Chapter 1: What Is Automation?
Automation is something that has become so ingrained in our society that we almost take it for granted. It is in our daily activities and helps us to achieve so many of our wonderful and innovative inventions. The odd thing though is that despite automation being such a day-to-day thing, not many people can actually explain what it means or where it came from. To help get us all in the right mindset, we first wanted to go over what exactly automation and automation theory are.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Automation theory: A dive into the history of automation, the theory behind why automation is useful, and how it should be used
- Defining automation: Solidifying the meaning behind our focus in the book by defining exactly what an automation is
- Automation opportunities and pitfalls: A broad overview of the different benefits and potential risks that go along with automation
- Concepts of automation: Basic concepts related to automation and the areas they affect
- Implementation best practices: Some basic best practices related to automation when looking to implement it
- Always Be Documenting (ABD): A case for why you should be documenting each automation and solution you create
With this knowledge, we will be prepared to move forward and fully digest the automation capabilities and possibilities related to Salesforce Marketing Cloud, as discussed further in this book.