The Ultimate Service Orchestration and Automation Playbook: 7 Secrets to Mastering Automation

Let's face it—today's IT environments are messy, complicated beasts. Between hybrid clouds, sprawling networks, legacy systems, and digital transformation demands, the need for intelligent automation and orchestration has never been greater.

That's where Service Orchestration and Automation Platforms (SOAPs) come in. Think of them as the conductors of your IT symphony, ensuring all the instruments (tools, teams, and systems) play together harmoniously. But not all SOAPs are created equal.

What makes a good SOAP?

We've explored this in our SOAP It Up series, breaking down the seven essential attributes of a winning platform.

Whether you're just dipping your toes into automation or looking to scale it across your enterprise, these attributes will guide you toward a solution that delivers real results.

To make this fun, let's shine the spotlight on real-world examples and sprinkle in some conversational flair. Because let's be honest—SOAP might be technical, but it doesn't have to be boring.

Let's dive in!

1. Low-Code / Bring Your Own Code (BYOC)

Ever felt like automation tools are only for developers with PhDs in coding? Not anymore. A winning SOAP must embrace low-code capabilities, making it easy for anyone to build workflows without needing to write a single line of code. Low-code platforms democratize automation, enabling IT teams to create solutions faster and with fewer bottlenecks.

Use Case: Imagine a help desk team automating password resets. With low-code, they can design a workflow in minutes—no developer needed.

The result? A quicker resolution for users and less manual work for the team.

Bring Your Own Code

While low code is fantastic, there are times when nothing beats the scripts you've already built. A great SOAP doesn't make you choose. It allows you to bring your own code (BYOC) into the platform, ensuring flexibility for complex, customized processes.

Use Case: You've already invested in Python scripts for application health checks. With a BYOC-friendly SOAP, you can seamlessly integrate these scripts into larger workflows, saving time and leveraging past efforts.

2. Seamless Integrations

Let's face it—your IT environment probably looks like a patchwork quilt of tools, apps, and platforms.

A SOAP worth its salt should act as the thread that ties it all together, offering out-of-the-box integrations that connect disparate systems into one cohesive operation.

Use Case: Picture this: an alert comes in from your monitoring tool. The SOAP platform integrates with your ticketing system to log the issue and then kicks off a remediation workflow via your automation platform.

No human intervention required!

3. Orchestration at Its Core

It's called Service Orchestration and Automation Platform for a reason.

Orchestration isn't just a feature—it's the foundation of a winning SOAP. A great platform doesn't just automate individual tasks; it seamlessly connects and coordinates complex, multi-step workflows across systems, teams, and environments.

Think of it as the conductor of your IT symphony, ensuring every tool and process plays in harmony.

Use Case: During a major incident, an orchestration-first SOAP connects monitoring tools, ticketing systems, and remediation workflows. It automatically detects the issue, escalates it to the right team, kicks off diagnostics, and executes pre-approved recovery steps—all without missing a beat.

4. Don't Forget the Network

IT teams often focus automation efforts on servers, apps, and cloud environments—but what about the network? Networks are the backbone of IT operations, and a strong SOAP should include network automation as a core capability.

Use Case: A telecom provider automates router configurations and firmware updates across thousands of locations. By incorporating network automation into their SOAP strategy, they eliminate manual errors and improve uptime.

5. Technician in the Loop

Not every process can (or should) be fully automated. High-risk workflows often require human oversight to ensure critical decisions are made correctly.

A great SOAP enables technician-in-the-loop functionality, pausing automation at decision points for human input before continuing.

Use Case: During a critical network outage, the automation pauses to ask a network engineer whether to reroute traffic or attempt a repair. The engineer evaluates the situation and selects the appropriate action, keeping control in the right hands while still leveraging automation.

6. Measure for Success

You can't improve what you don't measure. Measuring automation performance is one of the most critical—and often overlooked—aspects of a winning SOAP.

Tracking metrics like ROI, time savings, and error reduction helps you fine-tune workflows and prove the value of automation initiatives.

Use Case: An IT team monitors automation performance for service ticket resolution. By analyzing time-to-resolution metrics, they identify workflows that need optimization, ensuring continuous improvement.

7. Scheduled or Event-Driven

When it comes to triggering automations, flexibility is key. A SOAP should support both scheduled workflows (e.g., nightly backups) and event-driven workflows (e.g., triggered by alerts or incidents). The dual capability of scheduled vs event-driven automation ensures your automation strategy can adapt to any situation.

Use Case: A company schedules automated database cleanups every weekend but also uses event-driven automation to kick off security patches when a vulnerability is detected. This hybrid approach keeps systems secure and optimized.

Why These 7 Attributes Matter

In today's IT landscape, complexity is the norm. A robust SOAP helps organizations tame this complexity by automating and orchestrating workflows across the entire IT ecosystem.

By prioritizing platforms with these 7 attributes, IT leaders can unlock:

• Faster incident resolution: Automations that diagnose and resolve issues in real-time.
• Enhanced resilience: Proactive workflows that prevent outages and minimize downtime.
• Increased productivity: Less manual drudgery means more time for strategic initiatives.

With the right SOAP, you're not just keeping the lights on—you're building a foundation for innovation and growth.

Ready to SOAP It Up?

If you're tired of fighting fires and ready to drive meaningful change in your IT operations, it's time to invest in a SOAP platform that delivers on all 7 attributes.

Start small, think big, and automate boldly. After all, the future of IT belongs to those who orchestrate it.