.png)
1. Only focusing on technology
Technology is only one of three pillars you need to drive in order to succeed. You will also need to focus on both culture and processes. Without adopting a new culture that allows for transparency, cross-functional teams and encourage experimentation chances are you will end up with disunited teams, not utilizing the automation nor the potential of the technology platforms. Without making sure the processes are compliant with automation, you might get stuck along the road.
2. Investing in a turn-key automation solution
I have so far not seen a happy customer with an IT infrastructure automation turn-key platform. Besides the price tag, it usually falls short on one or more of the following:
Functionality
Integrability
Flexibility
Finding competence
Work with well-known open source tools, and figure out which ones suits you and your infrastructure the best.
3. Too much too fast
Automation is a part of a digital transformation journey, which takes time. Do not underestimate the corporate inertia, how hard it is to adapt a change management process or how long it takes to grow a DevOps mindset within your operations teams. Start with establishing a vision, make sure everybody is committed and start making small steps towards it and make sure it's easy to see the benefits.
4. Not exposing the benefits to the whole organization
The automation you build must benefit the whole organization and not only the IT department. This is key in order to get an adequate budget and support from the company management. Automation within the IT department surely increases efficiency and might relieve the IT teams, but the true value arises when other parts of the company can consume automated IT through a service portal or the developers can set up a new environment through an API. Make sure this is in your plan and that your boss knows it.