Does your automation depend on a single administrator?

What happens to your automation if that one administrator leaves?

Almost every IT department has one. The administrator who precisely knows why a particular script exists, which systems it depends on, and what you should absolutely not change. As long as that person is available, this is no problem. Any issue is quickly resolved and when a change is required, they know exactly where to look.

But what happens if that administrator gets a different role, goes on vacation, or leaves the organization? Then it becomes clear that a significant part of the automation is not only dependent on technology, but primarily on the knowledge of one person.

Automation often grows organically

Most organizations have not designed their automation in one go. A manual task emerges somewhere that takes a lot of time, and an administrator builds a solution for it. Later, a script is added, an additional system is connected, and then an exception is added for a specific department.

On their own, these are often good solutions. The problem arises when no one can properly see how they interconnect.

Documentation helps, but in practice it often doesn't match reality. A small change is quickly made, an exception is added, and a few months later, mostly the person who built the change still knows why it was necessary. This gradually creates knowledge dependency.

The risk becomes visible when something changes

As long as processes run smoothly, this dependency goes unnoticed. Effective automation can function silently in the background for years.

Vulnerability becomes apparent during change. An application receives an update, a process must be reconfigured, or a connection no longer works as expected. Then the search begins.

Which automation is affected? Which other processes are dependent on it? Can we safely implement the change? And what happens if we adjust a particular step?

If the answer primarily comes from one specialist, there's not just an operational problem. There's a risk to continuity.

From technical knowledge to process orchestration

This doesn't mean specialist knowledge becomes obsolete. Skilled administrators remain essential.

The question is simply whether the organization must rely completely on what it knows from memory.

Within the Service Automation Suite platform we therefore look not only at the execution of automations, but at end-to-end process control. Which steps are performed, in what order, which systems are involved, and where does a process currently stand?

By making that interconnectivity visible, knowledge becomes less person-bound.

A new administrator then doesn't need to first analyse dozens of separate scripts and integrations to understand how a process works. The process structure itself provides greater insight into what's happening.

Manageability becomes more important as automation grows

The more successful an organization becomes at automating, the more important this topic becomes. Because automation doesn't just take over work — organizations are increasingly relying on it.

An onboarding process that runs automatically every day becomes part of operational management. The same applies to processes around rights, devices, alerts, or other IT services.

You don't want continuity to depend on the availability of a single person.

The next step in automation is therefore not always further automation. Sometimes it's more important to first gain control over what already exists.

Could someone else take over tomorrow?

That might be the simplest test.

If a key administrator is unavailable tomorrow, can a colleague see how an automated process works, where it fails, and what can be safely adjusted?

If that's difficult, valuable knowledge is likely stored in the wrong place.

Not because the administrator shouldn't have that knowledge, but because the organization has become too dependent on it.

Good automation removes manual work. Good orchestration ensures control doesn't remain with a single person.

How vulnerable is your automation?

With a Service Automation Suite Assessment we don't just identify automation opportunities. We also examine existing processes, dependencies, maintenance burdens, and areas where knowledge is strongly tied to individual employees.

This clearly shows where central control can contribute to continuity and manageability.

Curious about where your automation is vulnerable?

Do you want to know where dependencies exist within your organization and where greater control is possible? Leave your details below. We'll contact you to discuss what a Service Automation Suite Assessment could mean for your organization.

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