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Automation plays an ever-increasing role in IT and is impacting job and how business is done. Our latest survey digs into the subject and shows that 60% are already automating some IT jobs and another 11% plan to do so.

New inventions often make people's jobs easier and faster. Many such inventions also threaten occupations by replacing human workers. As technology booms, the need for human intervention lessens. For instance, messaging and calendar programs have replaced many receptionists and secretaries, and table-mounted touchscreens at restaurants mean that fewer servers are needed.

Sometimes there are new opportunities that surface as a result of new technology. Obviously, the personal computer has led to additional jobs to support the industry.

Watch Tech Pro Research Senior Editor Teena Hammond discuss the future of IT jobs.

Automation is one such area that has tremendous potential for benefits as well as job loss. In the IT realm, automation involves examples such as scripts, scheduled tasks, password reset portals, operating system deployment, configuration management and elaborate monitoring capabilities. By automating these tasks, companies can free up system admins, developers and other IT staff to do other jobs.

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But it also can lead to job loss, particularly those related to basic operations. To find out the impact that automation is having on IT, Tech Pro Research conducted a survey and talked to 353 respondents to find out what, where and how they are automating, where automation isn't a fit, and how and where automation has impacted jobs at their organization.

Download Tech Pro Research's full report, The Future of IT Jobs: How to beat the machines.

Topics covered in the Tech Pro Research's report, The Future of IT Jobs: How to beat the machines, include:

Reasons against automation

Jobs at risk due to automation

Company training for new roles

How jobs are evolving within organizations

Who is using automation

Who plans to use automation

Departments using automating

Systems or objects being automated

Who is using automation

Image: Tech Pro Research

The survey found that 60% of respondents are already automating some, most or all of their low-level IT work and another 11% have plans to do so within a year. That means that nearly three-quarters of those surveyed work for companies that recognize the vast possibilities that automation holds.

Image: Tech Pro Research

The survey also found that larger companies are more likely to automate, and this is due in part because of larger budgets, more predictable environments and more streamlined processes.

Another 29% are not utilizing the concept, and the survey digs into why that is the case.

Reasons for automating work

Image: Tech Pro Research

73% of respondents said their companies are automating work to handle basic task handling. 70% said that they are using automation to maintain a consisten environment, and 67% said to offload work and free up staff.

Reasons for not using automation

Image: Tech Pro Research

Some of the most common reasons for those who are not automating work include a lack of applicability to the work environment, and also a worry about complexity. Too few staff resources, and a lack of support from management were also top concerns.

The report showed that IT workers know that there are challenges ahead, and that it's important to learn how best to respond to and meet the challenge. Some respondents are adding to their job skills through either self-study or college course work, while others are working toward careers in automation.

Find out more about the changes ahead in IT, and download the full report, The Future of IT Jobs: How to beat the machines.