6.2Backup operation, automation, and operating procedures

The quality of operations grows more stable the more you reduce "the number of times a human operates by hand." A service manager must judge how to automate high-frequency routine work to cut human error and effort, standardize work needing judgment or exception handling with a runbook, and design error-prevention measures such as double-checking for the dangerous operations humans still perform. In addition, work that changes the production configuration must be linked with change management and paired with a rollback procedure so it can be reverted on failure.

6.2.1Operational automation and the runbook

• Operational automation hands routine, repetitive work—backups, log collection, job launching, health checks—to scripts or tools. It eliminates human error, cuts effort, and makes execution times precise, but forcing automation onto work that involves judgment or exception handling can misbehave on unexpected input and become dangerous. Automation suits "routine work with fixed inputs and steps"; exceptions needing judgment are, in principle, handled by people.
• Runbook (operating procedure) is a document that spells out the steps, preconditions, checks, and abnormal-case handling so that any operator produces the same result. It prevents dependence on individuals and underpins quality even during handovers or overnight first response. A good runbook includes not only the "normal procedure" but the rollback and escalation contacts for abnormal cases. Because a stale procedure causes accidents, it is premised on being updated (maintained) every time the configuration changes.