There is consistent rumbling of skepticism about automation: the idea that using a line of code to replace tasks performed by humans is something to be feared. This is not a new phenomenon. Many advancements are met with resistance until market forces make them a foregone conclusion.
Fifty years ago, self-service gas station pumps were new and filled people with fear of job losses. The norm had been full-service lanes where an attendant pumped your gas and looked under each hood. Ultimately, the convenience-store model for serving gas proved to be much more profitable than the old service-station model. Gas stations became stores. Auto-services and mechanics became their own sector. The full-service options disappeared nationwide (except for two states that passed legislation.) And mechanics still have jobs, they just don’t pump gas or make change anymore.
Automated processes which replace mundane or repetitive tasks open up time for workers to focus on more complex items that require their expertise, reasoning skills, or creativity. Just like self-service gas pumps did not put mechanics out of work, mainstream migration to cloud-based automation has not killed the demand for advanced IT personnel and programmers. Demand and pay for these jobs continue to grow at rates that outpace most fields.
The traditional approach of managing workloads manually is inherently time-consuming. The work is filled with repetitive tasks: sizing, provisioning, configuring resources, establishing virtual machine clusters, load balancing, invoking virtual networks, deployment, and then monitoring performance. Errors are a part of the deal; any one could result in delays and added man hours spent troubleshooting. On paper, this method does not make sense anymore.
Applying cloud automation to your legacy system will do four things:
The result is savings in time and financial resources. Enterprises invest less in maintaining expensive hardware. Users run software on any device with an internet browser instead of installing each interface. Repetitive processes and security checks are taken out of the hands of humans. Automated workflows allow organizations to focus on organizational goals with better efficiency.
In 2021, Cisco reports that 94% of the internet’s workload is processed by cloud data centers. Just two years ago, this figure was 60%. Nine out of ten companies are using at least one public cloud, with the emerging common models being hybrid and multi-cloud systems: some mixture of private and public infrastructure working together.
The pandemic amplified our needs to stay connected. Increased demand for remote access made cloud-based approaches vital to survival. While economies and sectors suffered worldwide in 2020, cloud migration continued to grow. As markets bounce back, an era of widespread adoption is expected. The global cloud computing market is expected to grow from $330 billion in 2020 to $623 billion by 2023.
With vaccines available and many restrictions lifted, Work-From-Home (WFH) is being replaced in the lexicon with Work-From-Anywhere (WFA). Attracting top talent in tomorrow’s workforce means accepting new realities about remote work and hybrid schedules. Long after social-distancing and hand-sanitizer fade from popularity, this period will be remembered as the era when cloud-based solutions became the new normal.
Antares specializes in custom software solutions for enterprises and institutions. We have over 33 years of experience in partnering with organizations to build systems that best serve client needs. Contact us to learn more about enhancing your current system with custom-designed cloud-based automation solutions.