Delving into the specifics of automating various facets of your IT operations can yield numerous advantages, making it a topic worthy of in-depth exploration. Moreover, it is valuable to gain insight into different IT operations models like DevOps, AIOps, and NoOps. 

These terms may already be well within your comprehension or fall under the purview of your IT specialists. Nevertheless, having a high-level understanding of these concepts and grasping how to integrate automation can significantly enhance your strategic planning.

What is IT operations automation? 

IT operations automation involves the integration of automation into an organization’s systems and applications, enabling the execution and supervision of crucial processes without the need for manual intervention by staff. This, in turn, allows your IT team to redirect their attention to more significant tasks. 

Previously, we’ve explored the benefits of workflow automation for IT teams. Similar to automation in other business areas, the primary objective is to target repetitive tasks that tend to divert your IT team from more pressing responsibilities. For instance, you can implement automation to facilitate data extraction from your ETL layer.

Furthermore, IT operations automation has the potential to streamline troubleshooting procedures and minimize the risk of human errors. The specifics of IT operations automation may differ from one business to another, depending on each organization’s unique processes and systems.

How does IT automation work?

You can use different software tools to understand and perform any required actions. In some cases, you can schedule these actions or manually trigger them. In other cases, such as when there is an increased demand on your IT capacity, actions can be automatically activated.

Automation can reduce the workload of IT staff by “taking over” actions and responses typically occurring when an IT team member manually executes them. Your IT admin can build better IT automation by combining several execution scripts into a series. 

When planning automation, consider the size of your business and the scope of your current IT operations. You may choose enterprise-level automation tools that track different processes and trigger actions when a certain threshold is reached. 

With more advanced IT automation tools, you can delegate tasks such as system configuration, software use, and even which servers run processes.  

Remember that adopting automation shouldn’t be a hasty, all-encompassing decision. In other words, avoid automating every single process within your organization simply for the sake of it. It’s essential to clearly understand the precise enhancements that automation can bring to each task. To begin, pinpoint the manual and repetitive processes that consume a significant amount of your team’s time and evaluate which departments could benefit from increased efficiency.

Where you can apply IT operations automation

Knowing how to use IT automation allows you to make more informed decisions. But how can it benefit your business? And where can automation be the most useful?

1. Security/compliance

Security and compliance are essential for nearly every business today. Just think about how much data you handle daily and the strict regulations around sensitive information.

You can use automation to run your compliance, security, and risk management policies across your infrastructure. Automation can also help mitigate issues quickly by building automated steps if or when a problem occurs. Automation can also help make security/compliance audits easier. 

2. Incident management

How quickly any organization responds to an incident is crucial. Automated systems can restore services quicker and reduce errors. 

One of the advantages of IT operations automation is that it can help reduce the cost and duration of incidents. If an incident occurs, your automated system can quickly identify the issue and who will remedy it. 

3. Deploying applications

It doesn’t matter what approach you use when deploying applications. Automating the process can improve the results. 

Consider automating essential tasks in app deployment, especially during the testing period. By streamlining the process, you can deploy applications more efficiently and successfully. 
It can give you a more integrated workflow from building stages through testing and deployment. Looking at how workflow automation benefits businesses could offer your organization fundamental ideas.

What are the benefits of automation?

When any business considers change, one of the first things they consider is the benefits of the new process. Knowing what benefits IT operations automation offers makes it easier to ensure your entire C-suite is on board with the changes. 

Consider the following:

• Lower costs: Your IT overheads can be significant, particularly for larger organizations. Automating certain areas of your IT operations, such as application deployment or patch management, can reduce overhead by making IT operations more efficient and reducing errors. 
• More uptime: Downtime can cost your business money. Automation reduces downtime by monitoring your systems and responding more quickly with automated recovery and backup processes. 
• Increased productivity: Automation focuses on repetitive and manual tasks like application testing. This allows your IT teams to focus on more critical tasks. In turn, this boosts their productivity levels. 
• Higher performance levels: The digital era means more demands are placed on your IT and operations teams than ever. Automation means you can streamline various processes and achieve higher levels of performance without growing your IT teams. 
• More reliability: Human errors can be costly and frequent, especially regarding repetitive tasks. Automating those tasks can lead to significant improvements in reliability. It also vastly reduces the incidences of human error. A good example is the use of automation in call center systems technology. Queue management, interactive voice control, and automated call center dialers can improve metrics across the board. 
• Better governance: Your IT admins can perform tasks differently with automation. You can implement policies that provide consistency in how specific tasks are carried out. This can be especially useful when it comes to security and compliance. 
• Not just better but faster: Manual processes and tasks take time that could be better spent elsewhere. With automation, you can streamline and speed up those tasks — regardless of the size and complexity of your infrastructure. Automation allows for swifter workloads across your system, allowing administrators to focus their attention on other tasks.
• More flexibility: By implementing IT operations automation, you ensure you are more flexible and adaptable. This is useful especially when there are changes to your IT infrastructure or new technologies and practices. It means you can change your processes with less work than if you did so manually. 
• Better integration capability: An automated system — with high integration and interoperability capability — can help you implement and make the best use of new tools and software faster.
• Improved communications: There are various ways that automation can benefit your communications. One example is automating document workflow to improve career development and training.

Which IT operations models can benefit from automation? 

Different types of businesses may use different business models. Similarly, your IT teams and IT infrastructure will use different operation models that recognize your business needs. You should look at what those needs are and where automation can bring some of the benefits already listed. 

1. DevOps

DevOps refers to the part of your business — and relevant teams — that combine various practices and tools to deliver services and applications efficiently. Its purpose is to build and deploy products faster than a business that uses traditional development and management processes. A lot of this speed and efficiency can be credited to using automation. 

DevOps teams seek to collaborate with anyone relevant to the process to ensure that development is more streamlined from initial concept to deployment. 

Automating elements of the overall process, such as testing, can ensure that new products are built, tested, and deployed quicker than before. Simply put, automation can be a game-changer for your DevOps teams.

2. AIOps

If automation is topical, AI (artificial intelligence) is even more trending. 

AIOps is Artificial Intelligence for IT operations. It refers to using and applying AI technology, such as GPT-4 or Deep Convolutional Neural Networks, within the broader scope of your IT infrastructure. 

AI can optimize your systems and lead to better operational ability and improvements to your delivery systems.

Consider utilizing AI and related tools such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and predictive analytics. This way, you can better manage any size and complexity of infrastructure. 

An excellent example of this is ACD automatic call distribution. Here, AI automation routes calls to the correct agent. This removes the need for call center staff to do so manually, allowing teams to detect and solve customer problems more quickly. 

3. NoOps

NoOps stands for “no operations,” which refers to completely automating your IT operations and infrastructure and removing the need for any IT staff. 

There is some debate that this is aspirational. It aims for an IT operations model that is fully automated and requires no human intervention. 

A NoOps model would need multiple technologies that would be fully integrated and interoperable. It would manage all IT-related tasks from the most simple to the most complex. It is seen as an evolution from AIOps models, which still involve a high degree of human input for more complex processes. 

Final thoughts

There is little doubt that automation will continue to grow and expand. 

Better AI technologies will continue to emerge. At the same time, automated systems’ ability to handle more complex tasks will also expand. 

Of course, there is much debate about how much automation and AI will impact human jobs. But, apart from the NoOps model, the likely reality is that systems will still need human interaction. 

Focus your automation efforts in areas where there are tedious and repetitive tasks that often see a degree of human error. Automation is another tool that can help streamline your workflows, cut operational costs, and vastly reduce the amount of human errors.

The post What is IT operations automation? Understanding DevOps, AIOps, and NoOps operation models appeared first on airSlate Blog | Business automation.

By harnessing automated workflows to streamline IT processes, you free up valuable resources to redirect them to other departments. This means fewer IT interventions for routine tasks like password resets and data backups, ultimately reducing headaches for your team and enhancing the customer experience.

But how impactful can workflow automation be for the IT industry? The answer might surprise you. But first, a quick overview of what it entails. 

What is workflow automation?

Workflow automation relies on technology, such as workflow automation software and digital systems, to automate and streamline an organization’s task completion, processes, and activities. It involves designing, managing, and optimizing sequences of steps and actions to complete specific business processes or workflows.

Workflow automation aims to reduce manual intervention, minimize human errors, improve efficiency, and enhance productivity by automating repetitive, rule-based, or standardized tasks. This technology typically automatically routes tasks, data, and information to the right people at the right time, often based on predefined rules or triggers.

In essence, workflow automation simplifies complex processes, ensures consistency, and accelerates the pace of task completion, ultimately leading to cost savings and improved overall performance within an organization.

And with the emergence of no-code platforms and AI, business leaders have automation on the brain. 50% of respondents surveyed by the World Economic Forum say they intend to accelerate the automation of tasks in their organization in the near future.

Rule-based vs. AI-powered workflow automation

Modern workflow automation comes in two categories: rules-based “deterministic” logic and AI-powered “probabilistic” reasoning.

Rules-based logic can file a document away depending on hard facts like the date, its unique ID, or whether or not all parties signed it. AI has traditionally been used to automate subjective decisions in Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. For example, to answer questions like “Is this an authentic, live video of the customer?” However, new large-language models like GPT-4 can carry out complex tasks around manipulating text.

If you want to summarize chats in your Salesforce notes, a chatGPT-powered Salesforce Connector can instantly write up detailed notes and summaries that would take hours of mindless typing every month.

By including AI in your low- or no-code workflows, you can eliminate the “last mile” of subjective decision-making that previously prevented you from fully automating these routine processes. That means you and your team can spend more time on complex problems that demand unique expertise.

IT workflow automation: Key insights

Workflow automation plays a crucial role in the IT industry by streamlining and optimizing various aspects of IT operations. In IT support and helpdesk functions, automation can handle routine tasks like password resets, system updates, and ticket routing. Automated workflows help reduce the burden on IT staff, ensure faster response times, and improve user satisfaction.

In software development and deployment, workflow automation can automate code testing, deployment, and monitoring processes, leading to faster development cycles and more reliable software releases. Additionally, in IT security, automation can continuously monitor network traffic, detect security threats, and trigger immediate responses, enhancing overall cybersecurity posture. Overall, IT workflow automation drives efficiency, reduces human errors, and allows IT professionals to focus on strategic tasks and innovation.

Take note: In one of our recent blogs, we covered operations automation and had an in-depth view of the operations workflows that can be automated.

Shadow IT: The dark matter in your organization’s tech stack

Workflow automation helps to tackle the so-called “Shadow IT.” With 85% of IT professionals surveyed saying this is a big concern and companies spending an average of $135,000 a year dealing with the consequences of shadow IT, this is one of the biggest problems that workflow automation can solve. 

In simple terms, Shadow IT is the patchwork of solutions employees have implemented to complete their work as quickly and easily as possible without consulting the IT department. Shadow IT is the “dark matter” in any organization’s tech stack: it’s everywhere and unobservable. Shadow IT practices pose risks to operational efficiency, cybersecurity, and compliance with the law.

As workflow automation makes processes more efficient, it removes the need for these hidden and less secure workarounds, enabling staff to finish their work with minimal effort and without the risks associated with shadow IT and ultimately enabling staff to complete their tasks quickly without the risks associated with shadow IT.

7 benefits of IT workflow automation for tech gurus

Here are the seven ways workflow automation can benefit your IT team while improving operations and employee experience.

1) Improved process compliance

Companies are under more scrutiny than ever about how their systems handle user data, such as identifiable information, financial and medical records. If regulators come and ask how you’re handling that, you better have a clear answer. Issues like Shadow IT solutions make this impossible. So, how can you stop them from growing around your tech stack?

Low- and no-code workflow automation, overseen by the IT department, allows employees to set up the necessary authorized solutions without creating security and compliance headaches. By running standardized processes on a secure platform—itself compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.—IT teams can rest assured that their customer data isn’t at risk for the sake of convenience.

2) Cost savings

airSlate’s latest IT & Ops report revealed that 41% of IT professionals surveyed think they spend too much time on administrative work. That’s unsurprising, considering 71% have seen layoffs in the past six months. These layoffs are supposed to cut costs, but every hour IT staff spend on laborious, non-specialist work has a price. By partly or wholly automating these tasks, more of the IT budget can be invested in strategic upgrades rather than routine maintenance. 

Workflow automation also enables your existing employees to bypass the tasks that often hamper their work rate and delay the completion of projects. Research has shown that employees can waste as much as five hours per week on repetitive tasks, leading to a financial loss of up to $1.6 billion annually.

As the marginal gains from workflow automation stack up, they increase the speed of project completion, cutting down the time-to-market for your products and allowing you to see faster investment returns. 

3) Greater accuracy

Workflow automation tools have proven to help IT teams complete tasks with much higher levels of accuracy: rule-based workflows are executed the same way every time, and machine learning systems can make snap and accurate judgments about vast datasets.  

A high level of accuracy in your operations is essential for meeting the targets established in service level agreements (SLA) for your products, reducing the negative impacts on customers and other stakeholders. In this way, automation helps to reduce the costs associated with error correction and thorough quality assurance. 

As well as helping to limit errors during data input, automated processes can form part of your model drift detection efforts, analyzing models for inaccuracies that could deteriorate their predictive power.

4) Improved employee satisfaction

Not only does reducing the number of repetitive tasks your employees have to carry out save you time and money, but it also improves the satisfaction levels of said employees.

For example, before implementing document workflow automation, San Diego’s New School of Architecture & Design had employees struggling to process applications. Everything was on paper, forms would go missing, and staff would spend time struggling with forms with empty fields or confusing handwriting.

A simple document automation solution had a significant impact on staff motivation. Digitizing the application process meant forms were consistent, clear, and easy to deal with. Where automation can’t completely eliminate admin processes, it can make them go by much more smoothly.

With no-code workflow automation tools, staff with minimal technical knowledge can install, manage, and monitor processes as well as build apps suited to their needs without involving the IT department. Citizen development can be safe, effective, and empowering for teams using low-code or no-code automation. 

Fostering citizen development improves employee satisfaction across the board, whether it’s admin staff having the solution they need or IT teams spending less time fixing inefficient systems. 

5) Increased productivity

airSlate‘s latest IT & Ops report suggests that 94% of teams using no-code workflow automation feel more productive. Introducing workflow automation enables organizations to optimize IT processes, streamlining workflows and ensuring that only the minimum amount of time is spent on individual tasks.

As a result, the number of tasks completed in a day, week, or month grows, reducing the time needed for more significant projects, increasing output, and improving ROI. 

For example, using an autoloader as part of a data ingestion framework can significantly reduce the time spent manually ingesting data into your data lake house for analytics purposes. An automated workflow will ensure that data is ingested efficiently from various applications, allowing you to devote time to other relevant tasks while the process is completed.

6) Smoother communication

Yet another benefit of leveraging workflow automation for IT teams is improved communication with peers, customers, and other stakeholders. For example, you can streamline communication between the development and operations teams. Reducing silos will get rid of bottlenecks and speed up your product launches.

Not only does workflow automation reduce the need for constant communication, but it can also streamline the communication process. Automated features, such as automatically generated emails or automatic feedback requests, reduce the time team members must spend typing out and sending communications, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks.

Workflow automation is beneficial when communicating with customers. Integrating CRM software with email marketing tools enables more effective marketing personalization while reducing the time spent generating emails. Instead of turning to shadow IT, the sales and marketing teams can build automated workflows right where the IT team can see them. This makes discussing what’s being implemented much easier, especially in a remote organization.

7) Easier collaboration

Remote work and cloud software have risen in tandem. With teams distributed on their networks and devices, employees’ software and hardware creep into your organization’s tech stack.

Streamlining remote collaboration is simplified when you consolidate all IT-approved solutions into a single platform. This approach simplifies remote collaboration by reducing the need to piece together multiple apps and services. Instead, everyone can work and share their progress on a unified central platform. Consequently, projects of any scale can run more smoothly, adhere to timelines, and stay within budget.

Leverage the power of workflow automation in your IT team today

Workflow automation offers numerous advantages for IT teams, especially in the face of tightening budgets and expanding workloads. The reduction of routine administrative tasks for specialized IT personnel significantly adds value to operations.

Furthermore, companies can revolutionize collaboration within their teams and with IT through the utilization of low- and no-code automation platforms. These platforms empower teams to develop their solutions without introducing security or compliance concerns, sparing the already overstretched IT department from risky shadow IT initiatives.

Most notably, these tools enhance team collaboration by consolidating their solutions within a single system. This streamlines the integration process, reducing the burden on IT staff and allowing them to concentrate on tasks that demand their unique expertise.

The post 7 Underrated benefits of workflow automation for the IT industry appeared first on airSlate Blog | Business automation.

A disquieting economic outlook, a super-competitive field, cybersecurity dangers, and remote working – your business faces many challenges in today’s landscape. However, an informed and proactive approach to workflow automation can help you navigate this tumultuous time.

Previously, we’ve explored the benefits of IT workflow automation. In this article we will make a deep dive into automation in operations management and what it looks like in practice. We’ll look into the potential benefits of automating operations and how you can implement automated operations workflows in your organization. Finally, we’ll identify the tasks that are particularly well-suited for automation.

What is operations automation?

Although critical, business operations are often overlooked or taken for granted. If you think about your business as a human body, operations are like the critical bodily systems that keep the whole show running smoothly.

We don’t often consider our body’s inner workings throughout the day. We’re busy getting on with our lives while, in the background, our lungs continue to breathe and our hearts pump blood. But the more efficient these systems are, the healthier and fitter we are, the more we can achieve. This analogy applies to business operations. 

Business operations include the wide range of activities and workflows necessary for a business to produce and deliver its product or service. Operations can vary enormously and depend on the nature of your business, including:

• Scheduling appointments
• Managing inventory
• Logging customer details
• Approving staff leave requests
• Order fulfillment
• Contract creation and approval
• Assigning tasks to team members

It’s more than operations themselves that are diverse. Recent years have seen our workplace become ever more disparate and dispersed, forcing Operations Managers and teams to consider all possible locations employees use to do their jobs – from call centers to offices or homes.

In short, getting all these operations right is complicated!

Yet, the more efficient such processes become, the better the business can perform. Repetitive workflows can be labor-intensive – often pulling people away from where they can add value to your business.  

Operations automation addresses that issue by leveraging technology to automate certain aspects of work, removing the need for human involvement. The routine work happens automatically and efficiently, freeing your team for higher performance in other ways. Automation makes these repetitive, manual tasks as effortless as breathing.

The benefits of operations automation

Operational automation can streamline workflows and processes to optimize performance, offering numerous benefits:

1. Increased efficiency

Laborious, tedious tasks are removed from your team’s to-do list, freeing them to focus on higher-value aspects of their work. 

For example, call center cloud systems use automated technology like interactive voice response and call routing, which is particularly beneficial for larger companies receiving high calls. Automating these tasks frees agents at the call center to focus on customer care. 

Moreover, automating tasks nearly always means completing them more quickly. That can result in significant time savings where multiple elements in a process are automated. There is also less potential for bottlenecks.

Automating operations workflows can make your business quicker, slicker, and more agile, all of which can also boost productivity.

2. Standardized workflows

However much your business may try to enforce consistency and standardization, it becomes more challenging as it grows. The challenges of today’s business landscape only deepen the issue. Consider the following:

• The shift to remote working makes it hard to ensure everyone follows policies
• An unpredictable economic environment means operations teams must achieve even more with fewer resources
• Colleagues sometimes see efforts to enforce consistency as an unnecessary restriction, a barrier rather than a support

A recent airSlate report of IT and Ops teams rammed this picture home: the number one concern was about being forced into a reactive role, forever bogged down fixing mistakes rather than focusing on strategic, operational improvements. Moreover, 85% were particularly alarmed by the danger of shadow IT in their business as a source of crises.

Automation enables a highly standardized and consistent approach to workflows. With automated systems in place, it’s harder for employees to go off-track and do their own thing. And, if the automation is supportive and time-saving, why would they even want to? 

Along with consistency and standardization, automation enables greater visibility and transparency of your workflows, such as KPIs monitoring, etc., serving as a powerful tool for overall business management.

3. Improved accuracy

However careful they may be, people make mistakes – whether entering the wrong number on a spreadsheet, forgetting to complete a particular task, or making an erroneous decision because of misreading something.

By their very nature, automated systems are not prone to human error. They can be relied on to deliver consistent and accurate performance (assuming they are set up appropriately). That further increases efficiency and makes life simpler for your teams.

4. Better team support and empowerment 

Citizen development has become popular among IT and Operations specialists, empowering teams across the business to automate tasks for themselves.

In the past, this was unthinkable. However, the new generation of low-code and no-code automation tools facilitates this. Employees can now develop automation processes within a user-friendly interface without writing a single line of code themselves.

In the survey mentioned above, 92% of IT and operations respondents supported this trend, confident that their teams have the skills needed to implement automation solutions in this way successfully.

Of course, success here depends on close oversight by the operations and IT teams. It is about empowerment rather than an abdication of responsibility.

Such an approach has significant advantages, though. An intimate understanding of the task can help get to the best solution. Plus, your staff are more likely to feel empowered rather than imposed upon by an arbitrary system, which helps boost morale and employee retention.

5. Enhanced security and compliance

Adopting a standardized, automation-led approach can boost your cybersecurity. Rather than trying to monitor a potentially disparate web of practices that vary from team to team, automation brings an opportunity to consolidate and embed robust security practices.

6. Improved customer experience

A sleeker, more agile business is more likely to deliver better customer care than one wedded to inefficient, laborious processes.

In addition, automation can support customer care directly. For example, it can streamline the sales and order fulfillment experience. It can also improve customer communication through email or hosted call centers, speeding it up and adapting to the needs of different customer segments.

7. Competitive edge and improved bottom line 

Ultimately, the above is about enabling your business to perform more competitively. It is not just about saving time and money. It also means doing things better. Your team can be more productive and efficient – in a more rounded sense, giving your organization a competitive edge.

How to implement operations automation

Automating business operations is achievable, even for small businesses. Here are the steps to follow: 

1) Identify workflows to automate

First, you need to consider which workflows automation could support. There are likely to be many of these. It is a good idea to liaise with each department to explore possibilities.

Look for easy wins: laborious, menial tasks soaking up your team’s energy. For example, contracts can be a pain to keep track of. But document workflow automation systems like airSlate allow you to automate much of this.

Be aware of the complexity involved in the automation. Start with simple cases (e.g., where the rules or logic are straightforward). Starting this way will yield more manageable costs and employee morale returns.

2) Specify automation goals 

Next, specify a goal or set of goals that you hope the automation will deliver. What do you wish to achieve?

Be specific and concrete – saying “to improve efficiency” just won’t cut it. Instead, you might specify how much time you expect your team to save through automation. Or link it to an aspect of customer experience, such as achieving a particular order fulfillment time.

3) Select the right workflow automation tools

There are various approaches to introducing automation into your business. One that has grown massively in recent years is using low-code and no-code business automation tools, such as airSlate.

These tools make workflow automation accessible for all businesses, even small ones with little IT expertise. True, some IT knowledge is still required (to set the system up, for example). But beyond that, they enable your team to become citizen developers.

Automating a process can feel like a simple drag-and-drop exercise to the user, sometimes taking just minutes. The code is still there – and is crucial, but software acts as a mediator, hiding it behind the tool’s user-friendly interface. 

4) Roll out the workflow automation solution

Identifying potential workflows for automation, your desired goals, and the best tools for supporting this in your business is a great start. Next, you need to roll this out across your business.

Whatever tools you have selected must be incorporated into your IT ecosystem. And your teams will need training on how to leverage it. Remember that the low-code/no-code approach is about using the skills and insights of your team to embed automation.

You’ll find a motivated audience here. For example, a recent report has found that 90% of HR professionals are already looking for cost-effective workflow automation tools to support workforce management. The appetite is there.

Nevertheless, continual oversight and guidance are crucial to ensure the business uses it consistently and beneficially.

Which operations workflows can be automated?

A handful of areas particularly lend themselves to automation: 

1. Data management: This encompasses a wide range of tasks, from straightforward data entry to advanced automation using technologies like Spark Streaming. Learn what is Spark Streaming to discover how it can optimize your data workflows.

2. Notifications and alerts: Whether it’s stock alerts or notifying when specific actions are needed, this category ensures timely communication.

3. Communication automation: This involves automating various communication tasks, such as sending automated customer emails to enhance customer engagement.

4. Report and document preparation: This category focuses on automating the creation of reports and documents, whether it’s generating analytics reports or breaking down customer data for analysis.

5. Approvals and authorization workflows: Streamline approval processes for various tasks, including contract approvals, eSignatures, and managing holiday requests with efficient workflows.
Learn more in our recent blog on how to automate eSignature and document workflows for purchase orders using API.

The possible applications are, in fact, vast and will vary from business to business. As a rule of thumb, always start by looking for tasks that are:

• Time-sensitive
• Labour-intensive
• Potentially menial (e.g., a drain on your team’s expertise or morale)
• Security or compliance sensitive (e.g., where accuracy and standardization are crucial)

Of course, such criteria do not restrict the limits of automation. Far from it, the rise of more advanced artificial intelligence pushes the potential scope of automation even further.

Generative AI, such as GPT-4, is already helping many businesses write their emails as well as distribute them. However, this is consistent with the logic of starting with the quick wins. 

Automate for a more robust and agile business 

Thanks to the development of more user-friendly, low-code tools, workflow automation is possible for businesses of all sizes. The benefits are compelling, too. It can improve your team’s productivity, speed up processes, and embed a more secure, standardized culture. 

Crucially, it is about more than just doing things quicker or cheaper. Look at automation as a way to build a more agile, robust, and motivated business.

The post What is operations automation? Which operations workflows can be automated? appeared first on airSlate Blog | Business automation.

So, what does an IT Director do? Being a Director of IT means much more than just managing technology systems. As mid-level managers, IT Directors must make important decisions about new technology trends and how they can impact their organization. They oversee IT teams, set goals for their performance, and create a collaborative environment for skills improvement. They also ensure that the company’s data and systems are safe from cyber threats and follow industry rules. 

Additionally, IT Directors guide projects that help the organization adapt to digital changes, use cloud computing, develop software, and make sense of data. Overall, an IT Director’s role is to ensure the company’s technology plans match its growth goals, using technology to move the company forward and bring new ideas to life.

If you aim to elevate your career as an IT Director and make a distinct mark in the industry, consider enrolling in the free Document Workflow Automation for IT Directors certification program offered by the airSlate Academy. This program will provide you with indispensable skills to efficiently navigate IT operations and optimize processes that are pivotal to your organization’s success. 

In this blog, you’ll discover how mastering document workflow automation can accelerate your career growth and enhance your influence as a skilled and proficient IT Director. Let’s get started!

Document Workflow Automation for IT Directors

• Request management
• Business process automation
• Third-party integrations

Enroll now

IT Director salary in 2023

So, how much does an IT Director make? According to Glassdoor, the average yearly salary of an IT Director in the United States is $141,753. Conversely, ZipRecruiter provides a slightly lower estimate of $130,991 per year, equivalent to $30/hour. 

The Director of IT salary spans from a generous $195,500 down to $40,500, painting a vivid picture of the diversity in compensation. The heart of the curve sees most IT Directors earning between $105,000 and $155,000, while the top earners make around $180,000 per year across the United States. What catches the eye is the considerable gap of up to $50,000 in the average pay range for IT Directors. This spectrum of salaries tells us about the potential for career growth and better rewards. Different factors, including skill level, location, and years of experience, shape the canvas of these opportunities.

Top 5 highest-paying It Director jobs in the U.S.

The business value of document workflow automation for IT Directors

According to airSlate’s latest report, this year IT and Ops professionals are dealing with massive layoffs, the threat of an imminent recession, shadow IT, and cybersecurity risks. Check out the full IT and Ops report for details. Automation simplifies the creation and management of workflows, reducing the direct involvement of IT departments and IT Directors in the implementation process.

IT Directors oversee the entire tech stack, spanning installation, integration, operation, and maintenance. Across various organizations, IT departments are leading the charge in digital transformation, pursuing goals like minimizing paper usage, optimizing automated systems, and enhancing overall efficiency.

For IT Directors, the challenge revolves around supporting document workflow processes with minimal time investment. No-code document workflow automation allows concurrently managing standard workflows, such as budget approvals, IT incident reporting, and vendor enrollments. This approach amplifies process visibility and synchronizes data across systems.

Comprehensive automation solutions like airSlate empower IT departments, focusing on CIOs, to elevate operational efficiency. This empowers them to recoup time and resources from routine tasks and redirect them toward more impactful initiatives.

Document workflow automation equips IT Directors to tackle challenges by:

1. Merging disparate data sources to establish precise and secure data processes
2. Utilizing no-code integrations with familiar tools
3. Providing an all-in-one solution requiring no specialized tech training for swift implementation
4. Ensuring robust data protection and compliance with essential regulations
   

By recognizing the business value of document workflow automation, IT Directors can make informed decisions that drive growth and success.

Automation skills you’ll learn with the airSlate Academy

Enroll in the Document Workflow Automation for IT Directors certification to acquire essential automation skills:

• Request management proficiency –  to streamline routine tasks, enabling you to focus on strategic aspects of an IT Director role, like formulating long-term technology strategies and identifying growth avenues.
• Third-party integrations skills – to integrate diverse systems seamlessly and ensure efficient data exchange, allowing you to harness the power of various tools while maintaining a cohesive tech ecosystem.
• Become an expert in business process automation – to optimize workflows across teams and departments, foster rapid decision-making and project execution, and promote agility and responsiveness to market dynamics.

An IT Director must have proficiency in business process automation, third-party integrations, and request management. These competencies empower you to attain operational excellence, base decisions on data-driven insights, and effectively allocate resources. Ultimately, these skills drive organizational success and establish a competitive edge in the ever-evolving technology landscape.

Discover the 5 benefits of earning your airSlate Academy certification as an IT Director

The airSlate Academy’s Document Workflow Automation for IT Directors certification program offers more than just the potential for a salary increase. As an IT Director, this certification comes with several exciting advantages:

1. Improve your chances of moving up the management ladder, opening up new opportunities for professional growth.
2. Have more time for strategic tasks that require creativity and critical thinking, increasing your influence within the organization.
3. Save valuable time from routine tasks and enjoy activities you love while spending quality moments with your family.
4. Achieve a better balance between work and personal life by using increased efficiency and time management, leading to a more fulfilling and enjoyable overall life.
5. Increase your productivity and experience the genuine joy of being a happier IT Director. Research shows a direct link between employee happiness and productivity, and with your newly acquired skills, you can expect a significant 13% increase in productivity.

Final thoughts

In IT leadership, embracing document workflow automation can catalyze efficiency, productivity, and innovation across the organization, ultimately contributing to its overarching success and competitive edge.

Workflow automation solutions offer IT Directors a powerful tool to address challenges like legacy systems and suboptimal employee engagement, all while streamlining processes without necessitating intricate technical expertise. With a suite of specialized features, including Flow Creator, no-code integrations, contract management, and analytics, the airSlate platform empowers IT Directors to establish fully automated workflows seamlessly.

Embarking on the journey of the airSlate Academy certification program on Document Workflow Automation for IT Directors opens doors to acquiring essential automation skills. This certification will position you as an indispensable asset to your organization and propel your career to unprecedented heights.

Invest in your future by enrolling in the airSlate Academy’s certification program for IT Directors and revolutionize how you lead and excel in your role!

FAQ

The post How to become an IT Director: Elevate your career and professional development with our free certification program appeared first on airSlate Blog | Business automation.

It’s important to keep an open mind about artificial intelligence. Yes, there are some job duties that may be minimized, but for the most part AI can significantly enhance one’s role, versus replacing it altogether.

Ultimately, AI will create opportunities, drive efficiency and productivity, and actually help people grow their skill set.

Document Workflow Automation for IT Professionals

• Business process automation
• Client onboarding
• Workflow optimization

Enroll now

What is GPT-4 good for?

We read an analogy that helped put GPT-4 in perspective. It came from David Joyner, the Executive Director of Online Education and Online Master of Computer Science at Georgia Tech. He says that GPT-4 (and similar technologies) is to coding as calculators are to math.

We know that calculators did not make math obsolete or unnecessary. In fact, calculators made math much more accessible to many people. Putting GPT-4 in that context, we can have peace of mind knowing that this type of AI will bring the power of coding to prospective builders/developers who may not have the resources or time needed to learn these skills. 

Think about the impact on small businesses and startups. Not only will they be able to build new products, but they can tap into GPT-4’s writing capabilities to create and run marketing campaigns while they generate the resources needed to hire full-time employees. 

Aside from coding and writing, what can GPT-4 be used for? Thanks to its superior reasoning capabilities, the possibilities seem endless.

Here are some creative suggestions from OpenAI:

• Assist with scheduling. It can be a headache to find the right time for a meeting when you’re working with colleagues who are distributed across the globe. Save your brain power, let GPT-4 figure it out. 
• Analyze data. GPT-4 is particularly adept at deriving meaning from data. Because of that, GPT-4 can reliably forecast trends, inform on performance metrics, and make data-driven business recommendations. 
• Educate. Since the advent of the internet, students have benefitted from some form of personalized education (i.e., need to learn about a particular subject? Search the world wide web for your answers). With GPT-4, that personalization is taken to another level. Students can get tutored in what is essentially a 1:1 format using AI chatbots and take learning beyond a classroom. 
• Make dinner decisions. Tell GPT-4 what ingredients you have available, and let it give you ideas for dinner. One less thing to think about. 
• Increase accessibility. This will probably improve dramatically in the coming years, but GPT-4 can process visual information. So, someone with a visual impairment can use GPT-4 for things like reading a menu, grocery shopping, reading the news, and so on. This is incredible in terms of inclusivity and accessibility, bringing help to people’s fingertips in a truly impactful way. 

It’s mind-boggling that an AI tool can process images, solve problems, draw logical conclusions, and almost instantaneously complete any number of tasks on our behalf. There’s a significant time and cost benefit to using GPT-4. 

For example, Joe Perkins, the founder of a startup called Landscape, wrote a viral Tweet that described his experience using GPT-4 to write code for a new product his company was working on. He had gotten a quote from a developer who said it would take him 2 weeks and £5k to complete the task. But, GPT-4 got it done in 3 hours and it cost just $0.11.

As previously stated, that’s game-changing, especially for startups who don’t always have the bandwidth or resources to hire developers to build out their products, but who very much need to continue to build in order to establish themselves within a market.

So, will GPT-4 replace our jobs? 

Given the anecdote we just shared, it can really feel like GPT-4 will render some jobs (like that of a developer) obsolete. But, we don’t see it that way. 

We are just scratching the surface with AI. Yes, it can already do so much, but there will be so much more to come. That can be anxiety-inducing for some people as they consider the negative implications, but we have to keep in mind the positive implications as well.

And, importantly, we must remember that GPT-4 needs us. It relies on us to feed it information. GPT-4 isn’t sitting in business meetings, brainstorming and being tasked with assignments. We still have to tell GPT-4 what we need and what to do. 

Yes, it can produce a script or a document, but that is absolutely dependent on the knowledge and expertise of the human using GPT-4. GPT-4’s output is completely influenced by the input it receives. 

GPT-4 isn’t perfect and is still very much learning. Aside from needing to input data, us humans always need to check GPT-4’s output for mistakes and it is in our power to make the ultimate decision about if and how to use GPT-4’s recommendations. 

The human component of getting work done is simply not going away.

How GPT-4 actually enhances one’s role

Having GPT-4 is like getting a booster or having a sidekick. 

Let’s be real, life has been wild since 2020, and that includes our work lives. We’re suffering from change fatigue, burnout, and an unpredictable level of stress. Our brain power and capacity have been tested, if not altered. If ever there was a time for assistance, it’s now. 

Here are 5 scenarios where GPT-4 can be used as a tool, rather than a replacement:

• A/B Testing. Any writer can understand the challenge of coming up with iterations for an A/B test. When writer’s block sets in, GPT-4 can actually be a great sounding board. A fresh perspective and new ideas can be just what’s needed to land on valuable copy. 
• Proofreading. With long-form content, ad copy, video scripts, website pages, and more, steering clear of errors is a way to win. But, we’re only human, and no matter how many times we check our work, errors happen. GPT-4 can be an extra set of eyes when needed.
• Validating code. For developers who spend hours upon hours implementing new code only to find a bug, it can be overwhelming to pinpoint the cause of the bug. GPT-4 can be used as a tool to check one’s work and make sure everything was coded properly. 
• Optimizing sales cadences. Sales representatives work really hard to find leads and nurture them through a complete sales process. Finding creative ways to follow-up with opportunities can be a challenge, especially for sales reps who work with a large volume of potential customers. GPT-4 can be a good brainstorm tool that can ultimately help close more deals.
• Strengthening the interview process. HR orgs are tasked with recruiting and retaining premiere talent. With the job market currently evolving as rapidly as it is, HR professionals may have a hard time identifying the right questions to ask and qualifiers to look for in the hiring process. GPT-4’s ability to draw logical conclusions based on data means that it has a grasp on market trends and can suggest interview questions that will aid in finding and hiring the right talent.

Why business leaders need to embrace AI

Whether the thought of AI makes your heart flutter with excitement or nervousness, one thing remains true: automation is here to stay. More and more companies are investing in automation and new automation tools are constantly being introduced. 

Instead of worrying about whether or not automation and AI tools will replace headcount, business leaders need to focus on what will happen if they fail to support automation. 

Benefits of automation include:

• Increased productivity 
• More efficient processes 
• Cost-savings 
• Time-savings 
• Greater job satisfaction 
• Accessibility for a wider range of people, including those with disabilities

Another emerging benefit of automation is actually the creation of job opportunities. Thanks to widespread adoption of AI and machine learning tools, AI specialist roles are being created. These specialists are trained in using, deploying, and even creating automation tools and are able to adapt an organization’s use of the tools at the same speed that the tools themselves change. 

It’s likely that we’ll see more and more companies hiring AI specialists to ensure their organizations remain nimble and relevant. 

In sum, the question to ask is not, “What’s going to happen to my job?”. Instead, it is “What’s going to happen to my company if I don’t adopt automation?” 

Our advice: learn to use it and love it because automation will continue to influence the way we work.

The post GPT-4: Not a replacement! How AI can enhance our jobs, not eliminate them appeared first on airSlate Blog | Business automation.

Your work has become frustrating, tedious, even mundane. It’s time to take back control and win hours back to dive into the work you truly love. How? IT Automation.

Propeller Research surveyed 522 IT and Operations professionals on behalf of airSlate. The data indicates that 92% of respondents view the risk of getting pulled into problem-solving and fixing poorly implemented solutions as their number-one concern. At the same time, 85% are very concerned about shadow IT projects emerging in their organizations.

On the bright side, the majority of IT and Ops pros believe that they need more automated solutions to improve workplace productivity and regain control of their job.

In this blog, we’ve gathered valuable insights and statistics, and distilled them into the key takeaways that you won’t want to miss. Check out the full report for details.

Document Workflow Automation for IT Professionals

• Business process automation
• Client onboarding
• Workflow optimization

Enroll now

IT and Ops teams are concerned with increased workloads and organizational inertia when it comes to implementing new technology

According to data surveyed, IT and Ops teams are challenged with supporting distributed workspaces and spending too much time on manual administrative tasks. At the same time, tech gurus are feeling frustrated because investments in new technology are not happening fast enough, and they don’t have the autonomy to implement the technology they want and need. Over half of those surveyed say that in order to embrace technology, they need support from company leadership. 

As an IT professional, investing in your career development is a key factor for success in today’s ever-evolving tech industry. By enrolling in the airSlate Academy‘s certification programs covering Document Workflow Automation for IT Professionals and IT Directors, you can acquire essential automation skills that will make you an invaluable asset to your company and propel your career forward.

The vast majority of IT and Ops professionals encourage citizen development efforts 

Allowing business users, also known as citizen developers, to leverage low code/no code tools to automate business processes is a common practice – almost 69% of organizations surveyed encourage citizen development. In fact, the success of the citizen development efforts largely depends on setting proper guardrails and ensuring oversight by the IT and Ops teams. And rightly so, 92% of IT and Ops professionals believe their teams have the skills needed to successfully implement and leverage workflow automation solutions.

Finance, Sales, and Marketing teams are the first priority when it comes to introducing and deploying automation

Our recent HR report suggests that Human Resources are the most frequent requesters and the most self-sufficient deployers of document automation solutions. And yet, in the next 12-18 months, IT and Ops teams will prioritize automation for document workflows relating to Finance, Sales, and Marketing. This may reflect a shift in priorities from talent-related initiatives towards profitability for organizations in the face of a potential recession.

Shadow IT will remain an issue as long as remote/hybrid workforces exist

According to the surveyed data, 85% of IT and Ops teams are concerned about landing in one or all of these scenarios:

• Being pulled into problem-solving and having to fix poorly implemented solutions
• Compromised security because of shadow IT projects
• Incorrect implementation of the projects

It’s not uncommon for employees in distributed workplaces to use personal devices and preferred software instead of IT-sanctioned tools purely out of convenience. A shadow app can operate under the radar for months until the person who introduced it leaves the company. Once something goes wrong, the IT experts have to fix the app they never even knew existed.

Investing in a Saas management platform is one of the most effective ways of avoiding these problems. For example, you can go for a platform such as Zluri, among the most reliable cost-saving solutions for Saas expenses. With a reliable Saas management platform, you can discover unapproved apps, eliminate compliance risk, and secure unused apps, among others, to help minimize risks and losses.

IT and Ops strive for more autonomy and automation can help them get back in the driver’s seat

Doing more with less is a reality for many IT professionals, who are dealing with increased workloads beyond their original roles and responsibilities. Almost 41% of IT and Ops professionals are still spending too much time on manual administrative tasks, which hampers their overall productivity.

Leveraging document workflow automation allows operations managers to focus on strategic decision-making, optimize resource allocation, and achieve cost savings. Automation skills help Ops Managers and their teams ensure compliance, boost collaboration, and enable seamless integration with existing systems, thus empowering operations managers to drive organizational success and stay ahead in a competitive business landscape.

airSlate is a comprehensive document workflow automation platform that revolutionizes businesses by enabling anyone to create stunning documents and automate document workflows in a single platform. It scales to fit anyone’s needs, from simple tasks like editing PDFs and creating forms to the more complex ones like eSigning documents and automating workflows. airSlate is everything you need to get your documents done.

The post The game-changing power of automation for IT and Ops teams  appeared first on airSlate Blog | Business automation.