How to Make the Case for IT Automation

The Case for Automation
White Paper
www.kaseya.comThe Case for AutomationINTRODUCTION Automating routine IT tasks seems to make sense from the In these uncertain economic times, companies are looking to control financial and operational perspectives, but for many companies, costs wherever possible. Organizations are looking long and hard questions arise when it comes to implementation:at every expenditure, even those once considered missioncritical . How easy is it to switch over to an automated platform?or simply 'the cost of doing business.' . How much time and effort are involved in managing IT professionals, specifically, are feeling the pinch of financial the automation tools?belt-tightening every day. In a July 2008 Technisource survey, 70 . Does it make sense to use different tools to automate percent of IT workers said the economy is growing weaker, up from different processes?38 percent in the second quarter of 2007. . Once all these factors are considered, how much is the According to Network World, projections for 2009 IT budgets company really saving?aren't too rosy: In a June 2008 report, 44 percent of companies said they expect flat budgets, and only 28 percent project an increase. The To get a better sense of how mid-size businesses view IT remaining 28 percent are expecting decreases or aren't yet sure. automation, a survey of 304 IT professionals in mid-size companies The problem is, IT departments are under more pressure than (100-999 employees) was conducted. The goals of the survey included ever, thanks to increasing government and industry regulation finding out how deeply automation has penetrated the market, and around data management, increasingly complex security threats, and measuring attitudes about IT automation.increasing demand from management and end users for 24/7 uptime In this paper, we'll explore the results of the survey, analyzing and high performance. The solutions for these issues aren't solved the IT concerns expressed and outlining why IT automation delivers by across-the-board budget cuts, but by strategic investment in tremendous benefit for mid-size companies. We'll also explore the technologies that can boost efficiency, save money in the midand real-world savings and return on investment that organizations realize long terms, and make IT an integral part of business processes and when implementing automation solutions.goals.Skyrocketing fuel costs, for example, have led to cutbacks in SURVEY FINDINGSbusiness travel and increased teleconferencing and telecommuting. Biggest Challenges for ITRising energy prices have led to increased focus on consolidation, virtualization, and automation for IT equipment.The focus on IT equipment and devices comes from the increasing realization that PC management is a major cost center, with staff devoted to maintenance of the network and servers, and technical support personnel managing updates, patches, and break/fix issues for end users. IT automation where software manages the routine, day-to-day tasks of IT maintenance-delivers relief from the administration, monitoring, and helpdesk chores that eat up so much IT time and budget.With automation in place, IT departments reap immediate time and staffing savings, not to mention reduced licensing fees for Figure 1: Biggest client systems management challengemaintenance software. They often find that automation brings improvements in energy efficiency and security, as well, which lowers When asked about their biggest challenge, in terms of client systems data center costs. Energy savings dovetail nicely with 'green' programs management, nearly half of respondents (46 percent) cited "providing and standards. In fact, 73 percent of executives surveyed by CIO satisfactory service levels to end users."Insight magazine (July 2008) indicated that they've launched green It's interesting that this seemingly basic expectation-that initiatives because of the cost savings involved. users have the tools and resources they need to do their jobs each
1 www.kaseya.comday-has become a challenge for IT departments. Apparently, These tasks represent the most routine and tedious IT chores, keeping applications and systems up and running isn't as simple and, in the case of maintenance, one of the most expensive, in as it sounds, which is even more reason for companies to consider terms of time and human resour... [download for more]