What Enterprises Need to Know About Workload Automation in 2022 and Beyond

This article was published in 2022 based on then-current findings and insights from Gartner and Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) industry analysts. Visit Redwood Analyst Pieces page to access the most recent resources from industry analysts.

Industry analysts like Gartner and Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) have spoken, and the message is clear: workload automation for business processes across an enterprise is absolutely essential in the current workplace landscape. Those who aren’t implementing new functionality and integration capabilities from modern workload automation platforms can expect to rapidly fall behind the competition.

This isn’t groundbreaking news. Workload automation has been growing in importance for years. And yet, many businesses may have been able to skate by with legacy solutions that sufficed before environmental shifts that developed out of the pandemic and emergence of cloud-first strategies.

The world has forever changed, and the workload automation tools of the past are no longer enough to meet modern business requirements—let alone gain a competitive advantage. 

As Gartner reports: “Traditional workload automation strategies are unable to meet the needs of evolving IT environments, which include cloud-native infrastructure, edge and Internet of Things deployments, and big data workloads.”

The takeaway from this Gartner research report: The time to re-evaluate your workload automation provider is now. The businesses that succeed in these changing environments will be those that adopt workload automation platforms that are ready not just for what’s now but also for what’s next.

The benefits of modern, low-code workload automation platforms—especially those that are cloud-native–span every department in the organization, and when the right solution is properly leveraged, it can make a huge business impact. Businesses in every sector—from financial services to healthcare to distributors managing supply chains—can benefit from the new, cloud-based automation technologies found in modern WLA platforms.

Need more convincing? Here are four reasons business and IT success hinges on optimizing your workload automation solution.

Reason #1: Enhanced Efficiency and Reduced Human Error

The pace of business and IT is accelerating, digital transformations are well underway, and everyone is doing what they can to keep pace with revolutions in industry and marketplace.

IT is facing unprecedented pressure to facilitate the shift to the new workplace landscape—and labor shortages are exacerbating the situation. Implementing the right low-code automation platform can not only automate many manual processes that used to fall on IT, but can eliminate redundant tasks enterprise-wide. 

Automation creates space for workers to concentrate on higher-value initiatives, while eliminating duplication and reducing the risk of human error. This also enhances cost efficiency and helps organizations move faster.

Modern workload automation platforms can serve as a single, centralized point of visibility and control for automation tools that might be siloed within different business units across an enterprise. These might include solutions for robotic process automation (RPA), managed file transfer (MFT), and ETL. 

By streamlining and centralizing the management of automation anywhere in the enterprise, you can implement true end-to-end process orchestration – and realize the benefits of time savings, error reduction, and the ability to refocus on strategic work. These platforms give IT the ability to execute cross-functional workflows driven by events from disparate business units.

Reason #2: Improved Cross-Domain Collaboration

The new workplace landscape is decentralized, but that doesn’t mean it has to be siloed.

Gartner reports that in the next two years, “80% of organizations currently delivering workload automation will be using service orchestration and automation platforms to orchestrate cross-domain workloads.”

Customer expectations are high: they demand nearly real-time responsiveness, and that means no department or application can be a bottleneck. Traditional workload automation tools are often overly focused on core workflows for specific technical or operational domains. Even newer tools, such as solutions for RPA and artificial intelligence, can be very narrow in the automation technology they provide. This can leave functionality and visibility gaps that can be very costly and time-intensive to deal with.

To achieve overall organizational objectives, it is now essential to have a cloud-native, low-code automation platform that can orchestrate automation anywhere across an enterprise.

Reason #3: Managing Data Pipelines

The amount of data that needs to be encrypted, decrypted, transferred, and stored increases every day. This is particularly true with a decentralized workforce, where sensitive data is no longer contained within physical locations behind perimeters and firewalls and is, instead, more free-flowing than ever before. Managing data pipelines and controlling repetitive workflows ensures that data is transferred reliably, securely, and timely—wherever and to whomever it’s going.

File transfers are a great use case: managing file transfers with a workload automation tool not only increases efficiency, but also increases productivity and reliability, improves integrations, and extends visibility and control over them.

Reason #4: Superior Cloud Resource Management

Digital transformation has accelerated rapidly in the past few years, and forward-thinking organizations have embraced new technologies to capitalize on this shift. Among the changes brought by digital transformation: self-contained on-premises data centers have rapidly moved to hybrid cloud and containerized infrastructures. 

This new infrastructure demands updated practices and solutions to manage cloud and virtual resources. IT teams are turning to cloud computing to help manage growing workloads. Workload automation plays a vital role in managing these resources and can mean the difference between effective, efficient cloud computing, and operations ridden with hidden costs. 

The IT world is changing rapidly, with digital transformation initiatives well underway in enterprises everywhere. The tools needed to deliver a modern customer experience, combined with labor shortages, SaaS adoption, and digital transformation initiatives make it essential that the workload automation solution you rely on is ready for the future.