Automation Concepts
Automation solutions have emerged as a crucial driver of success for organizations, providing several benefits such as increased efficiency, improved accuracy, and reduced operational costs. However, implementing automation solutions can be a complex process that requires careful planning to ensure successful integration with existing systems and workflows.
At IT-Conductor, we recognize the complexities of implementing automation solutions. For this reason, we take a tailored approach for each of our customers, working closely with you to fully understand your unique business needs and objectives. This partnership allows us to gain a deeper understanding of your specific requirements, design and develop automation solutions that align with your goals as an organization, enhance your IT operations, and ultimately lead to improved performance.
IT-Conductor’s approach to automation is centered around the concept known as the 4Ps of Automation. This strategic framework helps us deliver tailored solutions, ensuring you reap the full benefits of automation in your operations. The 4Ps of Automation consist of the following stages:
Figure 1: IT-Conductor's 4Ps of Automation
First, we gather information about your specific requirements, establish well-defined objectives, and devise a plan to address them efficiently and effectively. This planning process may involve identifying processes for automation, prioritizing them based on potential impact and feasibility, and outlining a clear roadmap to achieve the desired outcomes.
By conducting rigorous testing and continuous refinement, we validate the functionality, accuracy, and efficiency of our automation solutions. This iterative process allows us to address any issues that may arise during the Proof of Concept (PoC) phase, ensuring a seamless transition to full-scale implementation.
At this stage, the automation PoC is implemented in the production environment, marking the beginning of the full-scale implementation. This also includes configuring systems for monitoring, allowing you to address potential issues that may arise.
As we strive to keep you at the forefront of technological advancements, we develop and deliver regular updates to ensure our automation solutions are still relevant and effective. Staying up-to-date with new releases is important, as it enables you to identify areas where further enhancements can be made. By fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, we enable your organization to maintain a competitive advantage and adapt to the evolving demands of the market.
IT-Conductor leverages a massively parallel processing engine to efficiently manage and automate complex IT processes across diverse open platforms and applications. A striking demonstration of this capability is its seamless integration with SAP Job scheduling and monitoring, and SAP Basis Automation. IT-Conductor enables organizations to extend this functionality to achieve comprehensive IT workflow automation through the creation and execution of runbooks.
Figure 1: Automated Admin Scripts & Jobs
IT-Conductor is equipped with a built-in scheduler and Process Composer that can orchestrate a wide range of application native activities such as handling SAP jobs, executing database SQL queries and stored procedures, running Linux/UNIX shell commands and scripts, and interacting with web-services APIs, etc.
Figure 2: Process Composer
Common usage scenarios include:
- Centralized Automation and Task Scheduling: IT-Conductor offers centralized automation capabilities, effectively replacing local schedulers like crontab, enabling streamlined task management across the entire SAP/IT landscape.
- Scaling Mass Operations: Easily execute mass IT operations such as system startup and shutdown on multiple servers or instances simultaneously.
- Housekeeping and Maintenance Jobs: Simplify and optimize housekeeping jobs in SAP, databases, and operating systems, ensuring high performance and longevity of critical systems.
- Seamless System Refresh Post-Copy Automation (PCA): When combined with SID-Refresh™, IT-Conductor facilitates an automated and reliable system refresh process, reducing downtime and eliminating potential errors.
IT-Conductor can also execute policy-based recovery and remediation actions by leveraging automation. When an alert is detected due to a policy violation, the system initiates an automated recovery action, ensuring service continuity and proactively resolving the issue. A smart alert management rule can be set up to automatically close the alert if the original condition that triggered the alert no longer exists and the status has returned to normal.
Monitored thresholds within IT-Conductor can trigger auto-recovery actions using known fixes for common issues. You also have the flexibility to configure a notification that informs the responsible person to perform the required actions. This dynamic approach to automated recovery and alert management minimizes service disruptions and promotes swift issue resolution, optimizing overall system reliability and performance.
Figure 3: Self-Healing Automated Recovery
Recovery actions offer extensive customization options, allowing you to tailor specific application commands, databases, or shell scripts to meet the unique requirements of each customer and application.
Common usage scenarios include:
With a clear focus on optimizing SAP/IT processes, IT-Conductor achieves the following key objectives:
- Digitizing IT Processes: IT-Conductor streamlines the documentation and automation of both simple and complex IT processes. By capturing core IT workflows in runbooks, the platform ensures a comprehensive repository of documented procedures that can be easily referenced and automated.
- Efficient Workflow Capture: In complex and non-linear IT environments, workflows are the most effective way to capture intricate processes and dependencies accurately. IT-Conductor's Process Composer empowers users to map out complex workflows visually, simplifying the understanding and management of critical tasks.
- Ensuring Repeatable Workflows: With a focus on consistency and reliability, IT-Conductor ensures that workflows are designed for repeatability. By standardizing the execution of tasks and actions, the platform minimizes errors and ensures predictable outcomes across different iterations.
- Monitoring and Management at Task Level: IT-Conductor provides granular monitoring and management capabilities down to the individual task level within a workflow. This level of oversight allows IT teams to identify bottlenecks, track progress, and promptly address any issues that may arise during the automation process.
Figure 4: Digitized Complex IT Processes
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