AIOps, Not ITOps Will Help Enterprises Manage Modern Environments in 2021

BMC’s CTO Ram Chakravarti explains how, in 2021, we’ll see companies scale their ITSM solutions and shift to enterprise service management tools as a way to adopt processes that drive digital transformation, resulting in increased productivity.

While 2020 was a period of persistent disruption, with its rapid-fire changes requiring an equally rapid-fire ability of enterprises to adapt, in the coming year, many of the pandemic-driven technological advancements will continue, accelerating alongside, and driving, the ongoing digital transformation of enterprises as they strive to achieve operational excellence and become autonomous digital enterprises. 

In doing so, these companies will embrace intelligent, tech-enabled systems across every facet of the business to thrive in the midst of seismic changes, which we had undoubtedly experienced in 2020.

First, there seems to be no “normal” anymore – new or old. From a business perspective, the landscape has changed on almost every front—from the procurement of goods and services to workforce management and customer expectations. 

Our focus needs to be on identifying solutions that improve business today and set a new vision for tomorrow. Next year, more probably the next five years, will define what companies and industries around the world need to succeed and become entirely data-driven as many components of business operations shift to automation.

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Adjust Without Disrupting

Business leaders are now under immense pressure to be decisive and bet on investments that will pay off – and the technology they use is a critical underpinning of their business transformation, driving the operational excellence organizations need, to adapt to rapidly changing conditions with agility and resilienceOpens a new window .

As more organizations pivoted to creating safe workspaces for their staff, this meant that not only their employees but their potential and existing customers, too, were increasingly at home. By learning to embrace a rise in — or fully adapt to — remote, hybrid, and transient working arrangements, businesses have been able to capitalize on new opportunities to deliver transcendent customer experiences that delight at every available touchpoint (including mobile devices) and provide the tools for employees to deliver them. As we advance, focus on transcendent customer experiences will become even more paramount to success.

In 2021, enterprises must be laser-focused on the new opportunities and potential industry pivots that are likely to arise as our new way of working and interacting continues. The combination of people and enterprise automation working in tandem to capitalize on this will create more long-term value for the data-driven enterprise.

Enterprises will have to expect the unexpected when it comes to making technology stacks infallible and proactive. We’ll see the demand for artificial intelligence-enabled operations (AIOps) continue to grow based on its innate ability to address and anticipate unpredictable scenarios using AI, machine learning (ML), and predictive analytics. A recent report by the McKinseyOpens a new window Global Institute indicates that over half of the businesses it surveyed are already using AI in at least one business function, with 30 percent of high-tech and telecom respondents using ML-based deep learning capabilities.

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The Rising Importance of Data

Implementing digital enterprise applications spanning on-premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures, coupled with the adoption of modern architectures such as containerization, will increase both the volume and complexity of data. While data overload from modern digital environments can delay repairs and overwhelm IT operations (ITOps) teams, noisy datasets will become an obsolete barrier.

Smarter strategies and new, centralized AIOps systems will instead help organizations improve the customer experience, deliver on modern application assurance and optimization, and connect to intelligent automation – all integral to becoming an autonomous digital enterprise. It’s no surprise, then, that conventional ITOps approaches may no longer even be feasible – making the adoption of AIOps the obvious, inevitable choice to scale resources and effectively manage modern environments.

According to IDC, the global datasphere will grow from 45 zettabytes in 2019 to 175 by 2025. 2020 expanded our need for real-time data. If that indicates anything, the coming years will define the requirements for success as companies and industries worldwide become entirely data-driven, automating many components of business operations in the process.

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Evolution of Service Management

In response to the pandemic, more organizations will rely more heavily on internal IT teams and leverage self-service models and software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms to reduce their dependence on external resources. Despite the market disruption, IT services have ramped up new capabilities and services to meet changing demands. As organizations have adjusted to a remote workforce and recognized the productivity limitations of manual processes, businesses are now scaling and deploying more IT service management (ITSM) solutions, which require the support of diverse users and IT environments.

To help reduce this operational complexity—and deliver an incredible experience to customers and employees—organizations must consider the benefits of enterprise service management, which is the natural evolution of traditional ITSM, to help drive digital transformation and agility as they evolve and strive to keep pace with increased competition on the digital playing field. AI-enabled service management will also empower businesses to leverage hyper-automation and operations automation to increase productivity across the organization.

Learn More: 25 Acquisitions That Spurred Innovation in IT Ops in 2020

AI and Automation Everywhere

Pervasive intelligence and enterprise automation also advanced during the pandemic, with an explosion in AI-powered—and AI- and IoT-driven—smart devices, such as in-home personal digital assistants and wearables, monitoring solutions for medical treatments, shipping, transportation, and more. These will continue to significantly impact business growth and strategy in 2021, further reinforcing IT’s need to have a voice in business-critical decision making. Gone are the days when IT’s impact was limited to internal service functions.

While these technologies were always destined to have long-lasting implications for digital transformation, their effects will be felt more quickly and globally because capabilities are increasing and becoming more significant and measurable as they support things like predictive analytics to deliver better outcomes. COVID-19 accelerated an inevitable evolution that puts IT – and critical process enablers like ITSM and ITOM – at the center of business innovation and success.

Learn More: Building the Right Device Strategy to Manage Complex IT Environments

Improved Employee Experience

This shift to becoming an autonomous digital enterprise does not portend that people become less critical to your operational excellence. Instead, the increased use of AI, ML, and automation minimizes manual effort in operations. It frees up employees to spend more time on the higher-level critical thinking that leverages their creativity, skills, and intellect across the enterprise to take better advantage of new, value-adding opportunities.

As we enter a new year and continue to adjust to new ways of working and interacting, the secret to every modern enterprise’s success will be harnessing new operational models and technology to drive agility, customer centricity, and actionable insights. Together, they will ultimately deliver the innovation required for success.

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