Reducing manual work.
WHAT IS AUTOMATED
Monitoring and alerting Provisioning of servers and virtual machines Configuration management Capacity reporting Some maintenance tasks
WHAT THAT ACHIEVES
Consistency Speed Fewer errors Staff time released for work requiring judgement
WHAT REMAINS MANUAL
Physical installation Physical repair Anything requiring judgement about unusual conditions
WHAT AUTOMATION REQUIRES
Accurate inventory Consistent configuration Documented processes
THAT LAST POINT
Automating an undefined process produces an automated undefined process.
WHAT TO DO FIRST
Define the process, then automate it.
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL WITH
Automation with broad access Automation nobody understands Automation that fails silently
WHAT TO MONITOR
That automated tasks ran, and produced plausible results.
WHAT TO MAINTAIN
Documentation of what is automated and how.
WHAT NOT TO AUTOMATE
Decisions with serious consequences, without a person confirming.
