IT automation vs. orchestration: Key differences

What is IT automation and orchestration?

IT automation uses software tools or frameworks to define and execute repetitive tasks with little, if any, human intervention. Automated tasks are typically short and specific and usually accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Automation, for example, can be used to provision compute resources, back up applications or data and generate detailed reports.

IT orchestration is broader, using software tools or platforms to assemble automated tasks into coordinated and comprehensive workflows. Workflow orchestration is often more extensive in its purpose and can take longer to complete since many automated tasks might be involved. Some tasks might require the completion of prior automated tasks, as well as human decisions, to complete the entire workflow. Orchestration, for instance, can be used to optimize an IT environment, ensure proper data protection and management behaviors and search for and recover resource waste.

In other words, automated tasks can be viewed as the ingredients of a recipe, while an orchestrated task is the entire recipe that brings the ingredients together properly to produce the desired outcome. Used in concert, automation and orchestration can define, provision, deploy and manage IT operations to accelerate business operations, maintain compliance and business continuance standards, and reduce human error.

Key comparisons of IT automation vs. orchestration

IT automation can work alone when it's needed to perform short and specific tasks, such as a PowerShell script to configure a system. But IT orchestration is never used without automation. Because of the correlation between automation and orchestration, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but the two technologies are distinct and designed to serve different yet complementary purposes. The scope, complexity and flexibility of automation vs. orchestration can vary dramatically depending on the use cases and mechanisms employed -- for example, a PowerShell script for automation and a comprehensive orchestration framework for process automation.

It's worth noting that some orchestration tools or frameworks integrate automation capabilities as part of the orchestration toolset. In doing so, programmers and DevOps teams can automate tasks and use them within the orchestration tool directly and typically provide some level of compatibility, or integration, for existing or third-party automation mechanisms.

Benefits of IT automation and orchestration

IT automation and orchestration can provide a wide assortment of benefits to IT teams and the broader business. Some important benefits of IT automation include the following:

• Speed. An automated task can dramatically reduce the time and attention needed to perform the task, such as configuring a system or deploying an application, freeing more time for staff to focus on more complex goals.
• Accuracy. An automated task is a known behavior that offers a predictable and repeatable outcome, improving confidence in the consistency and accuracy of the task and eliminating human intervention.
• Scalability. Automated tasks can be executed much faster than manual operations, which can provide significant scalability, enabling IT staff to execute far more tasks in the same amount of time needed to handle those tasks manually.
• Cost. The faster speeds available through automation result in more work done in less time, reducing operational costs and ensuring that only the appropriate resources are implemented for each task.
• Compliance. Automated tasks are designed to achieve known and repeatable outcomes, helping businesses achieve a suitable compliance posture that includes security, proper backups and business continuance.

IT orchestration also provides a range of important business benefits. While the overall benefits are almost identical to those offered through IT automation, the scope of orchestration benefits is broader. Orchestration benefits include the following:

• Speed. An orchestrated workflow can execute an array of related tasks with a high degree of autonomy, enabling complex workflows to be completed much faster than implementing those same workflows manually.
• Accuracy. Orchestrated workflows bring together tasks in a well-understood and repeatable fashion, resulting in predictable and repeatable outcomes that have little chance of human error or oversights.
• Scalability. Orchestrated workflows can be completed much faster and with greater success than manual implementations, so IT staff can accomplish far more work in the same amount of time, benefitting scale and operational cost mitigation.
• Observability. An orchestration platform can offer detailed reporting and visibility into the workflow and automation elements involved, enabling IT and business staff to review, optimize and update workflows in a uniform and consistently managed way.
• Compliance. Once tested and validated, orchestrated workflows can deliver predictable and repeatable outcomes that help companies demonstrate their security, compliance and business continuance preparedness.

Challenges of IT automation and orchestration

Although IT automation and orchestration are well-established, proven and indispensable technologies in virtually all enterprise environments, they pose several potential limitations. IT automation's limitations can include the following:

• Setup. Establishing an automated task requires a clear understanding of technical and business goals, which can take time and effort to create, review, validate and update.
• Skills. Programmers with DevOps skills are typically required to create and maintain automation elements such as scripts.
• Complexity. Although automated tasks can be simple and straightforward, some tasks might be extremely complex and demand extensive expertise to implement properly.
• Flexibility. Automation trades flexibility for speed and efficiency, making it challenging to update automation elements or respond quickly to changing business needs and unexpected events.
• Vendor lock-in. Automation elements are often dependent on underlying tools, platforms and frameworks, such as PowerPoint to run PowerPoint scripts. Changing tool versions or adopting new tools could require reworking automation elements.

As with automation, IT orchestration also presents a similar set of potential limitations that should be carefully evaluated before orchestration technologies are adopted or expanded across an enterprise. IT orchestration's common limitations can include the following:

• Setup. Orchestration can cover large and complex business workflows or processes, so it's critical to have a detailed understanding of business needs and goals before investing time and resources into building orchestration pipelines.
• Skills. Orchestration tools, platforms and frameworks are often third-party products that can demand extensive knowledge of the orchestration software and its programming nuances. Learning the orchestration tool can be a job in and of itself.
• Complexity. While orchestration can use a simplified drag-and-drop approach to simplify workflow creation, the actual workflow can be highly complex and vital to the business, so the process must be well-understood and validated by a cross-departmental team.
• Integration. Orchestration tools specialize in integrating with existing IT systems and applications, but the integrations might not be tailored to a company's specific use case. Gaps in integration can present orchestration problems that can sometimes be resolved with plug-ins and custom integrations where possible.
• Flexibility. Once a workflow or process is orchestrated successfully, it can be incredibly difficult and cumbersome to change, making orchestration inflexible by design.
• Vendor lock-in. Since orchestration tools, platforms and frameworks are typically third-party products, changes and updates to the orchestration tool can potentially cause disruptions to the established workflow and existing integrations on which the company relies.

IT automation and orchestration best practices

IT automation and orchestration can be essential for any enterprise or business with busy IT departments. There are countless approaches and toolsets that can accommodate both technologies, but there are some common best practices to improve the technical and business outcomes. They include the following:

• Establish clear goals. Before adopting automation and orchestration technologies, take the time to carefully consider the desired goals. Both technologies are broad and can be applied in various ways, so understand what needs to be automated and orchestrated -- and why. Reducing downtime and accelerating IT practices, for example, might be handled differently than enhancing business workflows. Clear goals upfront will make it easier to gauge the success of any automation and orchestration initiative.
• Consider practicality. Not all tasks or workflows are the same, and some simply can't be automated easily, if ever. The best candidates for automation and orchestration are highly repetitive, time-consuming and error-prone tasks unlikely to change significantly in response to changing business needs. Excessive automation can result in burdensome technical debt.
• Look for early successes. Automation and orchestration can be complex undertakings. Rather than tackling the most demanding projects, start with smaller and simpler projects so staff can gain experience with tools and follow-up evaluations when it's time to address bigger projects.
• Choose suitable tools. Countless tools, platforms and frameworks are available for IT automation and orchestration, each of which have unique features, strengths and focus areas such as industries or verticals. Select tools that meet business needs and offer a balance between cost, performance, features and future-proofing. Proof-of-concept projects to test and validate tool behaviors and integrations can pay enormous dividends later.
• Revisit and update regularly. Establishing IT automation and orchestration processes is just the beginning of a regular cycle of monitoring, reviews, updates and optimizations. Revisit automation elements and workflows on a regular basis and ensure that the company is still receiving intended benefits from the technologies. In many cases, updates can optimize behaviors and help the company adapt to changing conditions or requirements.

How to choose an IT automation and orchestration tool

The sheer number of IT automation and orchestration tools, platforms and frameworks available complicate tool selection. Selecting the wrong tool wastes time, money, effort and can be highly disruptive. The following considerations can help businesses make the best product selections:

• Business needs. Start a product search by evaluating needs to quickly weed out many inappropriate products. Understand the volume and complexity of the company's automation and orchestration objectives. Some businesses might only need simple automation tools, while other businesses might look for comprehensive orchestration frameworks capable of handling sophisticated workflows.
• Integrations. Orchestration tools rarely operate alone and must typically integrate with other systems and applications across the organization, such as monitoring tools, change management systems, database applications and even cloud resources. Automation and orchestration tools should support integrations natively through available APIs, other connectors, or at least enable the creation of custom APIs and connectors. Otherwise, the automation and integration initiative might be limited.
• Scalability. Consider the product's ability to support increasingly complex automation and orchestration tasks. It's key to future-proofing the product selected.
• Compliance. Automation and orchestration can be central to a company's security and regulatory compliance posture -- assurance that the organization is taking known, predictable and repeatable actions. Verify that any tool selection remains consistent with those business requirements.
• Degree of difficulty. Any new tool presents a learning curve for staff to master. Evaluate each tool's ease of use, including factors like vendor documentation, support, scripting languages, interface style and design -- WYSIWYG or drag-and-drop. Seek the staff's product preferences and comfort level before making a final selection.
• Reporting. An automation and orchestration tool should provide detailed monitoring and reporting that can bring visibility to workflows, including success and failure rates, as well as performance metrics. The tool should also support version control and change management to ensure changes to automation elements and orchestration workflows are well-documented for security, auditability and compliance considerations.

Stephen J. Bigelow, senior technology editor at TechTarget, has more than 30 years of technical writing experience in the PC and technology industry.