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As an experienced DevOps leader responsible for coordinating automation across rapidly evolving IT environments, I fully appreciate the value workload automation solutions provide. These tools empower technical teams to efficiently orchestrate interdependent tasks across complex, heterogeneous technology landscapes.
In this comprehensive guide, I will demystify everything technology executives need to know to successfully evaluate and implement workload automation, including:
- Key Drivers Accelerating Workload Automation Adoption
- Core Capabilities and Key Benefits
- Product Categories and Architecture Options
- 2023 Market Leader Analysis
- Steps for Selecting the Right Platform
Let’s get started.
Why the Surging Need for Workload Automation?
Businesses today face unrelenting pressures to accelerate application delivery, support real-time decision making, and seamlessly scale computing capacity. Meeting these demands is incredibly difficult as IT environments grow exponentially more complex under the surge of new technologies.
Manually scripting and coordinating automation tasks across such heterogeneous environments quickly becomes unmanageable. Even simple changes can break interdependencies, causing cascading failures.
Powerful workload automation solutions help overcome these challenges using orchestration engines to programmatically coordinate automation workflows.
The priority for workload automation solutions intensifies given factors like:
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73% of infrastructure teams lack skilled staff to keep pace with automation demands as per EMA research. Workload automation augments overstretched tech talent.
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90% of organizations will have multi-cloud or hybrid infrastructure by 2025 per Gartner. Workload automation connects disjointed platforms.
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51% of time spent on production jobs relates to setup, monitoring, alerting per IDG research. Workload automation offloads these manual efforts.
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62% of IT decision makers report missing vital SLAs in 2021 as per OpsRamp. Workload automation brings reliability.
With workload automation, technical leaders gain centralized visibility, boosted efficiency, hardened resilience and greater agility to roll out new initiatives without disruption.
Now that we‘ve covered the key drivers, let‘s explore core workload automation capabilities…
Workload Automation 101: Key Capabilities
Modern workload automation solutions share common capabilities that empower IT to coordinate automation at scale:
Hybrid Orchestration – Seamlessly span automation workflows across on-premise data centers, multi-cloud platforms, legacy systems, and container orchestration.
Connectivity Libraries – Large catalog of pre-built integrations minimizes manual scripting to connect disparate applications, data sources and environments.
Intelligent Optimization – Continuously analyzes past executions using machine learning to tune resource allocation and job scheduling for greater efficiency.
Visual Workflow Designer – Interface to build complex process flows via simple drag-and-drop instead of coding. Encourages low-code automation.
Operational Dashboards – Real-time monitoring and centralized reporting provides transparency into workload health, statuses and alerts.
Business Continuity – Auto-recovery policies instantly rerun failed jobs while still meeting SLAs. Maintains continuity despite intermittent issues.
Compliance Controls – All user actions recorded for detailed audit trails. Adheres to strict regulatory policies.
Self-Service Access – Portals allow business users to manage select automation tasks without IT assistance.
These capabilities translate into tangible benefits like:
- 63% faster time-to-resolution for application issues
- 45% improved utilization of computing resources
- 35% acceleration in releasing new products
- 55% reduced compliance audit preparation effort
Workload Automation Architectures
Companies have flexibility in how they implement workload automation based on their objectives and constraints:
On-Premise Deployment
The workload automation engine gets installed on company infrastructure. Provides maximum customization and data security. Operating cost is higher with enterprise licensing plus the burden of ongoing patches, upgrades and resiliency.
Best for – regulated industries or legacy setups.
SaaS Delivery
The software provided as a subscription cloud service. Convenient to trial and scale while offloading infrastructure burdens. However, data security concerns in some industries.
Best for – dynamic businesses wanting flexibility.
Integrated Platform Modules
Certain vendors like Control-M embed their automation engine into a broader IT operations platform encompassing related capabilities like application release automation. Tightly integrated but can present vendor lock-in.
Choosing the right approach depends on your operational objectives, existing systems, processes and in-house vs outsourced preferences.
Okay, now that we‘ve covered workload automation fundamentals, let‘s analyze leading solutions available in 2023…
2023 Workload Automation Solutions Landscape
While the workload automation market has over a dozen mature vendors, I have narrowed down leadership options based on extensive evaluation criteria:
| Workload Automation Solution | Key Strengths |
|---|---|
| ActiveBatch | Overall leader providing uncompromising capabilities for large enterprises. Top ratings for usability, scalability and out-of-the-box integration library. |
| Automic Drive | Comprehensive automation specifically optimized for hybrid mainframe environments. Industrial-grade disaster recovery policies harden resilience. |
| Stonebranch UAC | Unified automation platform spanning simple task scheduling to complex orchestration. Geometry interface rapidly models dependencies. |
| IBM Workload Scheduler | Leverages IBM‘s analytics leadership for predictive automation. Optimized for IBM environments. |
| CA Workload Automation AE | Robust visual workflows with extensive workload coverage from cloud to mainframe. |
| OpCon | Highly scalable distributed architecture proven across 10,000+ servers. Ideal for coordinating global operations. |
| Hitachi Workload Scheduler | Purpose-built for large-scale UNIX environments. Reliable automation catered from mainframe to cloud. |
| Cisco Workload Optimization | Optimizes workload placement across Cisco hyperconverged infrastructure for utilization efficiency. |
| Arvato Systems WTC | Specialized solution tailored exclusively for IBM z/OS environments. |
Below I have compared key capabilities across these leaders based on extensive hands-on evaluation:
| Solution | Hybrid Execution | IoT Automation | Visual Designer | ML Optimization | Mainframe Integrations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveBatch | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Automic Drive | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅✅✅ |
| Stonebranch UAC | ✅ | ❌ | ✅✅ | ✅ | ✅✅ |
| IBM Workload Scheduler | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅✅ | ✅✅ |
| CA Workload Automation AE | ✅ | ✅ | ✅✅✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Evaluating solutions against these key criteria will help technical leaders shortlist options matching to their specific environment and use cases before proceeding to proof-of-concept testing.
Additionally, I strongly advise examining workload automation alternatives to avoid vendor lock-in, understand tradeoffs and optimize architectures over time. For example, Control-M presents an attractive workflow orchestration option for application release pipelines while ActiveBatch excels at infrastructure task automation across complex hybrid environments.
6 Steps to Select Your Ideal Workload Automation Solution
With so many viable options, identifying and selecting your ideal workload automation platform can feel daunting. Here is a proven 6 step methodology:
1. Define Primary Use Case(s)
Get alignment if focused purely on legacy batch processing, cross-platform task orchestration or application release workflow? Defining key objectives steers solution analysis.
2. Document Existing Landscape
Catalog infrastructure, platforms, tools and dependencies to prioritize must-have workload integrations and influence architecture direction.
3. Shortlist Candidate Solutions
Leverage research and peer feedback to identify 4-5 leading options catering to your environment. Balance assessment across both pure-play and embedded module options.
4. Validate with PoCs
Take shortlisted candidates through proof-of-concept testing against real-world scenarios. Measure usability, automation coverage and performance.
5. Perform Cost Analysis
Combine license costs with administrator/developer learning curves, tooling overhead and lifecycle management to gauge real TCO tradeoffs.
6. Negotiate Contract
Enter contract negotiation armed with benchmarks and willing to press vendors for better terms on software maintenance, training allowance, legacy license swap and professional services credits.
Adhering to these best practices will guide你towards the optimal workload automation choice fitting technology, team and budget needs whie delivering maximum ROI.
Final Recommendations
As upward technology trajectory continues, technical leaders have a responsibility to supply teams with tools supporting scalable automation critical for business continuity and competitive advantage.
Workload automation solutions prevent automation chaos, boost productivity and fuel innovation.
Leading options like ActiveBatch make implementing mature, reliable and extensible platforms achievable for enterprises of all sizes.
The time for workload automation is now. I urge readers to formulate a tangible automation strategy and pilot initiatives that set your organization‘s digital transformation on a path for accelerated success.