Tame Complex IT Environments with Data-Driven IT Automation

IT & DATA MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS & CONSULTING
Tame Complex IT Environments
with Data-Driven IT Automation
Dan Twing
President and COO
Enterprise Management Associates
Alessandro Perilli
GM, Management Strategy
Red Hat

Featured Speakers
Slide 2 © 2020 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
Dan Twing, President and COO, EMA
Dan is responsible for developing and executing strategic market research,
delivering value to IT organizations through consulting engagements, and directing
product developments and marketing efforts. Dan joined EMA in 2005 and has over
25 years of experience in information systems, software development, and
technology outsourcing. Dan focuses on all aspects of intelligent and automated
management of IT.
Alessandro Perilli, GM, Management Strategy, Red Hat
Alessandro helps to chart the long-term strategy in the Red Hat management business
unit, including company efforts in cloud management, IT automation, and self-healing IT.
He is a member of the European AI Alliance and has co-authored the first Cloud
Computing Risk Assessment for the European Network and Information Security Agency
(ENISA). He is a former Gartner analyst, where he led the research for private cloud and
cloud management in the early years of cloud computing. He was also a pioneer of the
virtualization industry as an advisor for Fortune Global 2000 companies.

Logistics
An archived version of the event recording will be
available at www.enterprisemanagement.com
• Log questions in the Q+A panel
• Questions will be addressed during the Q+A session of
the event
QUESTIONS
EVENT RECORDING
A PDF of the speaker slides will be distributed
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Slide 3

Tame Complex IT Environments
with Data-Driven IT Automation
Dan Twing
President and COO
Enterprise Management Associates

Q1 2020 IT Automation Research
Data-Driven IT Automation: A Vision for the Modern CIO
Methodology
• Email invite web survey conducted in March 2020
• 490 IT Directors/Managers and Above
• Global study including US, Europe (UK, Germany,
France), and Asia (China, India, Australia)
Survey Design Organized Around 4 Use Cases
• Incident, problem, and availability management
• Configuration, change, and capacity management
• DevOps
• Application Performance optimization and
Workload Orchestration

Level of Automation

The average respondent before disqualification estimated that
automation was applied to slightly more than 40% of IT processes
To what degree do you estimate you have implemented IT automation in your
organization?
7%
11%
12%
14%
12%
15%
14%
8%
4%
3%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
Less than
10%
10-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Sample Size = 495
Percent of Tasks Automated
Those less than 21%
automated were
terminated from the
remainder of the
survey.

To what degree do you estimate you have implemented IT automation in your
organization?
Sample Size = 495
Percent of Tasks Automated
18%
26%
41%
15%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Slightly Automated (1-20%) Somewhat Automated (21-40%) Moderately Automated (41-70%) Highly Automated (More than 70%)
Grouping by amount of automation shows the largest group at 41% of
respondents are those with more than 40% and up to 70% automated
(Terminated from remainder of survey)

Mid-tier enterprises were the most progressed in level of automation
How many employees are in your company worldwide? by To what degree do you estimate
you have implemented IT automation in your organization?
44%
23%
33%
32%
36%
32%
33%
47%
20%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
500-2,499 2,500-9,999 10,000 +
Somewhat Automated (21-40%) Moderately Automated (41-70%) Highly Automated (More than 70%)
Sample Size = 405
In other EMA research, mid-tier companies advanced by having more resources with fewer politics
500-2,499
36%
2,500-9,999
34%
10,000 +
30%
Respondent Companies by Size

Use Case View of Automation

More than 50% selected two use cases, revealing significant
overlap
Of the four areas listed, in which are you most actively involved?
51%
46%
39%
33%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Application performance and workload optimization
Configuration, change, and capacity management
Problem, incident, and availability management
DevOps
Sample Size = 405, Valid Cases = 405, Total Mentions = 688

High Degree of Overlap Across Use Cases
Sample Size = 405
Only
Incident
29
Change
63
DevOps
11
AppWL
O
54
Incident Use Case
157N
Incident
63
Only
Change
30
DevOps
35
AppWL
O
60
Change Use Case
188N
Incident
11
Change
35
Only
DevOps
29
AppWLO
60
DevOps Use Case
135N
Incident
54
Change
60
DevOps
60
Only
AppWLO
34
AppWLO Use Case
208N
Incident AppWLO
DevOps
Change

Workflow within and across IT led for use-case relevance and
usage, with DevOps targeting workload automation
Automation technologies in terms of relevance and usage
Top 8 Responses
27%
22%
20%
18%
18%
17%
16%
15%
0% 10% 20% 30%
Workflow within and across IT
Security-related process automation (and/or playbooks)
Workload automation
Automated root cause analysis
Automation in support of incident team communication
Automation to capture user input to drive IT workflows
Integrated trouble ticketing
Alert-driven notification
Incident
28%
23%
20%
18%
16%
14%
14%
14%
0% 10% 20% 30%
Workflows within and across IT
Capacity management/analytics-driven automation
Automation to capture user input to drive IT workflows
Workflows combined with social IT
Dynamic resource capacity and optimization
End-to-end automated provisioning and deployment
Automated inventory and discovery
Automated app discovery and dependency mapping
Change
25%
21%
20%
20%
17%
15%
15%
14%
0% 10% 20% 30%
Workload automation
Automation for pre-deployment application configuration
Automation for cloud-specific application configuration
Auto app discovery and dependency mapping-production
Integrated automation in support of Q/A testing
Security instrumentation
Auto app discovery & dependency mapping-pre-deploy
DevOps
31%
26%
18%
17%
14%
14%
13%
13%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Workload Automation
Automation in support of data assimilation/reconciliation
Workflow combined with social IT
Comparative performance reporting for each build/release
Dynamic resource allocation and optimization
Automated testing and proactive health checks
Autoscaling capacity optimization
AppWLO

Technologies targeted for integration reflected use-case priorities,
with security-related and asset management tools predominating
Technologies targeted for integration
Top 8 Responses
43%
39%
39%
39%
38%
37%
32%
31%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Security-related tools
Monitoring tools (application performance)
Incident management records/audits
Collaboration tools
Knowledge management
Cloud-related management tools
Monitoring tools (network performance)
Endpoint management solutions
Incident
51%
38%
34%
32%
30%
30%
29%
28%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
IT asset management tools
Cloud performance-related management tools
Knowledge management
Monitoring tools (infrastructure performance)
Virtualization or container platforms
Change
37%
33%
33%
33%
30%
30%
30%
25%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
CI/CD tools
Cloud cost-specific management tools
End-user experience monitoring/analytics
User acceptance testing analytics
DevOps
45%
35%
33%
31%
30%
30%
28%
28%
0% 5% 10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%
IT asset management tools
Monitoring tools (infrastructure)
Cloud cost-specific management tools
AppWLO

Top stakeholders served by use case: IT operations predominated,
with DevOps targeting ITSM
Top three most important groups/stakeholders served by automation
Top 8 Responses
41%
27%
18%
18%
17%
16%
16%
15%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
IT operations
IT executive suite (VP or CIO-level)
Business executive suite (VP or C-level)
Application management/application support
ITSM teams, including service desk
Defined incident management team
End-user management
Network operations
Incident
44%
21%
18%
18%
15%
15%
14%
14%
0% 5% 10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%
IT operations
Security/fraud risk management
DevOps-driven team
Asset management/ IT financial optimization
Data center
ITSM team
Change
44%
38%
33%
19%
13%
13%
13%
10%
0% 5% 10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%
IT service management (ITSM) team
IT operations
Engineering/development
Cloud
Applications development teams affiliated…
DevOps
37%
29%
29%
19%
16%
15%
13%
11%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
IT operations (network, data center, etc.)
DevOps-driven team
IoT
Cloud
AppWLO

Non-IT business led as the most needed unserved stakeholder, with
DevOps targeting app development affiliated with lines of business
Stakeholders not served through automation
Top 8 Responses
14%
9%
8%
7%
6%
6%
5%
5%
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%
Non-IT business stakeholders
IoT
End-user management
Cloud
Cross-domain service management organization
IT operations
DevOps-driven team
Incident
14%
9%
8%
7%
7%
6%
6%
5%
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%
Site reliability engineers
Data center
Cloud
End-user management
Change
11%
8%
7%
7%
7%
6%
6%
5%
0% 5% 10% 15%
Applications dev teams-line of business
IT operations
Center of excellence
Customer experience mgmt team (external)
Other business executives
Quality assurance team
Site reliability engineers or equivalent
DevOps
13%
10%
8%
8%
8%
7%
5%
5%
0% 5% 10% 15%
IT operations (network, data center, etc.)
Engineering/development
Defined change management team
Cloud
AppWLO

AI Ops and Automation

90% viewed coupling AI/analytics with automation as a
High or Extremely high priority
To what degree is combining automation with AI/analytics a priority in your organization
for 2020?
36%
54%
9%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Extremely high
priority
High priority
Second-tier priority
Not a priority
Sample Size = 405

75% had AIOps as Actively in progress or as A major initiative
To what degree is AIOps, IT operations analytics, or some form of advanced IT analytics
(AIA) part of your environment?
42%
33%
15%
7%
4%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Actively in progress
A major initiative
Under evaluation
Planned for the future
No plans
Sample Size = 405

Sample Size = 405
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Major initiative Actively in progress Under evaluation Planned for the future No plans
Focus on AIOps
Degree of IT Automation vs Focus on AIOps
Somewhat Automated (21% - 40%) Moderately Automated (41% - 70%) Highly Automated (More than 70%)
Those With Higher Degrees of Automation Are More
Focused on AIOps / Advanced IT Analytics

Unification of Automation Tools

Only 8% feel they have a unified approach to automation
55% are seeking a more unified approach
How do you feel about the automation options in your IT organization?
34%
31%
24%
8%
3%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Good tools that work for us
Good tools but too many, and would benefit from a
unified approach
Some tools would be improved by a unified approach
We have a unified automation approach and toolset
Too little automation to unify
Sample Size = 405

23% believed that unifying automation investments across use
cases was well underway, and 41% have made it a priority
To what degree are you seeking to unify automation investments across use cases?
23%
41%
28%
6%
1%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Extremely: Unifying automation investments across
use cases is well underway
Significantly: Unifying automation investments across
use cases has become a priority
Meaningfully: Unifying automation investments
across use cases is actively in discussion
Somewhat: Unifying automation investments across
use cases is something we are beginning to consider
Not at all: We focus our automation investments
exclusively based on use case
Sample Size = 405

Those With Higher Degrees of Automation
Are More Focused on Unifying Automation
Sample Size = 405
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Extremely Focused Significantly Focused Meaningfully Focused Somewhat Focused Not at all Focused
Focus on Automation Unification
Degree of IT Automation vs Focus on Automation Unification
Somewhat Automated (21% - 40%) Moderately Automated (41% - 70%) Highly Automated (More than 70%)

Top 3 Drivers for Unifying Automation
You indicated that unifying automation investments across use cases is important.
What led to making that a priority?
28%
24%
22%
21%
20%
20%
19%
18%
17%
14%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Improving IT-to-business alignment
Improved overall efficiencies in automation performance
Cutting costs by having superior automation integrations
Unifying IT to operate more effectively as a whole
Formation of a centralized automation center of excellence
Reducing administrative overhead for automation
investments
Need to reduce complexity in the automation ecosystem
Cutting costs through superior OpEx efficiencies
IT Executive (top-down) pressure
Need for improved governance
Sample Size = 377, Valid Cases = 377, Total Mentions = 1,003

28%
24%
22%
21%
20%
20%
19%
18%
17%
14%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
investments
Improved efficiencies in automation performance

28%
24%
22%
21%
20%
20%
19%
18%
17%
14%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
investments
Cutting costs thru automation integrations

IT Process Automation leads as a unification point, followed by
Workflow within and across IT, and Workload Automation
What automation technologies are leading the charge in support of your unified
automation initiative?
74%
68%
36%
30%
23%
46%
27%
10%
11%
6%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
IT process automation or runbook
Workload automation (WLA)
AI bots
RPA orchestration
Leading critical

Top 3 Benefits Achieved From Unification
Of these, what benefits have you already achieved through your automation initiative so
far?
30%
29%
24%
22%
21%
20%
19%
17%
16%
13%
12%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Increased levels of innovation across IT
A more unified way of working across IT
Better alignment across IT silos
Improved IT-to-business alignment
Improved use case outcomes
Reduced administrative overhead
Overall reduced OpEx costs due to improved efficiencies
Superior levels of currency across automation routines
Reduced CapEx costs
A more dynamic and agile IT organization
Reduced/flat headcount

far?
30%
29%
24%
22%
21%
20%
19%
17%
16%
13%
12%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Reduced CapEx costs
More unified way of working across IT

far?
30%
29%
24%
22%
21%
20%
19%
17%
16%
13%
12%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Reduced CapEx costs

Data-Driven IT Automation: A Vision for the Modern CIO
Summary of Key Findings
• Average IT automation about 40% of tasks; big range with some less than 10% and some over 80%
• Mid-sized enterprises are often more automated than larger enterprises
• High degree of staffing overlap in IT management use cases
• Integrating security-related tools and asset management tools with automation tools is a priority
• Business stakeholders are the most underserved group with current automation tools
• AIOps / advanced IT analytics is more important to those with higher degrees of automation
• Unifying automation is more important to those with higher degrees of automation
• Unifying automation increases innovation and creates more unified and better aligned work across IT silos

Tame Complex IT
Environments with
Data-Driven IT Automation
Alessandro Perilli
GM, Management Strategy
aperilli@redhat.com
@giano

Let’s talk about three types of automation:
● IT process automation
● Alert-driven notification and automated event remediation
● Security-related process automation

The world is converging towards a specific technologic stack mostly powered by open source.

*FY21 roadmap - Content still available for download then upload into Ansible Tower for disconnected environments.
Discover Red Hat and certified
partner content, Collections
Manage and test your
organization’s view of available
content*
Manage your locally available
automation via on-premises*
Automation Hub

Recommendations
▸ Consider a standardized technology stack whenever possible to reduce
your support matrix.
▸ Design the automation of all processes around an application, not just the
application itself.
▸ Centralize and commit to support automation workflows.

Alert-driven notification
and automated event
remediation

Complexity of
Applications
Architecture

Speed Of
Algorithmic Operations

Integrate with
observability platforms.
Move from
“admiring the problem”
to
“addressing the problem”.
Automated
Remediation
Performance Logs
Health

Continuous identification of new risks
driven by unique industry data
“ 85% of critical issues raised to Red Hat®
support
are already known to Red Hat or our partners.”
Based on real-world results from millions
of enterprise deployments

Availability, performance, stability, and
security risk analysis

Performance Logs
Health
Policies
Integrate with
observability platforms and
policy engines.
Move from
to

Performance Logs
Health
Analytics
Policies
Integrate with
observability platforms and
policy engines.
Augment automation engines
with analytics.
Move from
to

Recommendations
▸ Deploy analytics to remediate the automation platform itself.
▸ Explore the integration with a policy engine.
Develop policies that trigger automation to reach/restore desired state.
▸ Prioritize the integration of automation with and application platforms’
instrumentation and 3rd party observability solutions .

Security-related
process automation

SECURE WEB
GATEWAYS
IDPS
ENDPOINT
PROTECTION
PLATFORMS
SECURE EMAIL
GATEWAYS
THREAT
INTELLIGENCE
PLATFORMS
ENTERPRISE
FIREWALLS
SIEM
PAM

Automation Can Become
The Lingua Franca
Of IT Security

SECURE WEB
GATEWAYS
IDPS
ENDPOINT
PROTECTION
PLATFORMS
SECURE EMAIL
GATEWAYS
THREAT
INTELLIGENCE
PLATFORMS
ENTERPRISE
FIREWALLS
SIEM
PAM
AI

Recommendations
▸ Reconsider automation as a strategic defense, not just another tactical tool.
▸ Pilot automated host and network security for non-critical applications.
▸ Discover what automation tools are the most used in your org, and why.
▸ Let your automation vendor know what security tools you are using, and how
you'd like them to interact with each other.
Pressure security vendors to start integrating with automation tools.

Where Can I Learn More?
▸ Workflow sprawl containment with
Automation Hub for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
https://www.ansible.com/products/automation-hub
▸ Policy-driven automation with
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Manager for Kubernetes
https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/management/advanced-cluster-management
▸ Automated remediation with
Red Hat Insights Services
https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/management/insights
▸ Enterprise security orchestration with
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for security automation
https://www.ansible.com/use-cases/security-automation

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