it automation how to guide ebook

8/10/2019 IT Automation How to Guide eBook

1/33

IT Automation:

A How - To - Guide
http://automic.com/


2/33

www.automic.com

IT Automation: A How To Guide

page of 322

IT Automation: A How To GuideThats odd, Bill thought to himself as he walked past the distribution department on his way to ITOps and noticed most of the crew just sitting around. Theyre usually going full bore picking and

packing orders at this time of the morning. His ringing cell phone suddenly diverted his attention. It

was Dan Johnson, the site General Manager.

I need you in my office right now! barked Johnson. The phone went dead before Bill had a chance

to respond. He quickly rerouted.

The inventory update didnt run completely last night, Johnson snapped as Bill rushed into the

office. All the product we received in yesterday isnt showing up in the system so orders arent

dropping. We have nothing to pick.

Bill shuffled uneasily in front of the GM and began to respond. Johnson cut him off.

We can see the orders backing up in the system, but we cant do anything with

them because the system says were out of stock. Now Im in a world of hurt.

What happened and what are you going to do to prevent it from happeningagain?

If youve been around IT Ops for any length of time, youve personally

suffered through this type of experience or know someone who has. Its not

pleasant, but unfortunately all too common. Its especially prevalent in an IT


3/33

3www.automic.com


page of 32

environment with a sea of IT automation and scheduling services within disconnected applications

running on separate processing islands. Many businesses today face similar struggles running

their workloads by piecing together scheduling tools that underpin many parts of the modern IT

infrastructure.

According to a Forrester survey1, two thirds of IT decision makers use scheduling solutions from

unconnected packaged applications and half employ multiple job schedulers on different platforms.

The problems this arrangement causes include:

Lack of synchronization between jobs that are linked by dependencies

Excessive manual intervention required to run jobs

Critical jobs not completed in time for the business

Files not being transferred in time for crucial jobs to run

Our friend Bill was the victim of such an IT Ops environment. His inventory update ran at midnight,

just as it was set up to do. Unfortunately, crucial sales data that was needed to completely update

the inventory hadnt arrived by then. The result was an incomplete - and inaccurate - update. As aconsequence, a crucial business operation was temporarily shut down.

One solution to such a problem could be to use events instead of clocks and calendars to schedule

jobs. If Bills job had been scheduled to run based on an event the receipt of all files needed for

1The IT Automation Imperative by Jean-Pierre Garbani, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, June 20, 2013.


4/33

4www.automic.com


page of 32

a complete inventory update the job wouldnt have run at midnight. It would have waited until all

files were received and then it would have run. The inventory update would have been complete

and the business would have been able to begin picking and shipping as usual.

However, applications are not necessarily capable of raising notifications at the time your business

needs, so you need a means of monitoring the activity to detect those designated events. Changes

in business conditions or in the IT systems can cause these unpredictable events to occur, making

automated detection even more critical.

Bills system obviously lacked that capability, but you can avoid a similar fate. In the world of ITAutomation, there is a solution. Its called Workload Automation (WLA). WLA manages mixed

workloads in heterogeneous IT environments and provides the type of awareness needed to

provide event-based automated scheduling. But WLA provides much more than that.

With WLA, you get workload management aligned with business policies and intelligent scheduling

focused on optimum resource allocation. Where IT Automation links disparate systems and software

in such a way that they become self-acting or self-regulating. WLA manages the execution of the

workload running on your servers, finding and utilizing processing time that would otherwise sitidle. This maximizes your system processing power, productivity, and performance and provides the

business with accurate information when it needs it.

Isnt it time

you took

the leap into

Workload

Automation?


5/33

5www.automic.com


page of 32

As increased business requirements and higher expectations puts added pressure on IT Ops,

more organizations are identifying the value that WLA solutions can bring to managing an IT

workload.

Isnt it time you took the leap into Workload Automation? Consolidating all your scheduling

systems into one enterprise-wide job scheduling solution may sound daunting but it doesnt have

to be. And it will pay off big time in:

Reduced IT capital and operational costs

Efficient use of servers

Accelerated throughput for better response to the business

Enabled business expansion without additional IT costs

Improved customer satisfaction levels

The toughest part is getting started and thats the purpose of this guide. Well take you through

the evolution of job scheduling to where we are today, the path you need to take to get there, and

what benefits WLA can bring to your business.

Lets begin.


6/33

Table of Contents

www.automic.com


IT Automation: A How To Guide 2

Job Scheduling 101 for Non-Techies 7

Controlling the Chaos: Workload Automation 14

What can Workload Automation Do For You? 18

Sounds Great: How Do I Get There? 21

Summary What Does Success Look Like? 31


7/33

7www.automic.com


page of 32

Job Scheduling 101 for Non-Techies

What is Job Scheduling?Job Scheduling (JS) has been around for decades. It can be defined simply as the orderly, reliable

sequencing of batch program execution. Thats accurate, but its like saying a car is a mode of

transportation. Its technically correct, but it doesnt come close to explaining the complexities and

variations involved.

Historically, a schedule has been an IT Ops data center tool, not something that is application-centric. It was driven by the need to run jobs and happened at the operating system level. JS uses

clocks and calendars to determine the timing of various processes critical to the business. For

example, the Finance department establishes when the books will close, which determines when IT

Ops needs to run month-end financial reports. JS takes one small step beyond total manual running

of jobs and tasks.


8/33

8www.automic.com


page of 32

The Evolution of Job Scheduling

The best way to understand JS is to review its origins and evolution over time.

In the beginning, there was the mainframe computer and a thing called the batch window. Since all

computing activity was processed on the mainframe, finding the best way to utilize this finite (and

limited) resource was critical. The batch window was a nightly period of time when large numbers

of batched jobs were run offline. This practice was developed to free up computing power during

the day to allow end users to run transactions without system drag caused by high-volume batch

processing.

Early on, IT operators would submit jobs based on an instruction book that would not only tell them

what to do, but also provided them with direction on how to handle certain conditions like when

things went wrong. When one submitted job finished running, the operator would submit another.

This was effective at first, but quickly became problematic as the number of machines, jobs, and

scheduling dependencies increased. Early JS was meant to bring some level of automation to these

tasks.

Early JS was

meant to

bring some

level of

automation to

these tasks.


9/33

9www.automic.com


page of 32

At this point, IT operators began looking to operating systems based tools to help automate labor-

intensive manual jobs management. For example, in the UNIX world, that tool was CRONtab. It was

widely used despite significant drawbacks like:

No business calendars

No dependency checking between tasks

No centralized management functions to control or monitor overall workload

No audit trail to verify jobs had run

No automated restart/recovery of scheduled tasks

No recovery from machine failure

No flexibility in scheduling rules

No ability to allow cross platform dependencies

On the mainframe a combination of internal operating system functionality with third party

scheduling tools were a bit more sophisticated in what they provided, but still limited in addressing

the more advanced automation needs that were emerging.

Over time, data centers began to shift from a mainframe-centric world to a distributed systems

environment using multiple servers. Businesses were moving off of singularly powerful legacy

systems onto distributed servers built on Unix, Linux, or even Windows. This required the purchase


10/33

10www.automic.com


page of 32

of more servers, which by themselves didnt have the same unit of power as a mainframe, but in the

aggregate would offer equivalent power at a fraction of the cost.


11/33

11www.automic.com


page of 32

The Challenges of Job Scheduling

In concept, the demands for distributed job scheduling were similar to those of mainframe- driven,time-based sequencing and dependencies models. However, the move to distributed computing

created difficulties. For example, lack of centralized management control became an issue when

jobs were running on many different servers rather than on a single central computer.

The shift to distributed computing caused pockets of job scheduling requirements to pop up.

High-end distributed scheduling solutions started to become available. However, most of the new

schedulers were developed with an operating system-centric rather than an application- centric

viewpoint. They were based on similar principles to what had defined scheduling needs in thelegacy enterprise computer environment, but the requirements had changed. The reality was the

world was different and these solutions needed to be more aware of applications and distributed

systems.

In the late 90s, the growing use of packaged applications like ERPs changed the landscape and

defined a new set of requirements for scheduling and automation. Among those new requirements

were:

Assessing and prioritizing workload requirements

Distributing and matching workloads to server resources

Scheduling workloads based on events and planned schedules

Applying policy-driven automation of jobs, tasks, processes across a heterogeneous computing

environment

The move to

distributed

computing

created

difficulties.


12/33

12www.automic.com


page of 32

Integrating jobs that run on different applications to align with business operations

Providing detailed, real-time status reports

Most of the enterprise applications contained built-in automated scheduling tools. However

the applications were isolated from each other and could not address the new scheduling

and automation requirements. Application vendors addressed this problem by providing basic

management tools application program interfaces (APIs). This allowed IT Ops to launch and

monitor the applications batch jobs. It was an important advance, but was still an inadequate

approach to automating packaged application processing.

Incredibly, many modern organizations still run systems that require a significant amount of manual

intervention. Often, a required business process will span several batch processes with each

requiring a manual process to set up, review output, gather additional data, and start subsequent

processes. Traditional scheduling tools are not capable of automating these processes.

Obviously these steps are time-consuming and prone to errors because each process is manually

completed over and over again. Every time a process is run, theres another opportunity for a

mistake. Leading analysts have determined that 40% of failures within IT Operations are the result

of operator errors.

As weve shown, JS products have helped to automate some of these tasks and processes. But

ultimately, most IT operations end up with a mixed bag of packaged and customer built business

40%of

failures within

IT Operations

are the result

of operator

errors.


13/33

13www.automic.com


page of 32

applications each with its own scheduling tool. Such a system is common and not necessarily bad,

but it does present challenges to an IT Ops team.

The end result in this type of JS environment presents a litany of limitations:

No way to manage priorities for entire batch workload that needs automating

Wasted time setting up, running, controlling, and monitoring jobs across multiple systems

Lack of alignment between IT and business activities

Weak communication between systems when something goes wrong

No end-to-end automation

Clearly something more was needed.


14/33

14www.automic.com


page of 32

Controlling the Chaos: Workload AutomationAs you can see, the requirements to automate system and business processes have gone muchfurther than what basic JS can provide. Job scheduling tools can automate jobs or processes for

static workloads within their separate applications. The problem is that the IT workload for business

in the real world is neither separate nor static.

Automation solutions for businesses today need to use day, date, and time as components of

their solution. But they also need to include additional features that address

the changing demands of the organization and to better respond to the

business. A more advanced solution is needed to provide a business

policy-driven model in a mixed workload environment. This is

especially necessary for mission critical processes that

need to meet stringent availability and performance

standards.

That advanced solution is Workload Automation

(WLA).


15/33

15www.automic.com


page of 32

What is Workload Automation?

Workload automation is a software solution driven by business policies that provides cross-platform, cross application, end-to-end automation with minimal manual intervention. WLA

effectively optimizes the utilization of system resources by orchestrating workload and providing

an enterprise-wide view of IT operations. WLA is a solution capable of predicting when and where

system resources will be needed, and then based on business priorities, allocating appropriate

resources to meet those demands.

WLA reaches into applications and coordinates activities externally using clocks, calendars,

events and any other changes requiring action. By connecting and integrating applications, WLAmanages the jobs that need to run in each thus orchestrating the complex process flows running

on disparate operating system platforms.

WLA goes beyond basic JS by providing:

Integration of application processes

Unified interface to manage and monitor batch jobs

Orchestration of strategic IT workload

Cross-platform operating capability

Ability to manage complex dependencies

End-user self service

WLA is a

solution

capable of

predicting

when and

where system

resources will

be needed.


16/33

16www.automic.com


page of 32

Centralized management and visibility of all IT workload

Scalability with elasticity to meet changing workload demands Auditability and security

Why Workload Automation?Managing workloads with WLA expands resource availability, improves system performance,

and significantly lowers cost. Implementing a WLA solution results in the type of increased

responsiveness required by organizations in todays ultra-competitive environment. Business

requirements drive IT Ops to provide the organization with timely, accurate information in an ever-

changing environment. It frees up IT operators to innovate and refine rather than using up all their

brainpower in double-checking and fixing so-called automated processes, and it gives them an

overview of the entire system thats easy to audit and manage, making it easy to recover swiftly and

painlessly from any problems or glitches.

Workload automation easy scales and is elastic enough to meet changing workload demands;

since all applications and platforms are automated according to the same rules, its easy to add or

subtract applications as necessary for the growing needs of a company without needing to reworkthe entire system. Workload automation expands the available resources while improving the overall

systems performance. It controls the execution of every IT job, minimizes failures and improves

accuracy. WLA also makes it possible for reports to be generated, delivered, and made available to

the company at large more quickly, improving service delivery overall.

All of these

new features

mean that

manual

intervention

is rarely

necessary.


17/33

17www.automic.com


page of 32

If an inventory update requires sales data from multiple jobs and one of them is lagging, WLA is

sophisticated enough to recognize that the inventory update has to wait to run until all of the data

is received, overriding its usual scheduled time. WLA also includes established automated failure

routines and recovery processes: for example, if a marketing report is dependent on another

job that fails to run, the WLA is able to re-start the job, postpone it, or get the data another way

if necessary. All of these new features mean that manual intervention is rarely necessary. WLA

corrects itself when problems arise, and is smart enough to rank its workload and re-allocate

resources according to the companys priorities.

When a problem occurs that is too difficult for the WLA system to figure out on its own, its fareasier for IT operators to intervene, locate the problem, and correct it quickly. IT operators no

longer have to check each individual application looking for what went wrong; theyre now able to

see the entire IT workload in a centralized management system, pinpoint the problem, document

it, and execute a standardized response (either automatic or manual). WLA even includes built-in

notifications to let IT staff know when issues arise, a feature thats particularly critical when the

companys operations depend on a batch job running according to schedule.


18/33

18www.automic.com


page of 32

What can Workload Automation Do For You?

The many uses of a WLA solution include:

Meet growing IT Ops demands

IT Ops has become an integral force in helping to drive business success. To that point, more is

being asked of IT to help organizations stay in the forefront of emerging business trends. Some of

those demands could include:

Implementation of a major application like an ERP

Expanded use of IT services to support new business units or product lines

Increased workload processing due to a merger or acquisition

Automating the capture and analytic reporting of Big Data applications

Replacing legacy scheduling tools because of excess costs

Upgrading scheduling tools that are incompatible with new systems

Consolidating and simplifying the management of multiple servers within data centers

Freeing up staff to focus on innovation


19/33

19www.automic.com


page of 32

Improve service delivery

WLA has gone far beyond the original mission of making IT

Operations more efficient and productive. Now the driving force

behind the move to WLA is the need to improve service delivery.

WLA enables IT Ops to do that by:

Controlling all job executions

Minimizing failures and limiting the impact of other issues

Improving the availability and accuracy of information

Accelerating the generation and delivery of reports Delivering a consistent service to the business

Bridge islands of automation

A key goal of WLA is to create bridges between the islands of automation that emerged through

the proliferation of applications. WLA provides interconnection and allows for the entire business

and IT process to be built as one contiguous activity. WLA accomplishes this by:

Creating dependencies between jobs

Dealing with external events like the arrival of files

Communicating with multiple applications


20/33

20www.automic.com


page of 32

Controlling the sequencing of jobs between applications and controlling the order in which

they run. For example, in Bills opening scenario, WLA would have held the inventory update

from running until all the necessary sales data had been received.

Establishing automated failure routines and recovery processes

Increase IT Ops productivity and efficiencyThere are many ways that WLA makes it easier for IT Ops to do its job, including:

Seamlessly integrating processing tasks which would otherwise be handled manually

Standardizing job execution processes Providing immediate visibility of the impact of failure to dependent processing

Controlling different types of jobs on all servers from one central point of control

Building notifications into existing jobs to alert staff to issues

Enabling faster problem diagnosis and resolution through one click access to logs, built- in

documentation, standardized responses (both automatic and manual) from a central console


21/33

21www.automic.com


page of 32

Sounds Great: How Do I Get There?Making the decision to move to WLA is your first big step. Sound planning and careful executionbecome your next moves since that is the key to a successful implementation. Here are the steps to

follow to ensure a smooth transition:

Evaluate your current situationBefore you can move to where you want to be, you need

to determine where you are. You should assess the people,

processes, and business issues in your organization and analyze

the impact the solution will have on your organization.

Personnel Assessment

Can you obtain senior management buy-in and executive

level sponsorship?

Have you identified key stakeholders who have a vested

interest in the affected processes?

Have you involved the right people from all business units

affected by the initiative?

Have you performed adequate due diligence to ensure

alignment of the IT project goals and objectives with the needs of the people utilizing the

technology?

?


22/33

22www.automic.com


page of 32

Have you communicated sufficiently with the organization to gain commitment?

Can you generate a positive response from the organization to ensure the solution will be usedonce delivered?

Does the IT project team have the needed skills and training to deliver the expected results?

Process Review

How many problems are recurring in your current environment, how frequently do they occur,

and how will they be impacted by the WLA initiative?

How do all of the scheduled processes work together in the current system? Whats the cost of what youre currently doing today in terms of hardware, software, and

personnel expenses?

What issues from the current working environment are you looking to resolve?

How do the business work processes rely on each of the parts of the current system?

Is IT fixing the problem with just technology or improving the underlying business processes?

Business Issues

Can automation be used to further integrate existing technology assets in addressing business

needs?

What new initiatives are planned and how will they affect the implementation?


23/33

23www.automic.com


page of 32

Does the technology solution match the needs of the solution desired?

Has a cost/value analysis been completed? Will the proposed solution enhance or add burden to the end users?

How will ongoing support, enhancements and upkeep affect the anticipated ROI?

Will WLA achieve the required business process improvements?


24/33

24www.automic.com


page of 32

Get everyone involvedThe next major goal when converting to WLA is to help people understand and relate to the

changes the process will bring.

Senior management needs to see how the new system will benefit the company and generate

better profit margins.

Managers need to know how the new system will affect their budgets and resources.

Workers need to understand how the new processes will change their jobs and what theyll be

gaining.

Everyone needs to feel like theyre a part of whatshappening not just hapless victims of a new

system.

Most importantly, everyone needs to understand

how the company will better serve your

customers as a result of the change.


25/33

25www.automic.com


page of 32

Address challengesCombining established conversion utilities with proven upgrade methodologies make switching

from legacy tools to WLA relatively risk-free. Leveraging existing job definitions, process flows, and

work plans when upgrading will make your transition easier.

However, every new business endeavor holds inherent challenges, and converting to a WLA system

is no exception. Gather input from all the stakeholders to identify the challenges your transition

poses to the business, to the current technologies, and to the political environment of the company.

Next develop ways that each of these challenges can be overcome. Are more people needed to effectively implement the conversion process?

Do employees need more education and training?

Identify a clear, workable solution for each challenge to the project. All pitfalls cant be completely

eliminated, but all can be addressed ahead of time to greatly reduce the chance one of them will

derail your project.

Leveraging

existing job

definitions,

process flows,

and work

plans when

upgrading will

make your

transitioneasier.


26/33

26www.automic.com


page of 32

Find the right solutionEvery business is different and many have unique demands and requirements. EMA Researchs

survey of IT operators identified these criteria as ones you should consider when selecting the best

solution for you.

Cost/value

Ease of deployment

Ease of use

Scalability

Audit friendly

Role-based access control

Questions to ask at this stage include:

Which solution meets all the stakeholder needs established in your

assessment?

Does the solution take into consideration all your physical and virtual resources?

Which solution will be simple to install and easy to update?

What user interface best meets the needs of both the IT staff and the end users?

Does the solution meet all the business priorities?

Does the solution provide IT Ops control and flexibility while still being simple enough for the


27/33

27www.automic.com


page of 32

non-technical staff working with it each day?

Is there an industry track record of success with the proposed technology solution?

The most successful WLA implementations use a single solution from one provider. Organizations

run into all sorts of troubles when they use a patchwork of different systems from multiple vendors.

When it comes to automation, these systems are rarely compatible and often cause problems and

errors. With one provider, you avoid the endless multi-vendor finger pointing game when a problem

arises.

The most

successful WLA

implementations

use a single

solution from

one provider.


28/33

28www.automic.com


page of 32

Choose your partner wiselyEqually important to finding the right solution is choosing the right partner. When picking a

provider, make sure youre getting a complete solution that includes training, services, and ongoing

continuous support rather than just a product.

Moving to WLA is an important step and not one that will be made often. When you select a vendor,

you are choosing a provider that will influence your business for a long period of time. Here are

some things to consider when deciding on your vendor/partner:

Make sure you are dealing with a company that will focus on you specifically a partner who

will develop plans that fit your needs and challenges.

Choose a vendor that is willing to form a partnership and invest in your success.

Select a partner who will be there to support your team when the inevitable issues arise.

This will be your most crucial decision. Dont make it lightly.


29/33

29www.automic.com


page of 32

Consider using a phased-in approachOnce youve decided on a solution and provider, the next step

is implementation. Many organizations have been successful by

phasing in their WLA project. Using the 80/20 rule, identify the few

time-consuming and error prone jobs that are causing most of your

problems and put those at the top of your implementation list.

Addressing and solving those issues first will help the initiative gain

momentum by demonstrating early success. Gradual implementation

also allows you to identify and address issues that come up along theway. Finally, such an approach allows the company to slowly absorb

project costs over time without having to make a huge investment all

at once.

Training and Professional ServicesIf youve chosen the right solution, the tools you get should be easy to use for most standard

requirements. The purpose of training, then, is to empower your people so they can apply the

solution effectively after implementation. Knowledge transfer is key.

The goal is to be self-sufficient and to enable you to be more responsive to the business when they

want to adapt the solution for different requirements.

Knowledge

transfer is key.


30/33

30www.automic.com


page of 32

In addition to participating in comprehensive training, you want to see what other help is offered.

Can you get help setting up the environment properly, creating examples of each of the job

types and processes you need to run?

Will the vendor go the extra mile and help you build and deploy the entire system?

Can you do this with in-house resources or do you need to contract with another

consultant?

The goal is to ensure that you actually realize the benefits and values you set out to achieve at the

start.


31/33

31www.automic.com


page of 32

Summary What Does Success Look Like?So how does all this translate into value for your organization? How does this provide a positiveimpact to the business as a whole? What does a successful WLA implementation look like?

Many businesses have already made the jump to WLA and as a result have been able to:

Reduce capital expenditures by up to 50%

Reduce operational costs by nearly 30%

Cut 33% of network communication by reducing their scheduler footprint

Provide 100% coverage of server workload at minimal costs

Reduce nightly batch window by 30% through event-driven scheduling

Accelerate throughput creating extra time to get more work

done

Ensure on-time delivery of up-to-date reports to management

every day

Reduce support calls by 90%, dramatically increasing

staff productivity

Gain end-to-end visibility and control of IT processes

Comply with IT audits and avoid costly penalty payments

Allow business expansion without adding IT resources and

associated costs


32/33

32www.automic.com


page of 32

The pressure is on IT Ops to reduce costs and maximize current IT assets without impacting

service. At the same time, many organizations are approaching a crossroads at which they need to

make decisions regarding future scheduling and automation strategy.

As an IT Ops leader you understand that your organization is an integral part of your company and

must ensure service delivery and responsiveness. You must be prepared to embrace innovation,

strive for excellence and continuous improvement, and provide businesses with accurate, timely

information to remain competitive. This business focus will require IT investments in automation

that will enable growth drivers and support customer needs.

Analysts agree that the move to WLA is inevitable. WLA is still peaking but its ranked as having

high importance by most IT executives and is projected to be within a few years of mainstream

adoption.

Making investments in these solutions will dramatically impact the success of your organization.

The long-term benefits of WLA are lower costs, higher productivity, and better quality of service.

The advantages of automation greatly outweigh the costs and risks associated with hanging onto

outdated and less efficient schedulers.

For this reason, companies willing to invest in their long-term gains see higher profit margins,

greater employee productivity, and better customer service ratings than those who hang on to

antiquated systems too long because the process seems overwhelming.

Isnt it time you made the jump?

Making

investments in

these solutions

will dramatically

impact the

success of yourorganization.


33/33

Automic is the worlds most comprehensive platform for automating businesses. Founded in 1985, Automic

pioneered the largest, independent, globally deployed automation platform which powers enterprise, application and

infrastructure processes. Now, as the consumerization of IT accelerates, Automic is reimagining how organizations

integrate next generation service models such as Cloud, DevOps and Big Data. By challenging conventional thinking,

Automic enables its customers to be faster, smarter, and in control. Automic the standard in business automation.

www.automic.com

@automic
http://automic.com/http://twitter.com/http://twitter.com/http://automic.com/http://twitter.com/http://automic.com/http://automic.com/

it automation how to guide ebook

Documents