Start Small: How to Begin Your Infrastructure Automation Journey
Getting started with infrastructure automation can feel overwhelming. It’s like staring at a dense forest, trying to find just one tree.
The truth is, you don’t have to automate everything at once. The best way to start is to start small. Pick one repeatable task—just one. Maybe it’s installing a package, configuring a device, or creating a user account. Automate that. Then, do another.
Over time, those trees turn into a path.
That path becomes a strategy.
That strategy becomes scale.
Hopefully, that metaphor hasn’t completely fallen apart, but you get the point.
Now, let’s talk about tools.
Early in my infrastructure automation career, I didn’t do much searching to see what tools existed. I was equipped with Python, a handful of simple architecture patterns I could understand then, and a can-do attitude. I built my own system to configure the network infrastructure remotely with SSH. I didn’t realize I was recreating a worse version of something that existed and was open-source. In my defense, Ansible had just come out and wasn’t owned by Red Hat or well-known back then, but it did exist.
I learned that if you take the time to look, the right tool might exist and save you weeks or months of effort. However, what I gained from building that application was invaluable, so don’t hold back—creating your version is one of the best ways to truly understand how it all works.
If you’re new to this, follow these three tips:
Start small.
Don’t be afraid to reinvent the wheel. However, learn what’s already been built to save yourself time.
Pick tools that grow with you, not ones that box you in. You may not like a tool initially, so avoid paying upfront until you are confident.
Every automation expert you see today?
They all started with one small script that grew into a library of automation.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone’s automation journey has some hiccups at times. The last thing is maintaining multiple environments. Multiple environments make things more complicated to manage, but the extra cost and work help you catch those mistakes before they affect the business. Multiple environments necessitate automation to keep it all under control. Start with an automation-first mentality, and you’ll easily be able to automate your deployments to leverage numerous environments, whether in the cloud or on-prem.
Using multiple environments from the start is difficult, as many companies do not want to invest in the extra resources. Still, it’s best to consider how you can recreate a scaled-down version of your environment in the future once you’ve proved your automation worth. Always try to test in an environment other than production.
If you’re ready to start but not sure where to begin, we can help.
At Infrastructure System, we specialize in helping teams take that first step—choosing the right tools, building repeatable systems, and scaling confidently.
Reach out. Let’s find your first tree together.
