Network Automation is helping companies bridge the IT complexity gap with the latest iteration of its flagship business process automation suite, which was first launched in 2004. The foundation of the product family, AutoMate 10, introduces a streamlined interface and support for over a dozen additional technologies.

AutoMate includes an “Action Library” of more than 600 functions for creating and managing processes. The company says that its software lets users automate tasks without having to write custom scripts that don’t scale well and force admins to spend an unnecessary amount of time on maintenance.

Version 10 of the solution adds event monitoring and analytical capabilities that aim to reduce manual intervention from IT staff. The new release also features AWS and PowerShell integration, the ability to manipulate images and PDF files, and a “Windows Dissection Engine” that provides improved support for native Java apps.

Automating complexity – the opportunity in the challenge

The AWS integration is one of the highlights from AutoMate’s update, given the growing popularity of Amazon’s IaaS portfolio.  But automation is no easy task, and delivering such a solution for an increasingly agnostic software environment leaves plenty of obstacles in the way.  But for Snell and his team, the complexity is an opportunity for AutoMate, extending its solutions to the end-user to minimize the complexities on their end.

“One of the biggest challenges is simply to keep up with all the new features that Amazon and other vendors introduce regularly,” Snell says. “At the same time, this is illustrative of one of the real benefits to using an automation platform such as AutoMate; these platforms insulate the user from the need to keep track of and update their code themselves since we are doing that work for them.

“If the automated solution being deployed integrates multiple systems and applications, it’s easy to see how necessary a real automation platform can be in order to keep up with all of the change in each,” Snell concludes.

Other notable enhancements include Triggers for creating processes on the fly, simplified form design, and a new Facebook action.

“When IT teams are bogged down in code generation and maintenance, they have less time to engage in creative thinking to support core business goals,” said Dustin Snell, the founding CEO of Network Automation. “AutoMate 10 helps create a true partnership between business and IT leaders by giving technology professionals more time to innovate and work with colleagues across business units to gain a competitive edge.”

Minimizing work for IT and end users

AutoMate 10 is joined by the latest release BPA Server 10, a centralized enterprise edition of the platform that introduces a new Workflow Wizard, improved version control capabilities, and upgraded security.

For enterprises, automation holds the key to addressing the explosive growth in the variety and complexity of modern workloads, namely mobile and Big Data. Vendors like Centrify are making this task easier with integrated solutions that help CIOs meet evolving user requirements while maintaining a consistent security posture.  This is particularly relevant for the mobile sector, where BYOD has introduced a slew of new security holes that IT must fill.  In this era of software-led infrastructure and device manifestation, automation could solve a number of these issues in the enterprise.

“As business and IT unify, users have become accustomed to being able to service their technology demands themselves quickly and no longer wish to ‘wait for IT’ to get the job done,” Snell explains. “AutoMate fits right in with this line of thinking since it requires no programming expertise to get up and running and start building solutions.”