Understanding Automation Types in Cloud Operations

When implementing automations for cloud resource management, particularly in FinOps initiatives, it's essential to understand the different types of automations available. At Wiv, we've identified three distinct automation approaches, each with specific use cases, benefits, and considerations.

Binary Automations: Definitive Action

Binary automations represent a direct approach that transitions between two distinct states (e.g., on/off, exist/terminate). These automations provide clear-cut actions without intermediate states.

Example: For a stopped instance remediation flow, a binary automation would completely terminate the instance and its attached volumes.

Key Characteristics:

• Easiest to implement technically
• Delivers maximum cost impact by eliminating waste entirely
• Provides immediate and definitive results
• Important Consideration: Changes are irreversible

Recommended Use Cases: Binary automations are ideal when your organization has established clear, universally applicable waste policies such as:

• Automatic deletion of snapshots older than 60 days
• Termination of instances that have been stopped for more than 30 days
• Immediate reclamation of unused elastic IP addresses

Soft Automations: Reversible Action

Soft automations provide the benefit of waste reduction while maintaining the ability to revert changes if needed. This approach creates safety mechanisms before implementing cost-saving measures.

Example: Instead of directly terminating an EC2 instance and its volumes, a soft automation would first create an AMI from the instance and snapshots from attached disks before proceeding with termination.

Key Characteristics:

• Relatively straightforward to implement
• Reduces significant costs
• Maintains recovery options
• Important Consideration: May create secondary resources that require future management

Recommended Use Cases: Soft automations are best employed when:

• Resource ownership or business purpose is unclear
• There's uncertainty about whether a resource might be needed in the future
• You need to balance immediate cost savings with potential future requirements

Human-in-the-Loop Automations: Supervised Action

This approach combines automation efficiency with human oversight by incorporating approval workflows into the remediation process.

Example: The system identifies and prepares cost-saving actions (either binary or soft), but requires stakeholder review and approval before implementation.

Key Characteristics:

• Combines technical automation with business governance
• Builds stakeholder confidence in the optimization process
• Aligns technical operations with business requirements
• Brings all stakeholders together for comprehensive optimization

Recommended Use Cases: Human-in-the-loop automations are ideal when:

• Changes may impact business-critical resources
• Multiple stakeholders need visibility into cost-saving measures
• You're establishing new optimization processes that require initial oversight
• Organizational policies require approval for certain types of resource changes

Implementation at Wiv: While human-in-the-loop processes can be complex to implement in many platforms, Wiv simplifies this through our built-in "Approve" step functionality, making it straightforward to incorporate human oversight into any automation workflow.

Selecting the Right Automation Approach

The choice between automation types should be guided by:

1. Business impact: How critical is the resource to operations?
2. Governance requirements: What level of oversight is mandated by policy?
3. Confidence level: How certain are you about the waste status of the resource?
4. Recovery needs: Would you need to restore the resource in the future?

By thoughtfully selecting the appropriate automation type for each scenario, organizations can optimize cloud costs while maintaining operational stability and business alignment.