If your organization is not automating, then you are at a disadvantage when it comes to finding and keeping talented employees. Organizations must automate entire processes, like onboarding new users to all Software as a Service (SaaS) app provisioning and endpoint purchasing and delivery. This automation of processes so that no human involvement is necessary is called zero-touch automation.
In this post, you’ll learn about the biggest challenges organizations face, the top benefits they experience from SaaSOps automation, and why zero-touch automation is increasingly critical for employees and the organization’s future.
According to the research by BetterCloud, SaaS use continues its expansion into the enterprise application landscape. Almost half of the organizations say between 26% and 50% of their apps are now SaaS. A little less than 30% say that 25% of their apps are now SaaS. 18% report that more than half of their apps are SaaS.
Why automate SaaS operations?
- As SaaS adoption grows, managing SaaS environments becomes more complex. You need to worry about access management, permissions, file security, user lifecycle management, and other manual tasks that prevent IT from being more strategic. 92% of Future Automators say that they spend too much time on repetitive, manual tasks that could be automated. 65% of Automation Leaders agree that they spend too much time on routine work. 72% of them say that repetitive manual tasks prevent them from working on projects with real strategic business value.
- Security challenges drive the need to increase automation for better security and management of the SaaS environment. More than 75% of organizations that currently automate some of their SaaS operations cited security as the reason for automation. Automation reduces human error and makes operations consistent. Hence, it lowers security risk.
- The next most common reason is to increase IT efficiencies. The complex, dynamic SaaS environment comprises inefficiencies.
Benefits of SaasOps automation
Using automation for SaaS operations reduces the number of help desk tickets each week. Almost 70% of the organizations say that the biggest benefit of SaasOps automation is productivity gains. Zero-touch helps beyond simple task automation to include end-to-end processes.
Why is zero-touch automation important?
When IT teams start to automate, they see how it helps the business. Automating lets them have more interesting and better jobs. They also have time to work on projects that help the business be more innovative.
80% of Automation Leaders say that zero-touch IT will be very critical or critical for job satisfaction in the next 12 months. About 70% of them also agree that zero-touch automation will be a critical part of their individual career development.
IT teams in around 80% of the organizations agree that implementing zero-touch automation improves the IT employee experience. For IT teams that don’t currently automate, zero-touch automation would drastically improve their IT jobs and employee experience.
Zero-touch frees IT from being reactive ticket takers who always have to be on alert. Instead, it enables them to be more strategic. Zero-touch provides a single platform that allows IT teams to automate, manage, discover, and secure all SaaS applications. Over 70% of those that currently employ SaaSOps automation and 81% of future IT automation professionals prefer a single platform over a disparate point solution.
Organizations must employ zero-touch automation for better data security and IT operational efficiency. In the coming years, organizations need to meet the simultaneous business requirements of growing productivity, cost cutting, and improving IT employee retention. As many IT professionals consider zero-touch IT critical to their organization’s future, this is the right time for organizations to implement zero-touch IT.
Steps for successful SaaSOps automation
Step 1: Define your SaaSOps policies. This includes formulating rules around onboarding/offboarding, file sharing, etc., defining policy violations, and coordinating with other teams like security, legal, HR, and leadership for their input and requirements.
Step 2: Next step is to audit and remediate. Run audits, review the apps in your environment, and learn the current state.
Step 3: Automate your policies. Build out automated workflows and test them, making sure they include all the remediation actions you need. For example: WHEN this happens, IF this is true, THEN take these actions.
Step 4: Monitor and maintain your workflows as your company changes, i.e., adding teams or opening new offices. Modify your workflows and improve them by adding steps, changing steps, or removing steps altogether.
Step 5: Enhance your workflows. Pre-built integrations can be integrated with department-specific apps or line of business apps, or you may build your custom integrations.
If SaaSOps automation is not on your list, then it is time for your organization to add it. Automating entire processes, like onboarding new users and provisioning SaaS apps, can save your IT department time and money while improving employee retention rates. Implementing zero-touch IT will future-proof your organization and help you meet the simultaneous business requirements of growing productivity, cost cutting, and improving IT employee retention.
Image and source credits: BetterCloud
Read next: 5 reasons why MSPs must add Data Loss Prevention to their security offering
