Resolve Systems, the leading intelligent IT automation software vendor, today released its 2022 State of IT Automation Report. Conducted by Gatepoint Research, the landmark study reports on business leaders' most urgent IT automation priorities, the current status of their automation goals, and reveals critical trends and strategies.

According to the survey, IT operations management, cloud operations, and IT service management were the top IT functions that leaders were eager to automate. 45% of IT leaders consider automation core to their IT Operations strategy, with cloud operations close behind at 42%, and IT Service Management (ITSM) at 34%.

The report findings confirm that nearly all leaders are engaged with automation projects. 29% of respondents replied that increasing automation in the coming year is extremely—even critically—important. For another 42%, automation is nearly that vital.

"As businesses are navigating a challenging macro-economic landscape, IT leaders are turning to automation to drive business resiliency and accelerate strategic goals," said Vijay Kurkal, CEO of Resolve Systems. "In the increasingly complex environment, IT automation is foundational to simplifying and orchestrating day-to-day business delivery. Rather than asking 'why automate?' the focus has shifted to where IT process automation can be implemented to achieve the fastest and highest impact on business outcomes, customer experiences, and employee satisfaction."

Additional findings from the report include:

The IT talent shortage remains the top challenge when implementing automation. More than 76% of those surveyed identified talent and staffing shortages as their number one headache.
Enterprise-wide automation has arrived. The speed of purpose-built, intelligent automation is currently being prioritized with Infrastructure provisioning, testing, incident resolution, and proactive maintenance.
Efficiency wins. Saving time, improving competence, automating scripting, controlling costs, and driving self-service were highly ranked by respondents as top benefits of automation.
IT automation is being deployed today: 66% say they are deploying IT automation to cut costs, troubleshoot and speed service delivery. 44% are using IT automation for self-service for end users. 29% say they are going with unattended automation.
To further examine the implications of the study's findings, McKinsey & Company's Senior Advisor, Arun Baid, will be joining Resolve in a live webinar on November 15, 2022. Register for the free webinar here.

For more information on the state of IT automation, download the full report here.

Methodology
Resolve Systems tapped Gatepoint Research to gather insights from senior IT leaders about the latest IT automation trends as they play out in the real world. Between April 2021 and April 2022, Gatepoint Research invited select business leaders to participate in a landmark survey of IT automation trends and strategies, discussing their latest directions in IT automation. Hundreds of IT decision-makers (CxOs, EVPs, Directors, and Senior Managers) responded to the survey.

In Gatepoint's survey, these leaders shared their most urgent priorities along with the current status of their automation goals. Resolve Systems then measured the latest results against the survey conducted in 2021, comparing goals, use cases, benefits, obstacles, and other measures to illustrate the direction of progress.