It’s no surprise that we’ve become dependent on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to do our business on a daily basis. Automation is happening across many industries. Robotic tasks like credit card applications in banks, financial institutions and insurance companies are being carried out by RPA, and we’re pretty dependent on it already. RPA allows organisations to meet high demands in data quality, audibility and process security. Automation help improve speed and accuracy of business processes while increasing productivity. The retail industry is one example that uses RPA to improve quality of services. Automation in retail, helps remove fraudulent accounts, take orders and process shipping. The telecommunications industry uses automation to track CRM subscriber feeds and update customers data. Automation is helping many industries perform robotic tasks with great accuracy and efficiency. In 2017, automation implemented in the cloud (analytics and virtual machines) has experienced great development. In the next years, we can expect to see an even greater development of automation, like cognitive reasoning applications, that are predicted to carry out even more complex tasks, in retail, finance and telecommunications.
Two Views: Destruction vs Productivity
What we are seeing today is an expansion of artificial intelligence, and the question that we ask is whether workers will be benefiting from it or lose out. According to a survey run by Eindhoven University of Technology, more than a quarter of workers think their jobs will not be needed in the future. Some experts are predicting that the technological revolution might be even more disruptive than the industrial revolution. Technological advancements might bring amazing opportunities and emancipation of human society, but also new forms of inequalities and exploitation. If we want AI to benefit everyone, rather than deepen the social and economic gap between people, unions shouldn’t just stand by. The industrial revolution brought injustices that took decades to fix, by forming trades unions and new legislation.
Cloud Automation is your new best friend
Cloud migrations take time to complete, and it is often a lengthy set of carefully designed processes that need special attention in order to complete successfully. Automating your cloud infrastructure will help you reduce toil and operational expenditures. Provisioning and configuration automation helps reduce time in organisations that can be better diverted to research and development. Numerous cloud infrastructure tools are available today and can help speed up the process:
- AWS Cloud Formation – Models resources in YAML or JSON, automates and deploys in your AWS based infrastructure
- Puppet – Systematic enforcement of configurations
- Ansible – Popular for task-based infrastructure automation
- Chef – Enforcing everything, from configuration policies to continuous deployment
- Kubernetes – Developed by Google, automating deployment, scaling and management.
- Terraform – Writing and planning infrastructure as code
- Google Cloud Deployment Manager – Deployment of your Google cloud with repeatable deployments and template configurations
- Microsoft Azure Automation – Consistent management across Azure and Non-Azure cloud infrastructure
- Cisco Intelligent Automation – IaaS, provisioning and management
Staying ahead of the curve
Lack of automation can be limiting for system admins. Outdated processes in complex hybrid cloud environments need different automation tools for successful management, as IT organisations and systems admins, especially, experience big demands. Cloud automation, allows system administrators to take back control in IT environments, where solving issues has become reactive. Automated provisioning can help reduce time and effort in complex cloud infrastructure. Organisations that do not have access to advanced IT resources are resorting to simple scripting. Automated software helps reduce expensive IT resources and professional services budges. The right choice of automation software can provide provisioning automation and integrate perfectly with IT day-to-day activities. Each and every organisation is different, and so, each and every organisation must find a unique approach to automate its cloud resources. A widely accepted approach to cloud automation is: set up your priorities and vision first. As your organisation progresses in cloud automation, try to build up, step by step.
