As the buzz around AIOps continues to grow, so does the level of cynicism surrounding it. Many IT organizations are skeptical about the promises made by AIOps vendors and are wary of investing in yet another marketing buzzword. However, when we strip away the marketing jargon and focus on the fundamentals of AIOps, we can see that it is a powerful tool for IT systems management.
Dealing with Cynicism
One of the main reasons for the cynicism surrounding AIOps is the historical behavior of vendors in the IT industry. Too often, they have been guilty of using buzzwords as marketing tools rather than focusing on actual capability. Terms such as "Desired State," "Service-centric management," and now "AIOps" have been co-opted to compete against emerging technologies and win RFPs. This has created a level of skepticism among IT professionals who have seen too many false promises.
AIOps and ITSM
As someone who has been involved in the IT industry for over 30 years, I have seen many terms come and go. ITIL attempted to define the business of IT by defining terms and processes, and it has been successful in creating a reference point for organizations to work towards. AIOps is just the latest term in a long line of IT management concepts. However, it is important to note that AIOps is not new. It is simply a new term for an old idea - using technology to improve IT systems over time.
New Term, Old Ideas
AIOps is essentially the use of artificial intelligence during the lifecycle of IT systems to measure, engage and act upon anomalous behavior. This concept is not new. "Proactive Analytics" was a technology developed by Proactivenet in the early 2000s that used customer-guided learning to improve IT systems over time. This technology was later acquired by BMC Software and successfully implemented at various organizations. Does this not sound remarkably similar to what we now call predictive analytics?
Conclusion
While there is certainly cause for cynicism around the hype surrounding AIOps, it is important to separate the marketing buzz from the reality. AIOps is simply the latest term for using technology to improve IT systems over time. By focusing on the fundamentals of AIOps and ignoring the hype, IT professionals can harness the power of this tool to improve the performance and reliability of their systems.
