New technologies, like intelligent automation, predictive analysis, hybrid cloud, etc., are no longer a novelty but are being used by companies to gain a competitive edge. This is one of the reasons why  worldwide IT spending is expected to increase 6.2% to $3.9 trillion in 2021, but this money is primarily being spent to help organizations reduce the costs of doing business and boost efficiency. In other words, helping them gain competitive advantage.

One guaranteed way to achieve these goals is through automation.

The Significance of IT Automation

Although the benefits of automation are clearly understood in sectors such as manufacturing, some people are yet to fully grasp the full potential of IT Automation. For example, it helps MSPs replace repetitive, manual tasks with pre-configured automatic actions that can be triggered with the help of scripts.

This is a great way to modernize your IT service management (ITSM) tools and applications. Since modern business needs more flexibility and agility to meet the changing demands of customers and other stakeholders, embracing automation will open up new business opportunities for MSPs.

Workflow automation is one of the fastest areas of automation at the moment. This involves automatically remediating IT alerts by pre-configuring a specific set of actions to be taken when an issue arises. This significantly speeds up the resolution of IT issues as there is no delay caused by waiting for a technician to be available. In addition to minimizing downtime, this also increases efficiency.

By investing in automation, MSPs can reinvent their business and expand their service offerings to their clients. Most importantly, automation can help MSPs lower operating costs by allowing them to do more with less. For instance, Gartner research estimated that it takes 14 minutes on average to resolve a web server issue manually, but only six minutes through intelligent automation.

Reasons to Invest in IT Automation

On any given day, a typical MSP technician handles multiple tasks at once. MSPs need to monitor endpoints, manage security, resolve IT tickets and more. When a technician is overwhelmed with multiple tasks at the same time, it is likely to affect the quality of work as well as causing delays in response. With IT process automation, technicians can easily handle repetitive tasks and focus on core tasks that need their undivided attention.

Here are the benefits of IT automation for MPs:

• Productivity boost: Automation helps technicians focus on higher value by handling mundane and repetitive tasks that would otherwise take up a significant portion of their time. In fact, MSPs that have embraced automation have shown a significant boost in technician productivity.
• Service quality and consistency: Automation reduces common errors in manual work processes. With reduced error rates, you can deliver better quality to your customers and ensure high satisfaction. It also helps provide a consistent service by effectively pre-defining responses to common issues.
• Premium pricing: When your service quality is high and consistent, you can charge a premium price as customers appreciate the value of high uptime, enhanced security, low error rate and more.
• Accelerated growth: The best thing about IT automation is that it is easily scalable. You will not have to worry about investing in additional infrastructure or staffing costs even if your clients' businesses expand and their demands increase in the future. This helps MSPs grow by helping to ensure that service levels do not suffer as the number of supported users grow.
• Competitive edge: Leveraging IT automation is the best way for MSPs to stay one step ahead of the industry competition. When strategically implemented, automation allows MSPs to provide support to large companies without investing in additional staff. This also helps MSPs learn new technologies while keeping their clients' IT infrastructure intact.

With the IT landscape changing dramatically every year, MSPs are at the front line facilitating these changes across the business world. Even among MSPs, automation adoption is yet to reach 100%. According to Pulseway's 2020 MSP Pain Point Survey, 35% of MSPs are yet to adopt automation even for routine tasks.

If you wish to remain competitive in this market, investing in automation is simply non-negotiable. With the power of automation by your side, you can take on complex challenges posed by your clients without compromising on service quality or personalization.