As per my exp - To streamline processes with automation, start by automating routine tasks like backups and system updates to reduce manual effort and free up staff. Implement workflow automation tools such as ITSM platforms to handle service requests and incident responses efficiently. Ensure seamless integration between different IT systems to automate data transfer and minimize manual entry. Set up automated monitoring and alerting systems to detect and address performance issues in real time. Finally, regularly review and optimize automation processes to improve efficiency and adapt to evolving operational needs. This approach enhances productivity, reduces errors, and allows staff to focus on strategic tasks in right directions.

Personally, I start by identifying time-sensitive tasks. For instance, during a server migration project, I recognized that maintaining uninterrupted service for key clients was critical. I evaluated my team’s skills, noting that while we had strong network engineers, we lacked expertise in data security, which was vital for the migration. By prioritizing tasks like data encryption and security checks, I allocated resources accordingly, bringing in a security consultant. This ensured we met critical deadlines while maintaining high-quality work, preventing potential data breaches.

Examine what your IT operations actually require first. Determine which projects are the most urgent and what resources—such as time, teamwork, and tools—are needed to finish them. Verify the complexity of your IT infrastructure and the capabilities of your personnel. Prioritizing your tasks will help you make efficient use of your resources, meet deadlines, and produce work that meets quality standards.

The piece that is nearly always missed. Who cares about IT Operations needs if they don’t align with the business. Start with organisational needs. If the IT Ops activity doesn’t support that, into the backlog it goes.

As a supervisor or manager, it’s crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of your team members. Continuously assessing the team's capacity is unnecessary. In IT operations, you must be prepared for tight schedules, as the fast-paced environment heavily relies on IT systems. Most organizations have embraced automation for repetitive tasks, and Generative AI tools have significantly enhanced efficiency and productivity. However, some team members may still exhibit inefficiency or lack awareness due to their nature. It is essential to identify these individuals and address their challenges accordingly. This is an unavoidable reality.

For important project with time sensitivities and dependence’s - best to keep money handy for last minute type issues that would involve money beyond what is stated in the expenses !!

Planning strategically is crucial to IT operations. To keep the team on track, draft a thorough project timeline with distinct deadlines and milestones. Divide large projects into smaller, more doable ones, then distribute them among team members according to their expertise. Anticipate possible obstacles and add extra time to the timetable to account for unforeseen issues. This planning ensures that you stay on schedule with deadlines and keeps things flowing smoothly despite obstacles.

Plan of action and act upon it is utmost important to achieve anything. Without it, it's very difficult or nearly impossible to achieve excellence. Changes of plans should be part of the POA. Assessment of the tasks progress status is equally important. Making a workgroup and progress accordingly is an excellent way towards achieving success.

Optimize workflow by streamlining your IT procedures. For recurring operations like software upgrades or data backups, use automation tools. Standardize processes to improve consistency and predictability of outputs. Urge your group to record their work so that it may be quickly troubleshooted and utilized as a reference for upcoming initiatives. Streamlining tasks facilitates efficient deadline compliance by reducing errors and speeding up operations.

In agile methodology, documenting team's work is a bit challenging because changes happens so frequently. Sometimes before resolved ongoing issues another chance comes into the place but without proper documentation, it's really difficult to track the history of the project or challenges faced and milestones. Sometimes miscommunication happens within the teams because of the lack of documentation and it should be readily accessible to the stakeholders.

Automate the monitoring through AI capabilities define the goals,choose the tools,collect and store data ,visualize the data send & receive alerts automate and optkmize