There’s a lot of truth to the old saying, “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”
Then again, the opposite is often true as well. Sometimes you have no idea what you’re missing until you have it – and then you can’t imagine how you ever lived without it!
There are countless examples of automated products, services, and technology that came along have changed our lives for the better – in ways we could never have imagined before.
Take banking, for example. It wasn’t all that long ago that we had to drive to the bank and interact with an actual human to deposit a check or get cash. And if it was Sunday? Too bad, closed. Then, miraculously these fancy gadgets called Automated Teller Machines came along and made life so much easier! Suddenly we could do basic transactions from all over the place at any time. And now with mobile deposit?! Whole new world. We can snap a pic on our phone and deposit in less than 30 seconds.
It’s easy to see how automation in banking saves us time and adds tremendous value, but the benefits of automation extend across almost all industries: Medical (hello auto prescription refills!), shipping (what did we ever do without Amazon Prime?) car transmissions (how many people under 30 know how to drive a stick shift?). And of course, another key place where automation brings tremendous benefits: Your data center.
Server Automation in the Data center
Server automation is critical to helping things run faster, saving employee time and reducing human error. It’s also key to modernizing approximately 50% of today’s applications that cannot be moved to the public cloud.[i]
Despite its tremendous potential benefits, many IT departments have yet to embrace server automation. Perhaps, like those pre-ATM days, they simply don’t realize how much easier and more efficient their work can be. Or maybe the idea of implementing new systems seems too daunting. Or perhaps they’re afraid automation threatens their job? We get it, change is hard. But if for whatever reason your organization has been putting of automating your data center, it may be time to re-think your position.
After all, server automation:
- Saves time (faster deployment)
- Reduces human error
- Decreases downtime
- Frees up employees to work on other tasks that add value to the organization.
- Helps with AI implementation (71% of organizations say inefficiencies due to lack of server automation are a challenge to their AI strategies)[ii]
How Does Dell Help with Server Automation?
Dell PowerEdge servers were the first servers to offer “embedded management automation.” All PowerEdge platforms, including rack, tower and modular servers, can be managed by the same management console, OpenManage Enterprise. Which means manageability is simple and consistent across all PowerEdge servers.
All PowerEdge servers also include iDRAC (Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller). iDRAC is the “brains” behind many automation features; from deployment, to updates, to monitoring, to maintenance and remediation.
The Dell policy-driven management systems, OpenManage Enterprise and iDRAC, can automate server management tasks and ultimately enable customers to free up IT resources and increase system uptime.
Additionally, users can manage both their virtual and physical IT environment by utilizing OpenManage integrations within third-party management consoles such as VMware vCenter.
Check out how the IT Staff at CERN Get More Sleep with OpenManage Enterprise
Don’t Wait, Automate.
If you’re like 62% of other enterprises, you are dissatisfied with the quality, speed and cost of your application releases.i You may also be frustrated with the agility of your architecture to support both mission-critical workloads as well as data-intensive workloads. If that’s the case, you are certainly not alone. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve and overcome these common challenges.
No matter what stage you’re in with your automation, there are ways you can improve performance by automating specific tasks. Sure, you’ll need to commit to the process and make sure you have the right hardware and systems in place. But once you’re rocking along, you’ll realize the tremendous benefits of switching from manual to automated processes (and probably wonder why you didn’t automate sooner!) You’ll be able to react quickly and support data-intense workloads. Your employees will have time to focus on other, more important tasks that add value to your business.
For a more complete overview on server automation and how Dell can help your organization reach its potential download the EMA white paper, Automate IT Infrastructure for Speed, Security, and Efficiency.
Join the conversation, and stay in the loop PowerEdge automation on Twitter at @Dellservers
[i] Source: EMA white paper commissioned by Dell: Automate IT Infrastructure for Speed, Security, and Efficiency, November 2018
[ii] Source: Forrester white paper commissioned by Dell: Insights From Modernized IT: How to Achieve The Greatest Success As You Automate, November 2018
