Post: Automate
Automate
Who?
If you’re an IT professional or even new to the topic, you need to consider removing toil from your workflow. This not only keeps you relevant, this can help you better understand the inner workings of how IT processes work. Even this blog uses templates and automation to publish. Make your work easier to work with.
What?
In my world, I focus on PowerShell, leaning into other tech such as Ansible & Harness. These are the tools in my toolbox, your mileage may vary.
When?
RIGHT AWAY! There’s meaningful value in automation, not only does it keep things flowing, it can help ensure product deployment more agile. For example, your entire lab is taken out by a natural disaster, or human error. How do you start over? Manually?? Or kick off an Ansible playbook, stored off site, to roll everything out you’ve built up? Path of least resistance should be clear.
Where?
The goal is full automation in all environments, agility and keeping the code base Lean. Good code is easier to understand so less documentation requirements. There’s an excellent example of mobility in Marcel Dempers’ Github that outlines what I’m getting at with ease of deployment. In a simple repo you can have all the tools to quickly deploy and get your hands dirty faster.
Why?
Tech priorities change, if you don’t keep up you will feel the burn. The number one way I’ve found to maintain momentum is to automate processes wherever possible.
How?
Rules I work by:
- Write a test to fail and log, then adjust until it passes.
- Make the logs useable, time / date stamps and clarity.
- Ensure logging is part of all your work.
- Do you repeat actions? Automate it!