AIOps: Hype Or Practical I&O Solution?

About this report

Data collection: Nov 30, 2021 - Aug 28, 2022

Respondents: 300 IT, software engineering, and information security leaders

AIOps solutions have the potential to increase automation of and visibility into IT infrastructure and operations (I&O). How are leaders exploiting this technology to best drive ROI?

One minute insights:

  • graph icon chipMore than a two-thirds of respondents are either deploying or planning to deploy AIOps
  • Thumbs Up icon handLeaders are satisfied with their AIOps deployment and many are using external tools to do so
  • Chat iconThe AIOps benefits cited by most leaders are centralized visibility into IT I&O inputs and automated alerts
  • graph down iconNearly half of respondents are struggling with false positives and data manage- ment is a challenge for many
  • Question iconMost leaders are skeptical of vendors offering AIOps tools, but believe it to be a fully defined solution

Most leaders are currently deploying AIOps or planning to deploy it within the next year

Most (36%) respondents are currently deploying AIOps and about one-third (33%) plan to do so.

Is your organization currently deploying AIOps?

Is your organization currently deploying AIOps?

n = 300

Is there a timeline in place to deploy AIOps within your organization?

Is there a timeline in place to deploy AIOps within your organization?

Among those who plan to deploy AIOps, nearly all (88%) have established timelines, with the vast majority (76%) working on timelines of a year or less.

n = 98

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I'm optimistic, but not completely convinced of the value of these solutions.

VP, finance industry, 10,000+ employees

As we continue to build public cloud workload, we are working to build in AIOps in parallel with construction.

C-suite, manufacturing industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

Respondents are seeing satisfactory deployment using external tools, and chose to adopt AIOps to increase automation

The majority (62%) of leaders currently working on AIOps are satisfied with their deployment, with most using external tools (73%), and only 5% using an in-house (i.e., proprietary) solution.

Are you satisfied with your AIOps deployment?

Are you satisfied with your AIOps deployment?

n = 108

Which tool(s) are you using for AIOps?*

Which tool(s) are you using for AIOps?*

n = 108

*The values for this chart were calculated by categorizing and consolidating open text responses to this question

Breakdown of external tools specified by respondents:

Breakdown of external tools specified by respondents:

For those using external solutions, the most commonly used tools are Splunk (21%), Datadog (17%) and AppDynamics (12%). 24% are using multiple solutions.

Dynatrace 9%, BMC Helix Operations Management 7%, Moogsoft 7%

n = 76

The most common reason for adopting AIOps is to increase automation (72%), but for many leaders this choice was also driven by having too much data for traditional IT operations management (ITOM) practices (50%) and a need to introduce/improve alerts (47%).

What were your reasons for adopting AIOps?

What were your reasons for adopting AIOps?

n = 206

As part of wider digital transformation efforts 27%, Introduce scalable solution 27%, Improve engineer morale (less time dealing with mundane tasks) 21%, Too much downtime 19%, Inability to remediate errors/find root cause 13%, Engineering change request 7%, None of these 1%, Other 0%

As with any new technology, the solution has to be contextualized for your environment.

C-suite, finance industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

This is like any other tool that can provide automation, it takes in-depth knowledge of the environment and continued tuning as the environment ebbs and flows. Overall, if a mature tool is implemented and tune[d] properly, there should be solid ROI over time.

Director, manufacturing industry, <1,000 employees

Many leaders look to AIOps for automated alerts, yet challenges such as alert fatigue and false positives are common

51% of leaders are looking to gain centralized visibility into IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) inputs by adopting AIOps. Respondents also identified automated alerts (48%), increased issue discovery (40%) and increased innovation (40%) as key benefits.

What are the top benefits of AIOps adoption?

What are the top benefits of AIOps adoption?

n = 300

Reduced operating costs (fewer costly incidents) 35%, Improved cybersecurity (detect malware/malicious behavior patterns) 29%, Improved problem management (identify repeating, root causes) 21%, Actionable insights 18%, Scalability 15%, None of these 2%, Other 0%

The most reported challenges to adopting AIOps are false positives (49%), data management (44%) and alert fatigue (39%). Nearly a third of respondents also highlighted misleading vendor marketing (31%) and integration difficulties (31%) as hurdles.

What are the top challenges to AIOps adoption?

What are the top challenges to AIOps adoption?

Hard to define ROI 24%, Hiring the right skill sets 23%, Ongoing management/maintenance 21%, Training/upskilling requirements 20%, Gaining cross-team collaboration 18%, Upfront costs 14%, Executive buy-in (willingness to invest) 11%, Employee buy-in (willingness to accept cultural/collaborative changes) 8%, None of these 1%, Other 0%

n = 300

We're starting to see real benefits, however it'll take some time to mature properly. The positives far outweigh the challenges.

C-suite, finance industry, <1,000 employees

With many monitoring tools, the proof is in the pudding. Once it's been running for a year, the proof or failure will be clear. In 35 years, monitoring has been difficult to tune. I don't see this significantly improving tuning but [it] may help with low value alerts.

Director, finance industry, 10,000+ employees

While the vast majority of leaders are skeptical of vendors offering AIOps, many see it as a fully defined solution

Do you feel skeptical of vendors offering AIOps tools and/or solutions?

Do you feel skeptical of vendors offering AIOps tools and/or solutions?

87% of respondents feel skeptical of vendors that offer AIOps at least sometimes, with 15% indicating they’re always skeptical of such vendors.

n = 300

Nearly half (47%) agree that AIOps is a fully defined solution, yet one-fifth (20%) of surveyed leaders disagree on this point.

To what extent do you agree with the following: “AIOps is a fully defined solution that any IT I&O team can implement.”

To what extent do you agree with the following: “AIOps is a fully defined solution that any IT I&O team can implement.”

n = 300

AIOps is mostly a marketing buzz-term. Few vendors are truly delivering what they advertise.

Director, software industry, <1,000 employees

I think AIOps is still in [the] early stages of effective use case development and will require a cycle or two to mature.

C-suite, software industry, <1,000 employees
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Respondent Breakdown

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