routine tasks IT handles today might be quickly automated with the right tools. As a result, IT personnel would have more time to handle mission-critical issues and plan future infrastructure. 

The IT department would have more time to devote to key strategic projects that provide value to the firm by automating repetitive chores. Because of this, IT infrastructure automation can enhance practically all aspects of private, public, or hybrid cloud settings. It increases the effectiveness of task deployments, lowers costs, and eliminates waste. 

Tools for Infrastructure Automation are Crucial 

Tools for infrastructure automation are crucial for IT orchestration, efficiency, and a company's digital transformation. The tools boost productivity, increase agility, and decrease manual mistakes. 

Tools for infrastructure automation aid enterprises in achieving their aims. Constructing an IT infrastructure that is more dependable aids businesses in being more effective and scalable. 

Infrastructure automation technologies speed up the allocation process for networking, storage, and virtual machines. When using infrastructure automation solutions, it may be completed in hours or minutes instead of weeks or months when done manually. 

Solutions for infrastructure automation are compatible with hybrid and multi-cloud IT settings. It makes it possible for tools and technologies in an IT infrastructure to be automated and orchestrated smoothly. 

Infrastructure automation technologies also assist in cost reduction by enabling the appropriate and comprehensive utilization of the components in an IT infrastructure. Doing away with manual procedures reduces labor costs while IT operations are maintained and improved. 

What Operations of the IT Infrastructure Can the Tools Automate? 

Self-Service Cloud: 

Data centers may be converted into private or hybrid cloud infrastructures using infrastructure automation solutions. The data center changes based on the organization's goals and the supplier. 

Cluster Automation: 

IT infrastructure clusters can autonomously manage and maintain their tasks using infrastructure automation solutions. In addition, it permits downtime for the clusters while giving consumers improved availability. 

Automated multi-cloud: 

Many public cloud systems benefit from increased self-service automation thanks to the technologies. It comprises Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. 

Another procedure that is automated with the use of infrastructure automation solutions is network automation. It enables quicker application deployment, complete application lifecycle automation, and networking of security services. 

DevOps for Infrastructure: 

DevOps may use infrastructure automation technologies to make the software the new physical infrastructure. For example, instead of using manual procedures, it supports, coordinates, and automates Infrastructure as Code (IaC). 

Here are the Top 9 Infrastructure Automation Tools for Businesses to Consider: 

  • Ansible
  • Puppet
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Docker
  • Chef
  • AWS CloudFormation
  • Jenkins
  • Monit

The Process of Infrastructure Automation 

Two essential principles enable infrastructure automation: SOEs and IaC. 

Standard Operating Environments (SOEs) 

Standard Operating Environments are collections of software, hardware, and operating systems that are put together uniformly to serve as the setting for your IT activities. They will often include: 

  • Operating system
  • Service packs
  • Common applications
  • Associated dependencies

As a result, you know their capabilities, how they function as a unit, and what to anticipate from them. After standardizing operating environments, you may start standardizing the processes and operations inside them. 

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) 

It's essential to apply consistent standards and guidelines to infrastructure, just as you would code in a DevOps environment. Infrastructure as Code is the term used for this. 

IaC enables teams to combine VPC, Subnets, VPNs, Route tables, servers, cloud-managed services, apps, firewalls, cloud, and on-premises managed services—everything that constitutes your infrastructure—and design frameworks for automating them at scale without always having to recreate the wheel. So this is how it goes. 

IaC enables businesses to standardize solutions across deployment environments, resulting in quick and simple plug-and-play integration into multi-cloud or hybrid systems. 

IT infrastructure is no longer physically present. Instead, various tools, programs, and solutions have replaced physical platforms. 

IT infrastructure platforms are codified and managed using Infrastructure As Code, a methodology for software development. As a result, IT teams and developers can automate deployment, workflow, monitoring, provisioning, and configuration. 

It lessens the need for manual hardware and operating system configuration. The book Infrastructure as Code presents programmable software as a whole IT infrastructure. 

According to Wikipedia, IaC manages and provides computer data centers using machine-readable definition files rather than interactive configuration tools or physical hardware setups. 

Problems resolved by Infrastructure as Code include: 

  • IaC automates the management of an IT infrastructure and its parts while reducing human labor.
  • By automating procedures and displacing engineers and technicians lowers costs.
  • Long-term productivity is increased when scalability and availability problems are resolved.
  • IaC also improves performance monitoring visibility. For best outcomes, it controls structures and parts.

What are the benefits of infrastructure automation? 

Infrastructure automation has several advantages, including: 

  • Cost savings by removing manual procedures. Organizations will save money on manpower without sacrificing the quality of their IT operations.
  • Improved process deployment efficiency and correctness based on a centralized policy repository.
  • Increased agility and visibility into business operations as the organization grows. Software upgrades and new releases have a shorter time to value.
  • Consistent and dynamic adaptation to infrastructure changes while ensuring consistent automation and service delivery.
  • Security policy, control, and compliance are consistent throughout a multi-cloud system.
  • Manage conventional and cloud-native workloads across private, hybrid, and multi-cloud systems to future-proof infrastructure.

Examples of IT Infrastructure Automation: 

We've included eight instances of current IT infrastructure services. 

  • Application Management IT Infrastructure Services
  • Communications Services
  • Content & Media
  • Data Security
  • Maintenance Updates
  • Mobile Connectivity
  • Network Utilization
  • User Devices

IT infrastructure automation for your business 

How should your business begin the transition to IT infrastructure automation? As previously said, automation helps to lower the cost and complexity of running IT infrastructure. However, it is both a danger and an opportunity: you are establishing the infrastructure and maybe your customers rely on to function according to a set of rules. If those criteria are followed correctly, customer happiness will grow while risk and costs will decline. If you get them incorrect, you'll end up in a bind. 

VTG has a proven track record of providing infrastructure automation solutions for clients in various sectors. We understand what it takes to create a strong business case for automation and security clearance to achieve quick wins, decrease costs, and simplify infrastructures. 

Get in touch with us today to get recommendable action items for your IT Infrastructure Automation. 

Posted in IT Infrastructure Transformation