How Cloud Automation Is Paying Off

Businesses looking to accelerate the deployment of new applications and technology workloads are discovering the payoffs of cloud automation, but there's room to ramp it up, according to the results of a survey by 2^nd Watch, an AWS Premier Partner.

The survey of over 1,000 U.S.-based IT professionals found that more than half – 56 percent – of corporate IT departments have automated at least half of all their software development artifact creation and deployment pipelines, and about two of every five – 41 percent – are producing more than 10 new cloud workloads every year. Meanwhile, 66 percent said that at least half of their quality assessments (such as unit tests) are automated.

“The survey results reiterate what we’re hearing from clients and prospects: automation, driven by cloud technologies, is critical to the rapid delivery of new workloads and applications,” Jeff Aden, co-founder and executive vice president of marketing and strategic business development at Seattle-based 2nd Watch, said in a statement. “The result is faster time-to-market for new applications, and less application downtime.”

What do the results mean for cloud service providers? Aden addressed that in an interview with ITBestOfBreed. Click through to read what he had to say. (Answers were condensed and edited for brevity.)