<s>
In	O
a	O
computer	O
system	O
or	O
network	B-Architecture
,	O
a	O
runbook	B-Application
is	O
a	O
compilation	O
of	O
routine	O
procedures	O
and	O
operations	O
that	O
the	O
system	B-Application
administrator	I-Application
or	O
operator	O
carries	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	B-Application
administrators	I-Application
in	O
IT	B-General_Concept
departments	O
and	O
NOCs	O
use	O
runbooks	B-Application
as	O
a	O
reference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Runbooks	B-Application
can	O
be	O
in	O
either	O
electronic	O
or	O
in	O
physical	O
book	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
a	O
runbook	B-Application
contains	O
procedures	O
to	O
begin	O
,	O
stop	O
,	O
supervise	O
,	O
and	O
debug	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	B-General_Concept
may	O
also	O
describe	O
procedures	O
for	O
handling	O
special	O
requests	O
and	O
contingencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
effective	O
runbook	B-Application
allows	O
other	O
operators	O
,	O
with	O
prerequisite	O
expertise	O
,	O
to	O
effectively	O
manage	O
and	O
troubleshoot	O
a	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
runbook	B-Application
automation	B-Application
,	O
these	O
processes	O
can	O
be	O
carried	O
out	O
using	O
software	O
tools	O
in	O
a	O
predetermined	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
automating	O
IT	B-General_Concept
specific	O
processes	O
,	O
the	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
runbook	B-Application
can	O
be	O
presented	O
on-screen	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
or	O
Service	O
Desk	O
engineer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multiple	O
runbooks	B-Application
can	O
be	O
linked	O
together	O
using	O
a	O
Decision	B-Algorithm
Tree	I-Algorithm
to	O
provide	O
users	O
with	O
interactive	O
troubleshooting	O
and	O
guided	O
procedures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Operational	O
runbooks	B-Application
may	O
be	O
tied	O
to	O
ITIL	O
incidents	O
to	O
allow	O
repeatable	O
processes	O
supporting	O
specific	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
service	B-Application
catalog	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
runbook	B-Application
is	O
typically	O
divided	O
into	O
routine	O
automated	O
processes	O
and	O
routine	O
manual	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
runbook	B-Application
catalog	O
begins	O
with	O
an	O
index	O
of	O
processes	O
covered	O
and	O
may	O
be	O
broken	O
down	O
in	O
outline	O
form	O
to	O
align	O
the	O
processes	O
to	O
the	O
major	O
elements	O
they	O
support	O
in	O
the	O
service	B-Application
catalog	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
runbook	B-Application
is	O
a	O
compilation	O
of	O
routine	O
procedures	O
and	O
operations	O
that	O
the	O
system	B-Application
administrator	I-Application
or	O
operator	O
carries	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
called	O
a	O
runbook	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sometimes	O
written	O
as	O
"	O
run	B-Application
book	I-Application
,	O
"	O
it	B-General_Concept
may	O
supplement	O
bullet-pointed	O
steps	O
with	O
error	O
messages	O
(	O
and	O
what	O
to	O
do	O
)	O
and	O
flowcharts	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Runbook	B-Application
automation	B-Application
(	O
RBA	O
)	O
is	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
define	O
,	O
build	O
,	O
orchestrate	O
,	O
manage	O
,	O
and	O
report	O
on	O
workflows	B-Operating_System
that	O
support	O
system	O
and	O
network	B-Architecture
operational	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Areas	O
of	O
a	O
business	O
ideal	O
for	O
IT	B-General_Concept
automation	B-Application
are	O
Operations	O
Teams	O
,	O
Service	O
Desk	O
,	O
Network	B-Architecture
Operations	O
Center	O
's	O
(	O
NOC	O
's	O
)	O
,	O
Cloud	O
Operations	O
,	O
Integrations	O
,	O
and	O
Automation	B-Application
Center	O
of	O
Excellence	O
(	O
CoE	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
runbook	B-Application
workflow	B-Operating_System
can	O
potentially	O
interact	O
with	O
all	O
types	O
of	O
infrastructure	O
elements	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
applications	B-Application
,	O
databases	O
,	O
and	O
hardware	O
-	O
using	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
communication	O
methods	O
such	O
as	O
command-line	O
interfaces	O
(	O
CLI	O
)	O
,	O
HTTP	O
REST	O
and	O
SOAP	B-Application
API	O
's	O
,	O
SSH	B-Protocol
sessions	O
,	O
scripts	O
,	O
utilities	O
,	O
and	O
code	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Gartner	O
,	O
the	O
growth	O
of	O
RBA	O
has	O
coincided	O
with	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
IT	B-General_Concept
operations	O
executives	O
to	O
enhance	O
IT	B-General_Concept
operations	O
efficiency	O
measures	O
—	O
including	O
reducing	O
mean	O
time	O
to	O
repair	O
(	O
MTTR	O
)	O
,	O
increasing	O
mean	O
time	O
between	O
failures	O
(	O
MTBF	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
automating	O
the	O
provisioning	O
of	O
IT	B-General_Concept
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
it	B-General_Concept
is	O
necessary	O
to	O
have	O
the	O
mechanisms	O
to	O
implement	O
best	O
practices	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
implement	O
and	O
manage	O
IT	B-General_Concept
operations	O
processes	O
in	O
line	O
with	O
the	O
ITIL	O
)	O
,	O
increase	O
the	O
effectiveness	O
of	O
IT	B-General_Concept
personnel	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
automate	O
repetitive	O
tasks	O
associated	O
with	O
IT	B-General_Concept
operations	O
processes	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
have	O
the	O
tools	O
to	O
report	O
on	O
how	O
well	O
the	O
processes	O
are	O
executed	O
in	O
line	O
with	O
established	O
policies	O
and	O
service	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Patents	O
have	O
been	O
granted	O
for	O
various	O
aspects	O
of	O
producing	O
,	O
improving	O
,	O
and	O
using	O
runbooks	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
tools	O
can	O
incorporate	O
a	O
front-end	O
or	O
presentation	O
layer	O
(	O
to	O
the	O
runbook	B-Application
)	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
automated	O
tasks	O
are	O
presented	O
on-screen	O
,	O
sometimes	O
even	O
with	O
red/amber/green	O
traffic	O
lights	O
to	O
visualise	O
if	O
a	O
specific	O
task	O
completed	O
successfully	O
,	O
or	O
failed	O
to	O
execute	O
correctly	O
.	O
</s>
