Businesses of all sizes face several challenges when it comes to information technology. When it comes to IT, there are very specific challenges for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), including with whom, how much and where to apply cloud technologies, according to Dustin Snell, founder and CEO of Network Automation (News - Alert).

More specifically, a major issue for SMBs today is cloud integration, which is the process of configuring multiple application programs to share data in the cloud.

“Because it traditionally requires coding or development skills that are expensive to acquire,” Snell told TMCnet in a recent interview.

But streamlining operations and reducing costs with automation can alleviate the cloud integration challenge for SMBs. “It brings it into reach, financially,” Snell explained. “It’s faster and less expensive to build, deploy and maintain operations in the cloud.”

Network Automation outlined six of the top IT pain points facing SMBs using automation, which are as follows:

1. Too many different automation platforms – you need a different tool for each job
2. Illegible and difficult to maintain scripts (spaghetti code)
3. No centralized management
4. Companies are either all-cloud or all-on-premises focused
5. Application specific – only works with one application, not multiple
6. Lengthy and inefficient to set up – some automation solutions take too long to build and often don’t run as intended (a.k.a. failure to launch.)

“To be successful, SMBs must seek out ways to more efficiently manage operations with few resources,” Snell added. “At its core, automation is all about increasing productivity without bogging down staff with additional responsibilities. The technology’s goal is to streamline business processes and liberate human capital so that an organization can provide better customer service, increase productivity, and capitalize on new revenue opportunities.”

Network Automation offers automation software for companies of all sizes and industries. Its automation software platform, AutoMate, transforms and combines on-premises servers (virtual and physical), cloud resources and end-point devices into highly automated and integrated business processing engines, orchestrated and managed in dynamic, graphical workflows.