Top 12 IT Automation Software in 2023: Vendor Benchmarking

61% of IT operation employees identify reliance on manual processes as the reason behind low productivity. ¹ In the same survey, IT Ops staff claim to spend their day coordinating teams and executing routine activities such as monitoring, tuning, or general maintenance (See figure 1). 

One way to overcome this challenge is to adopt IT automation software to automate IT operations. However, 68% of IT professionals who participated to the survey mentioned above also complain about the lack of time to investigate solutions within this complex landscape of tools.

Considering the complex landscape of tools, businesses should consider reviewing each IT automation software by:

1. Identifying the type of IT automation their business requires
2. Shortlisting market leaders
3. Evaluating key capabilities of these tools

In this article, we aim to help your reviewing process by providing a list of leading IT automation market leaders and categorizing them according to 4 types of IT automation. We also explain 5 core features to help you identify the most suitable IT automation software for your business.     

What are the different types of IT automation?

IT automation can cover automating various operations, tasks, and processes. These different types of IT automation have specific focus areas and objectives. Knowing each type or category of IT automation can help organizations to:

• Assess their current level of automation in each area and identify areas that require further investment
• Prioritize and focus their automation efforts on the areas that are most critical to their business operations
• Choose a tool that aligns with their goals and resources
• Allow teams to remain focused on their expertise area.  

Disclaimer:

We present a categorization here to structure this crowded market. However, the categorization could be better because these categories may overlap. Also, a solution can deliver several types of IT automation. For example, remote monitoring and management RMM platforms typically contain most of these solutions under a package. 

1. Workload automation & Job scheduling

Workload automation is a specific type of IT automation with a focus on the automation of job scheduling and execution, such as: 

Job scheduling software allows IT teams to automate the scheduling and execution of tasks and workflows, such as backups, maintenance tasks, and software updates.

Learn more about workload automation by checking out:

Check out our comprehensive workload automation guide to compare more workload automation and job scheduling platforms.

2. ITSM automation

ITSM automation refers to the automation of IT service management (ITSM) processes to improve IT service delivery, quality, and compliance with IT policies and procedures.

ITSM automation tools automate processes, such as:

1. Incident management: The process of logging, tracking, and resolving IT incidents, such as system outages or performance issues.
2. Change management: The process of managing IT changes, including assessing the impact of changes, obtaining approvals, and implementing changes.
3. Service request management: The process of handling service requests from end-users, such as software installations or hardware upgrades.
4. Self-service portals: Accessing IT services and information without human intervention, such as password resets or status updates.

3. Remote monitoring and management (RMM)

RMM, also known as remote IT management or network management, proactively monitors and remotely manages software, networks, hardware and client endpoints. RMM platforms automate several tasks and IT operations, including: 

• Configuration management automation automatically handles software and hardware configurations across an organization’s IT infrastructure, such as file management and software deployment.
• Patch management automation detects, tests, deploys, monitors and reports software patches. 
• Network automation manages and operates computer networks, such as network configuration and troubleshooting. 

4. Data warehouse automation 

Data warehouse automation designs, develops, and maintains data warehouses with minimum involvement of developers and data engineers. These tools consist of several features, such as: 

1. ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) 
2. Data modeling
3. Data quality and testing
4. Deployment
5. Maintenance

Shortlisting market leaders

Once businesses specify the subset of IT automation they are interested in, they must compare a set of vendors to identify the most appropriate tool. However, the variety of players in the market complicates the reviewing process. 

Therefore, we shortlist major actors based on 3 factors:

1. The number of employees on LinkedIn: We considered vendors that have over 10 employees listed on LinkedIn because this indicates a well-established company with a higher level of expertise to provide better product support.
2. Review: Vendors with no reviews on any platforms were excluded as the absence of feedback may suggest a low tool uptake.
3. Focus: We included vendors that offer specialized tools for IT automation.

Market leadership 

The top vendors in the market have the most extensive and complete tools. Additionally, these vendors have more B2B reviews, which can serve as reliable sources for deciding which solution to choose. As a result, we have preferred vendors with the highest ratings and reviews.

Below is the total number of B2B reviews and average scores of all vendors on major B2B review platforms (such as G2, TrustRadius, Capterra, and Gartner Peer Insights) for IT automation tools:

5 critical capabilities of IT automation software 

We created a vendor shortlist by considering market leaders and IT automation types. While evaluating these vendors, there are two major aspects to consider:

1. Your company’s IT automation priorities (goals and objectives)
2. 5 critical features.  

1. Low-code

Low-code IT automation tools allow IT teams to create and deploy automation workflows and processes using visual interfaces and drag-and-drop pre-built automation components, without extensive coding skills. Market leaders in IT automation often provide low-code tools. 

2. Integration 

Integration capabilities allow automation tools to connect with other systems and applications in the IT environment, including ITSM platforms, cloud platforms, monitoring and alerting tools, and configuration management tools. 

Integration typically involves using APIs to enable different systems to communicate and exchange data. IT automation tools may offer pre-built integrations or allow users to build custom integrations using APIs.

3. File and data transfer

File and data transfer for IT automation refers to the automated transfer of files and data between different systems and applications in the IT environment. This feature streamlines the flow of large volumes or complex data and reduces manual data entry and transfer tasks.

IT automation tools can automate file and data transfer tasks in two most common ways:

1. SFTP/FTP transfers: IT automation tools can use Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transfer large files between systems. 
2. API-based transfers: IT automation can automate data transfer between different systems and applications using API. For example, the IT team wants to share customer data with the customer analytics team. 

4. Error logging

Error logging is an essential process of recording and storing information about errors that occur during IT automation workflows or processes. It enables IT teams to monitor automation workflows and processes in real-time, troubleshoot issues, and improve automation processes by identifying error trends and patterns. 

Many IT automation tools include built-in error logging functionality, and third-party log management tools can aggregate and analyze error logs from multiple systems and applications to identify trends and patterns across the IT environment.

5. Scheduling feature

IT automation tools offer scheduling options, including one-time, recurring, and trigger-based scheduling to automate backups, maintenance tasks, and software updates. Scheduling combined with other features like notifications and error handling ensures tasks are executed consistently and reliably. 

Transparency statement

AIMultiple serves numerous technology vendors, including Redwood which provides Active Batch, RunMyJobs, and Tidal.

Further reading

Learn more on different types of automation, such as workflow automation, robotic process automation (RPA) and business process automation (BPA):

1. “The Impact of Automation on IT Operations.” Freeform Dynamics Ltd. July 2017. Revisited May 23, 2023.
2. “The Impact of Automation on IT Operations.” Freeform Dynamics Ltd. July 2017. Revisited May 23, 2023.