Automation in information technology isn’t a new concept, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated advancements in automation, as well as investments in the market.

From network automation, self-service configuration or cybersecurity, automation in IT frees up valuable time with the added benefit of machine accuracy. Tech companies globally are also utilizing automation to train developer operations teams, as well as scale and augment teams when staff is scarce.

“Sometimes when IT executives talk about automation, they talk about staff replacement,” said Stephen Elliot (pictured), group vice president of management software and DevOps at IDC. “That’s not the case at all … we have an opportunity to take the talent we have, apply new skills, look at automation as a way to get existing teams more productive, as well as an opportunity to learn new skills across teams.”

Elliot spoke with John Walls, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AnsibleFest 2021. They discussed automation in IT, Red Hat Ansible and more. (* Disclosure below.)

Empowering staff through automation

Automation allows people to move across different departments and teams in their enterprises.

“This isn’t about staff replacement at all; it’s the opposite. It’s about retention, it’s about career training and development and it’s about being able to share staff across teams,” Elliot stressed. “All these different organizational constructs and types of technology architectures are driving up complexity. The ability to simplify that through automation, the ability to drive higher returns on investment through automated processes and workflows, it’s striking a chord with executive teams.”

Red Hat Ansible, an automation platform that enables IT executives to automate their enterprise on the cloud, has been performing well in the marketplace, according to Elliot. Ansible offers returns to customers such as pipeline acceleration, cost containment and higher levels of system reliability, with the company taking customer feedback to heart to improve the platform and deliver the best customer service experience possible.

“As we get more comfortable with turning on that more autonomous perspective, how can we then spread that idea out to different teams?” Elliot asked. “We’re seeing a lot of these themes, and as we talk to customers, hearing a lot of good feedback with regards to Red Hat and IBM taking advantage of the technology, as well as, more importantly, customers getting significant value and returns from the platform itself.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of during AnsibleFest 2021. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for AnsibleFest. Neither Red Hat Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE