Trends Report

Role Job Description: Automation Engineer

Improve Service Management By Automating Operational Workflows

January 18th, 2011
Eveline Oehrlich, null
Eveline Oehrlich
With contributors:
Glenn O'Donnell , Eric Chi , Robert Whiteley III

Summary

Technology use is exploding, creating an exponential increase in the complexity of IT operations while pushing beyond the limits of manual infrastructure management. The ongoing "do more with less" imperative drives the need for greater operational discipline. IT service automation mitigates the impact of IT operational complexity and results in significant cost savings. It also delivers efficiency gains for infrastructure and operations (I&O) staff, freeing up time for more strategic or innovative projects. However, automation needs to be adopted and owned by individuals who are able to engineer and leverage it for the greater benefits to IT operations. Look to create the role of automation engineer, assigning it to an individual who exhibits expertise in seven core areas: process knowledge, "systems thinking," and analytical, project management, collaboration, technology platform management, and software development skills. Measure the success of your automation engineer by focusing on I&O staff productivity and process efficiency gains.

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