As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, systems automation has become a critical driver of efficiency and innovation. By leveraging software and technology to automate repetitive tasks, organizations across industries are streamlining operations, reducing human error, and enhancing productivity. Cutting-edge solutions can not only expand your business, but sometimes even save it! Although, it's important to wonder - is it always the best option? Find out how NATEK Team used automation to support its Customer and learn whether it's a solution you should implement in your organization.
When system automation protected our Customer's business
Everyone in the world heard about the CrowdStrike outage, that occurred back in June this year. But not everyone knows that NATEK Team was one of the first groups of experts to come up with a solution to this issue. To give you the full insight, let's start from the beginning.
Most antivirus programs work "in the background" of the operating system, and don't influence directly the functionalities of your equipment. With CrowdStrike, the situation gets a bit more complex. It's located in the kernel, which means it has control over every single capability of your device and is an integral part of your operating system. What does it mean in practice? With a traditional antivirus malfunction, nothing dire will happen to your computer. Quick update or a classic "turn off, turn on" method should do the trick. But when the antivirus is at the central part of an operating system, if anything breaks - everything breaks. And that's what took place with the CrowdStrike outage. But what was the core of the issue?
The simplest of mistakes have been made. One of the files included in the update of the program was incorrectly coded, which resulted in a shut-down of the whole operating system once the upgraded version uploaded itself automatically overnight. And so at once millions of devices across the world, from personal computers to medical equipment, had become completely froze. Among many affected by this mishap was one of our Customers, and NATEK Team wasted no time trying to figure out what happened, what caused it (which was officially announced by CrowdStrike only a couple of hours later) and most importantly how to fix it.
Once the culprit was detected, our Specialists had two options - delete the file manually from thousands of devices across the globe, which would take days of non-stop work from multiple Experts, or to... automatize it! Thanks to the solutions developed and delivered by our Team, time for repairing one device was initially shortened from 10–20 minutes (work time of one person per one machine) to 1 minute and could have been done remotely by just a handful of people. Soon after the automation was improved even further, and connected to all relevant servers, which resulted in a final time of 15–30 seconds per device. This quick reaction from our Team and their effective solutions saved our Customers unimaginable costs and allowed them to get back to their usual business processes.
When should you consider system automation?
Firstly, automation can be a real time saver. If the new software is meticulously planned, it can be a universal base for many more upgrades, and result in facilitating multiple process in the company, that normally would require bigger team and more time. In doing so, it also eliminates the backlog, which can be a big relief for many IT teams. Furthermore, a correctly set program will perform given rule-based tasks exactly the same way every single time, not omitting any steps and maintaining the quality, which means it serves as a great tool for limiting the human error. Your team will have more time for activities demanding manual approach, exploring new areas for improvement of the existing solutions, and will make fewer mistakes.
Automation can also be used as a way of integrating your infrastructure. With companies counting hundreds of computers and other devices in many different locations, supervising all the information running through the organization without the right tools can be more than challenging. But what if all the data you need was accessible to you with just one click? This would mean that any problem, but also a business opportunity, could be detected much faster and give your team more time for planning and implementing the best idea. The scope for automation use is basically infinite.
So when automation might be the best option for you? Here are some of the examples we discussed:
- When you want to eliminate backlog
- When you are looking for cost saving solutions
- When you want to limit the human error
- When you want to facilitate the processes
- When you want to save time on mundane tasks
- When you want to explore new areas for development
- When you want to supervise the whole infrastructure from one place
Is system automation always the best option?
Should all processes be automated? While automation can seem appealing, especially for reducing manual work, it's not always the best solution for every situation. The time required to develop automation software can range from a few minutes to several hours or more, depending on the complexity of the task. If the tasks performed by you or your team are unique and not repetitive, creating a custom automation solution could end up taking more time and resources without providing significant improvements. In some cases, it might even slow down the overall process.
So before you decide to implement automation at your company, make sure to consult your ideas and needs with an experienced Team. NATEK Experts are always ready to support your business → Contact us!
Automation with Experts. Choose NATEK!
Systems automation can have a positive and transformative impact on your organization but only if done right. If you'd like to explore the full potential of your business thanks to the newest advancements in technology and a Team of Experts who know how to develop and improve it, now it's your chance! Contact NATEK Sales Prospection Team Lead Andrzej Osman at andrzej.osman@natek.eu or go to our services page, find out what our Team can do for you and #growITwithus!
We wrote this article in collaboration with Grzegorz Jeżewski, NATEK Infrastructure Engineer, with over a decade of experience on the IT market, who specializes in VMware and Citrix technologies, focusing on automating processes to enhance efficiency and reliability.
