As organizations accelerated their digital transformations in response to the COVID-19 crisis, IT departments began investing more in automation. A 2021 Flexera study found that automation spending is outpacing other key areas such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and containers.
But getting buy-in for new IT investments isn’t easy. Decision makers in IT and the business can have conflicting priorities, additional budget spend can be scarce during economic downturns and cultural resistance can pose additional barriers to automation initiatives.
Gaining buy-in and building the business case isn’t something most IT professionals spend much time on — but really need to. So we’ve put together five strategies that will help you get the buy-in you need from stakeholders and decision-makers.
What Challenges Can Automation Solve?
Start by clearly identifying the problem you want to address when making a business case. Identify the major challenges you plan to address with your automation and communicate those first.
For example, many IT teams are stretched thin, trying to deliver on a growing number of projects while still managing legacy systems and new additions to their tech stack. As a result, projects are being delayed or derailed due to a lack of IT resources. Automation can free up critical IT resources so your team can spend more time on high-value, strategic projects, while providing more efficient services in less time.