Falling in Love with IT Automation Basics

You say you don't have time to automate? Trust me, you don't have time not to.  Automation can save you time and effort in the long run, allowing you to focus on the areas in which you can add the most value. Plus, with the ever-increasing competition in today's market, learning a new skill is never a bad thing. 

Automation is one way to gain that competitive edge. So let's dive into the basics of automation and how you can get started.

Let's keep it simple: 

Start by carving out just 10 minutes a day. That's likely less time than you spend on coffee breaks or on Reddit in your inbox, right?

Where does your time go? Are you fixing the same problems every day? What's that task you can do with your eyes closed? 

Now, hold up — what are the big-ticket items you're working on? The ones that shake things up? Those are your value bombs. Let’s make sure you’re not just busy, but making an impact.

Next, grab a pen and paper – yes, old school, I know, but it works. (For those of you who tend to lose paper notes... your note-taking app of choice works great, too.)

Write down everything you do in a day. And I mean everything. From the moment you dive into your emails to the little "quick favors" from your colleagues that aren't so quick. When you jot it down, patterns pop up. 

Where are repeat offenders hogging your time? Don’t just stare at the chaos, own it. This step alone can be your eye-opener and push you from the "I'm swamped" zone to the "I've got this" zone.

Hardware

Here’s the fun part. Grab those old computers gathering dust in the corner — come on, I know they’re there.

Those old computers in your office aren't just paperweights — they're a goldmine, an automation testing ground. Create your mini work environment with virtual machines and familiarize yourself with a controlled chaos where you can break things without real-world consequences.

Often, old desktops and laptops are better for this than old servers. Businesses tend to rotate servers less frequently than end user devices, so an old server can be ancient, noisier, and less power-efficient than the other pile of stuff.

You only need maybe two or three to start. Proxmox or other virtualization software is great for this. You can pretty easily have 5 VMs per node, for a total of around 15 virtual endpoints for testing your automations.

Do your best to replicate what your actual environment looks like. Windows, Linux, and macOS can all be virtualized.

Soo… How old is old? 

TL;DR: Less than ten years old is a good rule of thumb for whether an endpoint will be a good candidate for virtualization hardware.

A majority of older business hardware is powered by Intel CPUs, so let’s focus on those. Intel breaks down its processors by generation. You’ll want to go with a sixth-generation, or newer, processor. Make sure your processor supports Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VTX). The more CPU cores and RAM available, the better.

But please, if it’s a Core 2 Duo, save yourself the trouble and just take it to an e-waste recycling facility. 

Networking

Setting up your test lab on its own VLAN is recommended to help isolate it from the rest of your network. It’ll give you that extra piece of mind that you won’t break anything when you’re playing around.

Now, the stage is set – it’s showtime. In this safe space, you’re free to rehearse, break stuff, try and ‘fail’ — to learn and innovate without wreaking havoc on the real deal.

Not using Automox yet? Get that free trial going and gear up those VMs. It's time to get your hands dirty with automation. Deploy, test, tweak, repeat. How's it scaling? Iron out those kinks and refine those steps.

An ounce of automation is worth a pound of manual intervention.

Find the notes you took in Step 1 and pick one thing to start with. Start easy. Installing software, applying OS updates, or setting system configurations are all a great place for initial testing.

Move forward one step at a time.

A quick and easy place to start is the Automox Worklet™ Catalog – there are a lot of options for automations here. If you need something else, go for it. You can write your own custom PowerShell or Bash scripts, too.

Pro Tip:  Are your scripting skills a bit rusty? LLMs like ChatGPT are great at writing code. (But don't pass any sensitive information like passwords, usernames, or corporate data in.)

You’ve put your automations through their paces in the test environment. Now, they're ready for prime time. It's rollout time. Take that leap and sprinkle the automated magic you’ve discovered in your live production environment. It'll make your life easier and your end users happy. And when a new challenge pops up? You've got your secret weapon — your test lab.

Experiment, have fun, and expand your automation playbook.

Automation isn’t just a fancy buzzword — it's a real way to help free you up to tackle the real stuff, the game-changers, the moves that make waves. 

Remember, start small, go step by step, and build that momentum. Before you know it, you’ll be the automation wizard your team can’t live without. Go forth and automate.