Optimizing IT with Riverbed IQ: Automation for Faster Remediation

As IT environments grow increasingly complex, the need for advanced automation capabilities has never been more critical. Riverbed IQ is stepping up to meet this demand with a powerful set of automation enhancements designed to streamline operations, minimize manual intervention, and boost overall performance. These features enable organizations to automate crucial tasks such as root cause analysis and remediation, freeing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth and innovation. 

With the introduction of on-demand and scheduled automation workflows that supplement triggered automations, plus subflow versioning, global scoped variables, and automated data imports, Riverbed IQ provides IT teams with the agility and precision needed to tackle both expected and unexpected issues. These enhancements offer flexibility, scalability, and reliability, ensuring smoother, more efficient operations. In this blog, we’ll dive into how these features are transforming IT infrastructure management and making automation more accessible and impactful than ever. 

On-demand automations 

The new on-demand automations functionality brings dynamic, user-driven automation to IT operations, allowing teams to instantly execute predefined troubleshooting and diagnostic processes. Designed to automate complex and repetitive tasks, these automations enable real-time data collection, analysis, and remediation without the need for manual intervention. Unlike scheduled automations, on-demand automations can be triggered at will, offering unparalleled flexibility to address specific issues as they arise. This capability dramatically enhances operational agility and helps teams swiftly resolve performance bottlenecks, outages, or anomalies, ultimately reducing downtime and improving overall efficiency. 

Scheduled automations 

In addition to on-demand capabilities, Riverbed IQ now supports the scheduling of automations for unattended execution. Scheduled automations allow IT teams to plan routine tasks—such as network performance monitoring, application latency checks, and issue remediation—at specified times or on a recurring basis. By proactively managing these tasks, organizations can catch potential issues early, improve performance, and reduce the burden on IT staff. The new Automation Scheduling page simplifies the process, enabling teams to configure and manage their scheduled workflows with ease, ensuring continuous oversight of critical infrastructure. 

Subflow versioning 

Subflows, modular components within automation workflows, provide a flexible and scalable solution for automating IT processes. These reusable sections of a larger workflow allow for the efficient execution of common tasks, such as gathering data or running diagnostics, without the need for re-creation. With the introduction of versioning, Riverbed IQ takes subflows to the next level by enabling teams to track, manage, and roll back changes to automation components over time. This added layer of control makes subflows more reliable and adaptable, ensuring smoother, safer automation across workflows. 

Test automations with automated data import

Riverbed IQ’s test automation with automated data import feature makes it easier to validate automation workflows before deploying them in live environments. By pre-loading relevant data, metrics, or logs into a test environment, IT teams can ensure that automations perform as expected in real-world scenarios. This reduces the risk of errors, streamlines the development process, and ensures workflows are perfected before being applied to critical systems. With this feature, Riverbed IQ enables IT teams to fine-tune their automations with greater confidence and accuracy. 

Global Scoped Variables  

Global Scoped Variables streamline and standardize automation workflows across different environments by offering a centralized way to manage commonly referenced values like IP addresses, thresholds, and authentication credentials. These globally defined variables can be used across multiple automations, ending the need for redefinition in each workflow. This not only improves efficiency by allowing updates in one place to propagate across all workflows but also reduces errors and ensures consistent automation logic. Whether handling performance monitoring, network diagnostics, or troubleshooting, Global Scoped Variables enhance reliability and adaptability in IT operations. 

Drive efficiency and agility with Riverbed IQ automations

With these exciting automation enhancements, Riverbed IQ is revolutionizing how IT teams manage their IT environment. The flexibility of on-demand automations, combined with the precision of scheduled workflows, subflow versioning, global scoped variables, and automated data imports, empowers organizations to take their automation capabilities to the next level. By reducing manual intervention and improving operational agility, Riverbed IQ enables teams to focus on higher-level strategies that drive innovation and growth. 

Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll explore the highly anticipated Integration Library and added usability improvements that make Riverbed IQ even more powerful and user-friendly. The journey to smarter IT automation continues!