Gartner: Network automation to increase threefold by 2026

By 2026, 30% of enterprises will automate more than half of their network activities, according to Gartner. By comparison, less than 10% of enterprises were automating more than half of their network activities in mid-2023. 

The research firm also noted in its latest Hype Cycle for I&O Automation that during the same timeframe, 50% of enterprises will use AI functions to automate “day 2” network operations, compared with fewer than 10% in mid-2023. Day 2 operations include tasks that are performed following a software deployment and are focused on maintaining software reliability, availability, and performance—such as monitoring performance, installing upgrades, updating systems, and performing routine maintenance.

“Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders are increasingly looking to AI-based analytics and augmented decision making, including intelligent automation (IA), to improve operational resilience and responsiveness, address complexity, and process increasingly large amounts of data through automation,” said Chris Saunderson, senior director analyst at Gartner, in a statement. 

A few factors are driving the rise of I&O automation technologies, according to Gartner. For instance, genAI and other IA technologies can empower infrastructure and operations leaders to deliver expanded business capabilities by applying automation and orchestration. And today’s hybrid infrastructures pose significant challenges to the traditional, or conventional, approaches previously used by IT teams to deliver services and manage operations, according to Gartner.

Infrastructure platform engineering can also allow enterprise organizations to achieve self-service, security, compliance, and cost goals. Gartner also points to skill acquisition and development as a driver, because infrastructure and operations leaders need to meet increased expectations of reliability and performance.

“Automation is the engine that accelerates delivery of business value. I&O leaders must view automation as a core capability that optimizes their capacity to deliver high-velocity, high-efficiency, and high-performance services to their stakeholders,” the Gartner report reads.

The application of automation across infrastructure and operations will deliver significant gains, according to Gartner. For instance, by 2027, heads of I&O who focus on enterprisewide automation delivery will double the value delivered by service quality and cost improvement efforts, and IT service desk analysts will spend as much time interacting with AI as with business consumers, according to Gartner.

“Automation profoundly affects the roles, skills, and expectations of I&O leaders and their staff. It remains an area of focus for our clients to adopt, sustain, and proliferate automation across their hybrid operational world,” the Gartner report reads.

Because automation is such a critical technology for infrastructure and operations, Gartner recommends IT leaders:

• Create a service-oriented automation strategy based on delivering a “platform as a product.”
• Increase agile skills in infrastructure and operations teams to drive continuous delivery improvement.
• Focus on infrastructure and operations skills acquisition.
• Explore generative AI for infrastructure and operations automation use cases.
• Scale automation inside and beyond infrastructure and operations.

According to Gartner, IA for infrastructure and operations is being used more to enable business agility and drive advanced service enablement. And now with genAI capabilities, there is an increased demand for intelligent automation platforms that use analysis and automation to deliver improved operations, efficiencies, and insights.

“Technology providers that offer best-of-breed tools for AI for IT operations (AIOps), application performance monitoring, and genAI will influence AI,” Gartner’s Saunderson said in a statement.

Read more about network automation

• DIY or commercial network automation? Most network teams choose “all of the above,” says Enterprise Management Associates.
• Network automation challenges are dampening success rates: Most enterprises are juggling multiple commercial, open source, and homegrown network automation tools, and few are reporting fully successful automation initiatives.
• Certifications that can land you a job as a network-automation engineer: Certification programs like those offered by Cisco and Juniper Networks can help network engineers document their proficiency in network automation.
• 10 top automation and orchestration tools: Tools that automate and orchestrate network chores can perform tasks quicker and more accurately than an admin.
• IBM drops $6.4B for HashiCorp and its multicloud automation technology: HashiCorp’s automation technology will fit into IBM’s Red Hat, watsonx, data security, IT automation and consulting businesses.
• BackBox strengthens automation platform with configuration management capabilities: Automation provider BackBox adds network configuration management tools and ServiceNow integration to its platform to improve security, optimize performance, and accelerate problem resolution.