The world we live in is progressing at a breakneck speed. There are new and improved systems and software being developed every day, making mundane and complex processes simpler and more efficient. One of the spearheads behind such change and innovation is the advent and extensive acceptance of automation across various fields and disciplines.
This advancement can be attributed to the fact that we have seen how much more is possible if we feed instructions into a system, give it the tools it needs, and then let it do its job autonomously. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of human error.
Automation
Automation has made it possible for work to be done whenever it needs to be done, not when there is someone available to do the job.
For instance, employee attendance in an organization is now largely an automated process. People come into work, scan a card or key and their attendance is recorded. This information is automatically sent to a database where the employee’s final remuneration can be easily calculated based on their availability. In the past, there would be a manual system where cards would be checked in, attendance would be manually tallied, and then the paychecks would be processed. That is all in the past! With automation, the world around us as we know it has completely changed.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is another key facet of the modern digital landscape. There are few tools as useful as ‘the cloud’ in modern business. Having access to information whenever and wherever you want is an incredibly beneficial part of the cloud computing phenomenon. With the world around us constantly shrinking, cloud computing has emerged as a vital asset that can be leveraged by an organization.
For instance, take the example of an architectural firm designing a shopping mall. Instead of having everyone in one place, they can have people from different parts of the world collaborate on the project remotely. If this team comprises different people from different places, the cloud essentially blurs the lines between these people.
Sketches can be uploaded to a shared drive and any changes that need to be made can be done and reuploaded in a matter of seconds for everyone involved to see. With a slew of communication applications, one person can communicate a message to an entire team with the click of a button.
Cloud Automation – An Overview
When first introduced, there were many costs associated with implementing cloud computing platforms. It was a new technology and a lot needed to be changed in order to accommodate these new systems. As these systems have risen in popularity, it has become easier to deploy them with more people knowing how to implement, use, and maintain them.
One of the biggest reasons for the rampant success of cloud computing systems is the ease of work that they bring. Using cloud computing, you can automate processes such as data backups, security management, and compliance, and updating system configurations. All of this can be done on its own and a scheduled checkup to see if things are going according to plan is all that is needed in order to keep the system going. By switching to an automated cloud computing system, you eliminate the many errors that arise due to manual workflows.
Uses of Cloud Automation
Cloud automation is used in many industries across the globe thanks to its many benefits and uses. While we could not fit all of them into one article, here are some of the most important ones out there:
Infrastructure Provisioning
In the past, when servers were installed, they needed to be manually configured before they became operational. However, cloud computing has introduced the world to virtual servers. For instance, systems like Amazon Web Services will give you the tools needed to design a template to be used to configure each virtual server. Instead of manually doing the job, these pre-made templates will do the job for you, saving you a lot of time and effort.
When setting up storage buckets or other network setups, this same methodology can be used there as well. This makes it easier to deploy systems and remove the middle man that needed to be there to make sure everything was up and running. Most modern cloud computing systems have several templates to choose from which makes it easier for organizations to choose which one fits them the best. In the event that they don’t find what they need, they could always create it once and then duplicate it as many times as is needed.
The most evident benefit of this is that it makes it easier for organizations to scale their infrastructure to the desired scale. This makes it easier to innovate their workflows and processes.
Identity Management and Provisioning.
In most organizations, there are multiple departments with several levels and teams in them. This can translate into a multitude of employees. These employees have varying levels of access to company information and this requires comprehensive resource allocation. If we were to manually assign access to someone, it would take a lot of time to do so.
By using an identity and access management (IAM) template, you can separate profiles by their access levels. When a new member is added to the team, they could be assigned a profile with all the information already updated and permissions granted accordingly. This allows the organizations to save a lot of time and as we know, time is money.
Using cloud computing and IAM templates makes it easier for an organization to bring new people on board. It is also easier to modify permissions in the event that someone’s role is changed and they are now given more access than before. When someone is dismissed from their duty, you can use these templates to entirely remove the person from company databases.
Check and Balance
When your organization reaches a certain size, it becomes more difficult for you to manually watch over everything. Anyone with a business knows that you must always be one step ahead of everyone else as no one is going to take care of affairs as you do.
In order to make sure that the job is being done as it should, it is important to keep an eye on proceedings. This does not only ensure compliance but also tracks any sort of errors that might arise. Having an automated reporting system makes it easier for the concerned department to rectify it.
Cloud computing systems such as AWS CloudWatch will give their users the ability to monitor and track different metrics in the cloud environment. Depending on what sort of thresholds you have, triggers can be assigned which make it easier for you to know when something is going wrong and it needs to be fixed.
Other examples include monitoring storage space and notifying you when you have reached a certain limit. For instance, you might be using 1 terabyte of storage on a server. You can assign a prompt at 800 gigabytes to let you know that you are 80% occupied and that there is a need to make room for more.
Cloud computing has only just begun to show us what it’s capable of. When paired with automation, it has the capacity to entirely change the way we work.