Adopting Automation To Drive Innovation - IPsoft

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Adopting Automation To Drive Innovation

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Introduction A central paradox exists within Information Technology. As an industry it has driven innovations that have led to major leaps forward for people and organizations, whether through robots in car factories or computers in offices. It has rapidly become a function within virtually all businesses, with specialist staff or entire departments devoted to managing the infrastructure. However, in this respect it has been slow to evolve. While technology itself continues to develop at an incredible pace, IT as a business function has been resistant to change. Despite the overwhelming burden of day to day operations on physical and fiscal resources, CIOs are struggling to use automation effectively enough to free time and budget for value-enhancing, innovation initiatives. All too often, implementation plans have placed autonomic systems within a straight-jacket from which it is difficult to achieve promised outcomes. The challenge appears to be driven largely by legacy, cultural blockers and leadership. At a middle management layer within IT departments there is a reluctance to embrace opportunities in their own systems and operations. Instead of wiping the floor clean and redesigning operations to maximize the potential of automation, new technology is forced to circle around a legacy organization design. Consider the evolution of a car manufacturing plant: Initially technology tools were placed into the hands of assembly line workers but as the reliance on machinery became more prominent the floor layout was reshaped to house the robots that could work together so that cars could be produced more quickly. Most people moved off the factory floor and into design studios and control rooms; a few others refocused their activity on making sure the machines are managed and operated to an optimal level. Resistance to technological change shouldn’t come as a surprise. It is the same fear that has been symptomatic of major economic disruptions driven by technology throughout history. In hindsight, resistance to innovations like the Spinning Jenny seem misguided, especially as it enabled the textile industry to grow and created new, better opportunities for workers.

While technology itself continues to develop at an incredible pace, IT as a business function has been resistant to change. It is inevitable that IT infrastructure automation will have a disruptive impact, lowering the volume of resources focused on operational execution, improving efficiency and driving cost savings. Despite technology advancement we have barely begun to secure its promise. According to a recent Gartner study only 15% of organizations can claim that the delivery of business valued services is significantly automated.1 Considering the significant opportunities presented by automation the limited current uptake is something of an anomaly. It is driven by a combination of fear and a lack of awareness of the benefits but also structural challenges faced by organizations in making the difficult changes required. This paper explores the road blocks that are currently preventing us from achieving these benefits while outlining the very real opportunity for IT managers and technology professionals to explore new, more creative and more strategic roles within organizations. What are the pathways to helping organizations and their people move along this curve and what does this mean for the future of IT’s role within business?

Gartner, 27th May 2015, “Survey Analysis: The Realities, Opportunities and Challenges of I&O Automation.”

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We’ve been through this before The automation revolution is not a new concept; looking back through history almost every industry has witnessed a dramatic change in how operations are executed, which has led to huge jumps in productivity, efficiency and reduced costs. But more importantly, people who once did hugely repetitive jobs moved into new roles that were often higher up the value chain, because technology led to economic growth and opportunity. In the automotive industry, for example, automation has meant assembly is done quickly, efficiently and to a very high, consistent standard. This also means people can focus on value-added tasks such as design and engineering — driving the business forward and delivering continuous improvement. When considering IT infrastructure, the objective for business should now be to replicate this division of labor within the IT function; automating every day and repetitive tasks while allowing people to focus on creativity and development. The current paradigm in most organizations’ IT departments operates with humans owning and managing the processes and infrastructure, using tooling as a supporting function. It is commonly described as “People, Process, Technology” — businesses train people to follow IT process frameworks then purchase the technology to support them.

Rather than tinkering at the edges, a robust automation strategy demands that businesses transform the existing model into an automation-centric approach.

IPsoft sees this model as inherently inefficient and unreliable. It is built on the foundations of considering the human workforce’s capabilities first and foremost and applying processes in order to keep work running smoothly. The reality, however, is that humans can make mistakes, are likely to seek short cuts where possible and will aim to cut out process. The technologies provided speed up the individual performance of engineers but retain the same manual-centric design. The impact of this model reverberates throughout organizational hierarchies. Mid-level management executives spend much of their time correcting and managing the inefficiencies of their subordinates. Even CXOs are partly focused on mundane operational aspects when they should be looking at driving growth. An effect of this is that levels of seniority and associated salaries are often judged by the number of staff reporting to them, rather than by efficiency and output. The legacy attitude that IT managers’ importance can be judged by the number of people they manage is increasingly redundant. In a model in which automation is efficiently implemented, the mark of success will become how few people are needed for a greatly increased output. Value is the new watchword in an automated IT environment. And while traditionally IT operational costs have been reduced through the offshoring or out-tasking of labor, this does not satisfactorily solve the problem. Labor costs are still high in real terms, and people are still prone to making errors wherever they happen to be based. Rather than tinkering at the edges, a robust automation strategy demands that businesses transform the existing model into an automation-centric approach. Painful as this may prove in the short term it is the only way that the true benefits can be attained and that new opportunities for enterprises and their employees can be realized.

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The new model: placing technology at the heart of the equation IPsoft’s operational model is built on the entirely new paradigm of “Technology, Process and People.” This means that the model has an autonomic system that manages the full ecosystem, controlling and driving processes in order to ensure smooth delivery. IPcenter, an integrated IT Service Management platform, is placed at the heart of operations. It is from here that we enforce and automate processes (based on agreed SLAs and protocols) while people are introduced only to deal with exceptions. The model uses virtual engineers as the primary resource, and deploys human engineers only when the virtual aids are unable to fulfill a required task. The utility of process becomes redundant. Machines and autonomics are not subject to human error: they do not make mistakes, and don’t cut corners or sidestep procedural tasks. They follow a proven system and do it consistently. This is a far more dependable method of IT infrastructure maintenance than the old approach.

This completely transforms IT infrastructure maintenance. It lowers incidents and downtime as well as the time taken to repair problems. More importantly, it alters the dynamic from incident management to problem resolution. As a result, potential crises are prevented rather than simply managed.

The benefits of this new model are diverse and lead to improved business outcomes in many areas, including:

For businesses, there is a huge cost incurred from staff turnover — not only through the instant loss of a worker but also through the need to replace them and retrain someone new. A less measurable cost is the knowledge lost when this worker goes, which is often not fully realized until after their departure. A worker’s value is often the years of practice and know-how that they have accrued. Yet to a business, the need to retrain every time a worker leaves can create huge knowledge gaps and become a sizeable drain on resources. With machines, a company’s knowledge base is safe. Robots don’t leave or forget, and this lowers risk and increases continuity; helping an organization deliver a consistent service regardless of fluctuations in its regular workforce.

i) Improved quality and reliability of IT infrastructure. The repetitive maintenance tasks that currently take up most of IT departments’ time are excellent candidates for automation. Robotic systems are more reliable and far faster. In one investment bank, automation from IPsoft enabled the team to reduce response and repair time for a trading system down from 47 minutes to just 4 minutes. This unrivalled speed means that the sheer volume of work processed by a machine compared to its human counterpart is vastly increased. In IT automation, one worker can oversee hundreds of thousands of servers being managed by automation – being contacted for input only when a problem is encountered that the machine cannot solve. Crucially, it is not just speed and volume of repairs that is significant. Automation also helps reduce the recurrence of problems in the first place. Historically, IT helpdesks tend to only fix the surface issue at a user level rather than the root cause. Automated systems document all diagnostic tasks and create accurate records. When these are analyzed, patterns can be spotted and addressed at a core, structural level which helps prevent recurring issues.

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ii) Securing organizational knowledge and intellectual assets.

For senior management, automation can also help meet the compliance requirements faced by large organizations that are highly reliant on the ability, honesty and diligence of their staff. Within automation, machines offer IT-systematic governance by documenting all processes and problems and creating an audit trail, which mitigates risk by creating an automatic compliance framework.

iii) Cost savings and efficiency.

iv) Risk mitigation.

The efficiencies driven by automation are a result of the IT maintenance and operational process working more smoothly. In addition to faster problem resolution and lower problem frequency, the window in which work can be carried out is also greatly increased as automated systems can run on a 24/7 basis, with light monitoring from workers on shift rotation. The Technology, Process and People model means that management of “process,” a typical mid-tier role in an IT department, will become largely unnecessary.

The human capacity for creativity and ingenuity is something of a double edged sword. While it can result in the tremendous capability to transform businesses and their services, it also means employees are free agents who can approach tasks with their own agendas, which may be informed by ease and convenience. This obviously has a number of negative implications: security regulations are ignored or circumvented; crucial yet mundane administrative duties never completed and everyday processes that would benefit organizations simply not followed. This carries with it a significant element of risk; especially when looked at collectively across whole workforces: costly security breaches become more likely, financial information may not be properly recorded, protocols ignored and so on —all of which can take huge amounts of time to correct.

Cost savings are currently one of the primary drivers for businesses to automate, with 58% of respondents to a Gartner survey putting it in their top three reasons.2 However, by creating more opportunities for IT teams to add value and drive revenue, it is perhaps better to see savings in terms of the value of resources rather than staff overheads and costs. By overhauling the approach to maintenance tasks, automation frees skilled IT workers within the business from the most mundane and repetitive work, allowing them to work in more creative, challenging and valueadded roles. This can help move IT from a back office function to a strategic division of an organization. An IT staff member who, for example, develops new code, algorithms or systemic improvements has the potential to completely transform a business, turning IT from a cost center to a profit center. While any kind of restructuring will inevitably be met with a degree of resistance, in the medium to longer term the new model has the potential to deliver far greater benefits to a company’s entire employee base.

This is simply not the case with machines and automation, where rigidly following step-by-step guidelines is of course the only way tasks can be undertaken. This gives management peace of mind and removes risk from the equation. On top of this, virtual engineers will document every step of the process. While faults may occur, human supervisors can typically locate and deal with them very quickly by analyzing the data and records, and can then be very confident that they will not be repeated. This means that enhancements and corrections can be made cumulative, and processes improved until they are perfected.


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How can organizations transition to the new model? With technology available for IT to become almost completely automated, the difficulty is not the lack of systems but rather enabling the transition to the new operational model. There are two core elements to this: Firstly, overcoming resistance to change, and secondly embracing automation as an ongoing process that secures continuous improvements and creates opportunities, rather than a solution for specific standalone tasks. Overcoming initial resistance: IT structures within traditional organization models are currently predisposed to hinder, or even block, automation because there is a perception that they are unable to adapt and integrate the systems effectively. There have even been cases of IT staff deliberately sabotaging automaton projects because of the supposed threats to their roles. Many others are simply unwilling to relinquish control as they feel it will lead to errors. As an initial step, business leaders must ask themselves what will happen if their organizations do not embrace the change and embark on the automation journey. It will become increasingly apparent that not automating will hinder competitiveness and hit revenues, which in the long term is likely to have a fatal impact on a business. After all, if a business fails to adapt it is likely to die — and without a business there will be no jobs to protect. It is therefore incumbent on leadership to see the benefits and drive innovation by empowering staff on the ground in mid-level positions to become engaged and support the process. Alongside an educational program outlining the advantages of automation, IT staff need to shift their mind-set. This may require incentives in the form of financial rewards, the offer of additional training or a better role within the organization. This needs to be communicated from the highest level and filtered down throughout the workforce. The stronger the management team implementing the new operational model, the greater the chance of success will be. Alongside incentives, workers must be given the tools to be able to succeed — be it financing, time, technology or management support. These will unlock the access to adapt processes and procedures to automation and the shift can begin to take place. The shift itself will see employees move focus from service operations and transition, to service design and strategy.

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Embracing the full scope of automation Until now, across the majority of businesses implementing automation, all processes have been taken up in functional silos. In a recent Gartner report,3 when asked about the maturity of the current automation within their organization, almost half (48%) of respondents stated that the process is only happening in specific functional groups within the business. It is vital that businesses understand that an automation philosophy is an ongoing process that must sit within all aspects of an ecosystem in order to secure continuous improvement. The implementation of the technology platforms need to be scalable and adaptive to the different environments in which they are intended to automate. This is from a technological perspective but also in terms of the processes involved. Once the correct technology is in place it is paramount that staff are continually incentivized to assist in the smooth running of the transition. It is not a turn-key solution but a fundamental and structural mind-set shift that is required. This might be unnerving at times. Change often is. But it is also absolutely essential if businesses want a viable future in a world in which autonomics will continue to have a profound and positive impact across all aspects of our lives.

The implementation of the technology platforms need to be scalable and adaptive to the different environments in which they are intended to automate.


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Conclusion One of the biggest hurdles is perception based on KPIs within organizations, and until this changes to reflect advancements in automation, there will always be managers working against it. The success or ability of a manager — especially one looking to change roles — is currently measured by the size of the organization they oversee and the team beneath them. Someone who currently enjoys the accolade of managing a team of several hundred people will always fight against a new system that will see their management reach decrease to a team of under a third. During this current transitional period, larger teams will be seen as the reflection of a more competent manager. But once automation within IT becomes more mainstream, the ability to manage a smaller team of human labor but a larger system of automation will increasingly become the benchmark by which managers are measured. The smaller the team the better, as long as the output is larger or more efficient. While shifting the mind-set to an outcome-driven model is at the heart of this inevitable evolution, equally, in order to truly measure the success of automation within a business, markers must be adjusted to become representative of the new work carried out. Currently the success of manual problem solving is how many customer issues a representative can resolve, but if a machine is solving fundamental system failures before they even reach the customer, these need to be given greater merit. Senior management can greatly mitigate the risks of transition by educating the workforce early on and creating a fully integrated environment. The most successful businesses will be those with forward thinking management who use the technology to its fullest capabilities and aren’t afraid to make tough decisions when it comes to the existing workforce. It is the management of the entire process that will determine just how successful the automation overhaul is, rather than the technology itself. But once realized the benefits will have a profound and positive impact for us all and the IT sector in general, creating new and more enriching opportunities for the IT workforce and delivering more value for the organizations they work within.

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IPsoft Background IPsoft automates IT and business processes for enterprises across a wide range of industries. Through its portfolio of world leading autonomic and cognitive solutions it provides services that allow its clients to secure competitive advantage. Headquartered in New York City, IPsoft has offices in 13 countries across the world and serves more than 500 of the world’s leading brands directly as well as more than half of the world’s largest IT services providers.

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