The Future of Automation and Change Management

By Perparim Bislimi, Login VSI

2020 was a year we will not forget very quickly. But every change has its pros and cons. I am writing this blog while my son is doing his remote learning at the kitchen table, and my dog is lying at my feet, keeping them warm. I get to spend a lot more time with my wife, but only time will tell if that's a positive thing 😊.

1.       The number of changes will continue to grow

Change happens through revolution, and boy, were we forced to change. Companies, big or small, had to adapt to the new way of working. On some level, everyone was forced to reconsider what work actually means and finally accepted that it doesn't matter where you are working from. Even the most critical managers that didn't believe in the "work from home" model are now recognizing that you don't need to be in the office to be efficient.

Remote work was a long-term strategy for many companies. The future vision has become our current reality, and I find it the best way forward anyway. Terms like Bring Your Device, Work from Anywhere, New Way of Working is here to stay.

For 2021 we believe this change of mindset will continue to drive change. The change that COVID triggered will not reduce in pace. We've only started. Change is increasingly growing.

2.       Only two types of architecture in combination with the Cloud

In 2021 cloud adoption will have increased even further than before, especially for backend services. Anyone considering an upgrade to a new environment will see the flexibility and value that the Cloud has to offer. Any new IT environments were already all being built in the Cloud, so no change there.

Is 2021 the year of the VDI? I don't think so. VDI is still a very nice solution and will remain, but it does get better and more accessible. Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) will get more and more adoption.

Edge devices that offer flexibility are the new mainstream devices. Devices like laptops ideal for the new way of working and, compared to cloud resources, are relatively cheap. If you look at the delivery times and stocks of notebooks, you quickly see that more people have come to this conclusion.

In my opinion, there will be two architecture types that companies choose. A VDI solution hosted in the Cloud or mobile physical devices that work against a cloud backend. This will eventually have the most significant share.

3.       If you click, you won't stick; automation is key!

The traditional IT admin will have a hard time if they don't step up their game. Change is increasing, and automation the only way to deal with that. It is no longer typical to click our way through configuration and build an IT system click by click. IT admins will have to think about how they can automate their work as much as possible. Automating services and delivery is a requirement now for most organizations.

4.       Companies lose control over their change management

At the beginning of my career, I heard that IT people would become more like accountants or lawyers. A trusted adviser to a company. Of course, this was somewhat the case in the past, but now that Cloud is becoming mainstream and automation will take away a lot of the infrastructure "build" work, that will become apparent to everyone.

This trusted advisor role is not something that comes naturally to most IT people, but they will be forced to adapt. As more and more vendors build a SaaS offering, organizations will lose control of their change management. With continuous delivery, the vendor controls when an update or change will happen to a solution, and an organization's workforce will have to deal with those changes. If we consider a typical enterprise with hundreds of applications, the number of changes per week will be immense. Organizations will have to find a way to control that and discover ways to have some quality control.  

5.       Is cloud service unavailable?

One thing that strikes me is the amount of trust that people have in the Cloud. We are still in our honeymoon period with cloud offerings. I'm still waiting for the first big cloud provider failure, which will get people to think about the Cloud and disaster recovery risks when they outsource everything. Is 2021 the year when that happens? I don't know...

IT has learned that the end-user matters and focus has shifted to providing real value to the end-user. With an increasingly tech-savvy workforce in 2021, I believe the end-users will have more say in IT decisions.

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About the Author

Perparim Bislimi has over 15 years of experience in IT service delivery, hands-on experience in various disciplines ranging from support to consultancy and training. Perparim also holds years of experience as a lead engineer/Solution Architect for large enterprises. He is responsible for helping our prospects and customers get value from Login Enterprise, answering technical questions, and presenting our solutions. Follow Perparim on Twitter.