Automation is on the forefront of both IT and business agendas in 2021. For leaders who are trying to build strategies and weigh their investments in automation must learn how to view their investments in automation through a long-term lens to get the most out of their projects. SAPinsider sat down with Avantra CTO Benrd Engist to discuss key trends in automation and factors for success. Engist describes some of the ways their clients are leveraging automation to streamline and scale the move to cloud as well as key administration tasks related to security and incident remediation. By integrating automation into your cloud strategy companies can gain further benefits when it comes to replicating configurations and setting standards. Automation can help also reduce risks. One of the main threats to SAP application security relates to poor and inconsistent patching processes. Many organizations neglect regular patching because of process complexity. By applying automation IT leaders can enforce the appropriate patching discipline without expending significant resources. Engist also addresses the important cultural and technical foundations every IT leader needs to put in place to enable automation to succeed. Embracing both risk and failure is critical. On the technical side there needs to be the proper investment and training in how leverage services and expose interfaces in the right ways. Automation projects are built on the integration between applications and data, and as such, these backbones are necessary to scale for success. Watch this video for other important strategic lessons to help you with your own automation journey.