Why Not Automate Tasks for IT/Networking Products?

IFTTT – IF This Then That – refers to a web service (currently free) that enables the automation of certain (repetitive) tasks for supported applications. In the IoT (Internet of Things) space, companies have built products and applications that support IFTTT, especially in the home automation segment. Some examples include,

  • Based on the weather information (for your area), change the intensity of lights; turn On A/C or heater.
  • If it rains, change the color of the lights.
  • If you are tagged by someone in Facebook or receive an email from a specific person, make the lights blink.
  • If sun sets, turn On Lights.
  • If lights are switched On, log electricity usage/switch usage to a spreadsheet.

The above and more are possible today with IoT/Connected Home products like Philips Hue and Belkin WeMo Switch along with IFTTT. There are many more applications for IFTTT like posting a Facebook message to twitter, blog and  evernote, send email attachments to Dropbox automatically, etc.

But the question is: Why haven’t our IT/Networking vendors not integrated this useful feature in their products yet? Imagine what could be possible –

  • If time is 10:00 P.M. Switch Off all the Servers, Network Switches, Access Points, etc. Switch them On again at 8:00 A.M. the Morning.
  • If Date = 1st of any month, run upgrades and routine maintenance processes automatically.
  • If no motion is detected on the surveillance camera in a block for 15 minutes, switch off the lights/air-conditioners. Switch them On once someone walks in.
  • If a maintenance/upgrade job is started, send a mail informing downtime to everyone automatically.

As you can guess, there are many tasks that can be automated provided some pre-condition is true. Don’t you think it’s high time our vendors integrate IFTTT or IFTTT-like third-party vendor neutral service with their products?

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