How did I get to this thought or idea?
This particular thought or an idea about Automation by Design (AbD) came into my mind suddenly when I was working on a security assessment activity for my current project, Digital Center of Excellence (DCoE) recently. I was discussing with security reviewer on one of the security best practices i.e., Security Privacy by Design (SPbD). How we include SPbD practice since the beginning of the Software design phase to make security in-built feature of the product and to overcome most of the security issues post deployment and support. Being an automation professional, suddenly an idea came; why can't we bring the similar practice in place in automation now as Automation by Design (AbD). Bring automation as built-in feature of an application.
Below is my thought process about Automation by Design (AbD) concept and the possibility that could led to the new way of software-based automation.
I gave a deep thought on the possibility of this, extended my thought by revisiting the automation history and on how industrial automation works with so much confidence and successful results.
We know Software-Based Automation space is more than a decade old and has got quite a matured now, we've so many learnings with lots of good and bad experiences. Together with style of industrial automation reference, we can bring AbD into practices and build more sustainable software-automation solutions.
Recalling my automation journey and experience since 2014 until now on how industries are still struggling building a practical and sustainable automation solutions for clients. Even a slightest of unknown or known change can bring automation down and disrupt running business functions. We have still the biggest challenges, limitations, issues in Automation to solve. All of these or most of this may get resolved automatically by AbD practice.
"AbD promotes a new way i.e., a modernized way of automation"
What is Automation by Design (AbD)?
Let's get straight to the point. Just like we have architectural best practices such as recently introduced, Security Privacy by Design (SPbD), Performance Scalability by Design (PSbD) etc. now it's high time to bring Automation by Design (AbD) practice in place. AbD could be one of best practices to build applications (new or modernized app) with automation mindset from the beginning since design phase, so that any kind of processes or non-processes automation can be built around with minimum effort and ease, eliminating most of the current automation challenges and issues, if not 100%. Automation will be maintainable, cost effective and sustainable for a long period of time. AbD takes a reference to the industrial automation, the way they work along with SPbD practice.
This is one step forward, building Automation built-in software/application. Note: When I say Automation in AbD I mean all kinds of software-based automation like RPA, Cognitive or Intelligent Automation, Digital automation, business automation or may be other kind of automation like platform and infra etc. where we build a bot or configuration system to perform task (fully or partially, attended, or unattended) of a business process which humans are doing.
What are the key elements?
Building business processes and applications with automation mindset.
Standardization of the business process models and business applications for new or modernized one is the key to AbD.
We must bring certain international industry standards in place, the way we have in industry automation.
For non-standardize situation, the use of Artificial Intelligence, Modern Application Architecture, Micro-service, Container/Kubernetes, DevOps, API Integration and Management could be the key components of this.
There could be other elements that we may explore.
Why is this needed?
This is very much needed because the present methodology we're following in automation is probably not the way it should be. We're trying to automate a business process or application, which were never built with an automation mindset at all in the first place. If they could have been built with an automation mindset from the beginning, we could have a better automation methodology with sustainability and non-chaotic. AbD is the way forward sooner or later. This will change the way we do automation. It may minimize, if not eliminate most of the current big fat unstructured and nonstandard automation challenges and issues.
Using AbD we can build automation very quickly, we can automate the automation with ease, automated feasibility analysis, quickly deployable with automated scalability, easy to monitor and manage.
Where can it be fitted i.e., areas of application?
AbD practice can be used not only in the process automation world but everywhere where we think of about software-based automation. How may this work? Just like in security by design, we implement the security solutions to all known security issues right from the beginning of the design phase of the application development in a pluggable architecture. We will take the similar approach here in AbD, implementing automation solutions right from the beginning of the design phase of new application or modernized application and make it automation compatible. There could be multiple approaches or solutions to this on how this can happen. One of the approaches I can see is mentioned below Every business application must expose functional or operational interfaces or APIs as part of AbD practice. The automation platform application (like AA, BP etc or may a new built by IBM) that creates bots by orchestrating these APIs across different applications as per business process flow. We may not use screen scraping or UI based workflow at all instead only APIs.
AbD advocates APIs orchestration and promotes building of automatable applications/services. We may follow API workflow.
The next step forward...
AbD is from now onwards. The current automation methods may coexist for quite some time until we modernize applications and business processes/models. It may run in hybrid mode. Industry must think and work towards AbD practice and utilize its full potentials. Moving towards creating an automatable world with ease not with struggle.
Conclusion
Automation by Design (AbD) is just a first step forward towards fully automated world. I do not advocate different Jargon of automation like extreme automation, intelligent automation, cognitive automation, digital workers and so on. Customers do not want dazzling terms rather the simple automation that could be sustainable and cost effective. Let's stick to a single and simple term automation. Automation is just an automation. Let's take a reference and inspiration from SPbD and Industrial Automation, make AbD happen. I can see the AbD practice is coming up soon and can vision a better modernized and better version of automation.
This is at the conceptual level to introduce this new idea/concept/practice. Your valuable feedback, suggestions, and inputs are needed to give this a proper shape and direction. If it really excites, We can work more on this in detail and come up with something great.
Software leaders and Automation leaders can come together to make this happen.
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