[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” _builder_version=”4.22.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”50px||||false|false” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:0!important;” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”4.22.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||||false|false” sticky_position=”top” sticky_offset_top=”100px” sticky_limit_bottom=”section” motion_trigger_start=”top” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”indice” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||14px||false|false” link_option_url=”#1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Sections<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:0!important;” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”seccion” module_id=”1″ module_class=”ittopicscontent” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” z_index=”0″ custom_margin=”0px||0px||true|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ custom_css_main_element=”font-family:%22Pandora-Light%22;” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]In the immortal lines of Public Enemy: \u201cDon\u2019t believe the hype\u201d. Good advice in general and excellent advice in particular when we talk about automation in MSPs<\/strong>. It is easy to assume that the most efficient MSPs are those that automate the most. However, in many cases, that simply means running faster\u2014yes\u2014but straight toward a cliff. Automation only delivers value if:<\/p>\n But all three conditions must be met simultaneously<\/strong>. Boosting the speed of an inefficient system is like accelerating a car directly into a wall. When people are up to their necks in the mud, whether automation-related or any other kind, we tend to normalise symptoms<\/strong> that clearly show something is not going well, even if we do not want to see it. Not all mistakes are born under the same star. Some categories concentrate much higher risk when automated and appear with worrying regularity in the postmortems of many MSPs.<\/p>\n This is the cardinal sin par excellence. If every customer is a snowflake with their own architecture, exceptions, and habits, automating without an abstraction layer that normalises that variability produces faster anarchy.<\/p>\n If the alerts that trigger those corrections are not properly calibrated, the system will act on false positives<\/strong>, with real consequences for the infrastructure. Any of these factors on its own should already put automation on hold, but together they are the recipe for the incident nobody will want to explain in the postmortem meeting.<\/p>\n In the episode The Ultimate Computer from the original Star Trek series, Dr Richard Daystrom installs the M-5 computer on the Enterprise. It quickly takes control and demonstrates capabilities superior to those of humans, but shortly afterwards, disaster begins. With the same operational efficiency<\/a> with which it had previously done things right, it starts attacking its own ships, causing deaths. Now, the aim of this list is not fear, nor to become the battle cry of Dune\u2019s Butlerian Jihad. What we want is to introduce a maturity criterion<\/strong>, a safeguard to avoid filming the sequel to The Ultimate Computer. Those most interested in automation often say that what is happening is that we are not using the right tool, which is, of course, the one they sell, but the problem usually lies more in the operational design<\/strong> surrounding the platform than in the platform itself. In all these cases, the tool will perform its function, as Spock rightly concluded when analysing what M-5 did. The problem is that this function is poorly defined from the beginning.<\/p>\n When the process is mature enough for automation, there are principles that significantly reduce risk and should be internalised beforehand:<\/p>\n FOMO is powerful. A fire that makes us sweat nervously, fuelled by a huge amount of marketing and information, much of which is nothing more than additional marketing disguised as knowledge behind one of those glasses with a nose and moustache. We must not fall under external pressure, and automation must be the result of internal criteria. Pandora FMS is a tool that automates with control and criteria, not only because it facilitates this process but, more importantly, because it facilitates the necessary prior actions<\/strong>, such as:<\/p>\n That is why Pandora FMS\u2019s approach in MSP environments starts from the real operational problem, not from automation as an end in itself<\/strong>. Habla con el equipo de ventas, pide presupuesto, o resuelve tus dudas sobre nuestras licencias<\/p>\n ” content_phone=”<\/p>\n Habla con el equipo de ventas, resuelve tus dudas sobre nuestras licencias o pide presupuesto<\/p>\n ” content_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”4.22.0″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font_size=”2em” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”0px||20px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Habla con el equipo de ventas, pide presupuesto, [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”200px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”40px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n\n
\nRelax, this is not a Luddite manifesto, nor the sign you were waiting for to start the rebellion against the machines. When automation is properly planned, it is a sign of operational maturity, but when it is not… the backlash is ruthless because it accelerates errors, multiplies exceptions, and generates technical debt <\/strong>that someone will have to pay back with interest.
\nPoor automation replaces visible manual work with invisible operational risk, and, of course, it rarely saves as much money as expected.
\nAnd in an MSP, invisible risk is what ruins Fridays, something we cannot allow under any circumstances. So, let\u2019s look at the main mistakes in MSP automation<\/strong> and how to avoid them.<\/p>\nWhy automation does not always mean improvement<\/h2>\n
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\nIf just one is missing, automation becomes a trap that looks good in meeting PowerPoints, but places a bomb under the chair of daily operations.
\nWhen there is no prior standardisation, sufficient validation, or clear operational context, automation can:<\/p>\n\n
\nAnd the worst part is that its greatest danger is not so much the failure it causes, but the fact that it is not seen coming and its scale is usually greater<\/strong> than that of human error.
\nA technician who makes a manual mistake does so in a specific system, but poorly designed automation can easily make that mistake in one hundred systems at once, and sometimes at three in the morning because that is Murphy\u2019s Law.<\/p>\nSigns that an automation is already generating more cost than savings<\/h2>\n
\nWe tell ourselves that it comes with the territory, just normal bumps in the road, but no. We must recognise the clear signs that an automation is failing<\/strong>, such as:<\/p>\n\n
Which types of automations are usually more problematic in an MSP<\/h2>\n
1. Changes in production without sufficient validation<\/h3>\n
\nAutomatically applying configurations to production systems, without a prior test environment or a clear rollback procedure<\/strong>, is like rolling out the red carpet for disaster and bowing as it walks past.<\/p>\n2. Automations applied to highly heterogeneous customers<\/h3>\n
3. Automatic remediation on critical systems without reliable thresholds<\/h3>\n
\nThis is compounded by other issues such as:<\/p>\n\n
What not to automate yet in an MSP<\/h2>\n
\nIn the end, the moral is that there are decisions that cannot be delegated to any system<\/strong>, however sophisticated it may be, if it lacks the context<\/strong> to make them properly.
\nIn a modern MSP, decisions are more prosaic than on a starship, but just as important. That is why it is not advisable to automate yet:<\/p>\n\n
\nThat is why which processes to automate first is a valid and necessary question, and its answer also defines what we still cannot leave in the hands of a machine.<\/p>\nWhy some automations fail even when the tool is good<\/h2>\n
\nBecause an excellent tool applied to non-standardised processes will continue to produce inconsistent results<\/strong>.
\nThe same happens when:<\/p>\n\n
How to reduce risk when automation is worthwhile<\/h2>\n
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What changes when an MSP automates with criteria rather than on impulse<\/h2>\n
\nWhen that is the case, propagated errors decrease, dependence on fragile scripts is reduced, and the team\u2019s confidence in the operation increases. In addition, the need for reactive supervision and support<\/a> also falls, because things work as they should, not because someone is watching.
\nIn addition to the above, reuse across customers becomes real rather than aspirational, making it possible to operate hundreds of customers with the same technical team<\/a> without costs growing at the same pace as the portfolio.
\nMTTR<\/a> also improves in that case, because our technicians act on what matters, not on what careless automation set on fire.
\nFinally, the difference between detecting incidents before they impact the customer<\/a> and putting out fires that should never have existed stops being rhetoric with good automation and becomes something measurable in SLAs and the income statement.<\/p>\nHow Pandora FMS helps automate with control in MSP environments<\/h2>\n
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\nReusable templates and policies<\/strong> encode the expected behaviour once and apply it to all customers with the corresponding typology. Without this layer, every automation is handmade and fragile<\/strong>, dependent on someone remembering how it works.
\nCustomer segmentation<\/strong> with granular permissions ensures that automation in customer A\u2019s environment cannot affect customer B\u2019s environment, no matter how much they share the same console. This isolation is critical in the multi-customer environments of an MSP.
\nAction traceability<\/strong>, in turn, makes diagnosing any failure manageable. Every execution is logged with its exact result, context, and timestamp..
\nWithout this, the postmortem of an incident is a multi-hour nightmare that nobody has time for..
\nInfrastructure monitoring<\/a> and IT system monitoring<\/a>, integrated under the same view, allow automatic decisions to be made with real data<\/strong> rather than blindly, or driven by a sales presentation that made us fear \u201cfalling behind\u201d.
\nControlled response automation<\/strong> (self-healing, automatic escalations, corrective actions under known conditions) eliminates human intervention where it adds no value. But, of course, always with well-calibrated thresholds, with a record of what happens, and with the possibility to intervene when the context requires it, unlike in The Ultimate Computer.
\nFinally, there is the inevitable matter of security, without which nothing else matters. In this area, Pandora SIEM aligns security events with the rest of the operation<\/strong>, providing a global view and reducing the sea of noise in which relevant alerts often drown.
\nUltimately, useful automation in an MSP is the kind that reduces repetitive work without increasing risk, opacity, or unnecessary maintenance.
\nAnd that, contrary to what is sold in any webinar, does not magically happen by adopting a new tool.
\nGood automation demands criteria before technology<\/strong>. It requires knowing just as clearly what not to automate as what to automate, because premature or poorly designed automation can cause the same disaster as M-5 in Star Trek.
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