Why do AI and IT mix?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) covers a large swath of automation software and technology, but its application to IT and internal operations is a newer endeavor. AIOps was coined by Gartner a few years ago to describe using AI in IT operations, and considering the explosive growth of AI (and its trajectory in the next few years), it is something all IT teams should consider in their strategic growth goals.
As technology continues to evolve and IT teams are forced to keep up with the advancement, embracing AI to improve automation and monitoring will keep the department (and ultimately your organization) running efficiently.
One in five organizations already has implemented machine learning software to some degree within their business, and this trend will only continue. Gartner already tracks AI that has the potential to drive high need or offers transformational benefits, and further states that “early adoption of these innovations can drive significant competitive advantage and business value and ease problems associated with the fragility of AI models.”
In addition to early adoption, helping ease the strain on IT teams is also a huge benefit to adopting AI. The labor market for the industry has trended shaky at best and tightened significantly in 2021 and 2022. By implementing software that helps ease the burden of work on your IT professionals, or simply makes them more efficient, the more you can prevent burnout and high turnover.
What should be considered for AI?
Figuring out use cases for AI within your organization boils down to three simple steps according to Valerie O’Connell at EMA:
- Assess what’s needed: Plan on top use-case priorities first, then go ahead with your investments.
- Evaluate technologies, and base your due diligence on your unique environment and needs.
- Put metrics in place to measure your team’s effectiveness.
Some questions you can ask yourself in the assessment and evaluation phase:
- What are your IT goals?
- Is it to be more efficient, or maybe to maximize your user experience? There’s probably an AI technology that can get you there to improve AIOps.
- What will this AI apply to?
- Maybe it’s to assist with your network — perhaps to prioritize and allocate your IT resources more efficiently
- Maybe it’s to assist with security — to identify threats and weaknesses in your IT infrastructure more quickly to avoid larger issues
- What is the learning curve?
- What support is available from the creator of the software themselves? Is there a knowledge base available to users of the software or other alternative sources where troubleshooting can occur?
- Do you know when a human needs to take over? There’s still a human element needed even when utilizing AI technologies, and ensuring the software creator and your team is aware of that line is critical.
- Is this AI meant for the long term?
- AI tools are best used when they can learn and adapt to your needs — more adaptive AI that uses Machine Learning to recognize patterns is crucial for user experience, flexibility, and improving productivity.
A great step into your AIOps journey: Juniper’s Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, powered by Mist AI.
Juniper’s Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, powered by Mist AI is a powerhouse AI tool that utilizes natural language processing (NLP), a Conversational Assistant, prescriptive actions, Self-Driving Network™ operations, and integrated help desk functions in order to improve your network.
The tool constantly learns and digests data to become more efficient and proactive at solving problems in order to improve user experience and streamline your operations across wireless access, wired access, and SD-WAN domains.
Learn more about Juniper’s Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, powered by Mist AI
