Gartner® Hype Cycle 2021: The Status of I&O Automation
In today’s lightning fast digital age, I&O leaders across the globe are finding themselves under increasing pressure to find new and innovative ways for improving efficiency, optimizing costs and delivering fast, quantifiable and sustainable value.
In order to achieve these goals, these leaders must not only be willing to adopt cutting-edge technologies, but be strategic about what tools in particular they choose to pursue and how they should prioritize them in terms of potential ROI. As any IT decision-maker will attest, there is certainly no shortage of options – each of which promises the world, claiming to be the “next big thing.”
How can one tell the difference between true quality and legitimate benefits versus just another marketing ploy? To answer this question, Gartner has launched its annual Hype Cycle for I&O Automation report, which provides valuable insight and a roadmap for automation success.
If you don’t have time to peruse the entire 126-page report, we’ve summarized the bulk of Gartner’s 2021 findings in our own words below.
Movers & Shakers
Not surprisingly, the majority of categories covered in the 2020 Hype Cycle report carried over into 2021’s results. Furthermore, most remained within the same phase year to year. Other technologies, however, have graduated to new phases in terms of innovation. The most noteworthy of these include:
- IA for Infrastructure Managed Services (high priority)
- Container Management, Application Release Orchestration, Network Automation (high priority)
- ITIL (high priority)
- Saas Management Platforms (moderate priority)
- Immutable Infrastructure (moderate priority)
- Cloud Management Platforms and Cloud Application Discovery (low to moderate priority)
The only category that seems to be barreling full-speed ahead at a breakneck speed is Hyperautomation – an acceleration that is likely due to the pandemic, which helped overcome resistance to automation and brought to light the critical importance of resiliency.
Hype Cycle Newcomers
As if we needed confirmation of the speed with which up-and-coming innovators are making their way onto the I&O automation scene, Gartner added a whopping 11 new categories to the Hype Cycle for 2021. While most of these newbies are still in their proof-of-concept phase, several have already begun making headway.
This year’s freshest innovations include: GitOps, Digital Platform Conductor Tools, Policy-as-Code, DevOps VSMPs, DevOps VSDPs, Continuous Compliance Automation, AITSM, and Platform Ops. While each of these have begun to attract attention throughout the industry, none have successfully proven to be worthwhile.
Reaching their peak of expectations in the novice arena were Observability and VPT, both of which are being ranked high on the list of priorities thanks to increasing IT complexities and the continuous rise in security threats.
Last, but certainly not least, there’s the most mature newcomer category in the 2021 Hype Cycle: the Service Orchestration and Automation Platform (SOAP), which is already gaining significant momentum and is expected to achieve widespread, mainstream adoption within the next 2-5 years. Resolve Systems is proud to be listed among the sample vendors provided by Gartner for this category.
What’s Next for I&O
Based on the outlook of the latest Hype Cycle report, SOAPs are poised to provide a solid foundation upon which I&O leaders can build their future. Among other things, this technology will enable IT organizations to:
- Automate in real-time
- Cohesively automate hybrid IT infrastructure (on-premises, cloud, network, etc.)
- Orchestrate processes and workflows across all applications and platforms
- Orchestrate and automate the data pipeline
- Empower citizen developers (low-code/no-code and self-service technology)
- Enable advanced, centralized visibility
As a result of these enhanced capabilities, I&O teams will be able to achieve accelerated time-to-value and maximum efficiency while minimizing costs. To access the full report covering this research and analysis by Gartner, download your free copy here.
Want to experience this innovative technology for yourself? Start your free 30-day trial of Resolve today. Click here to download and give your organization the agility it needs to weather any storm.
