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Automation Coverage Calculator

Calculate the percentage of infrastructure tasks covered by Ansible automation.

About Automation Coverage Calculator

Automation coverage = automated_task_types / total_operational_task_types × 100. This measures breadth of automation across distinct recurring workflows (not run frequency) — a task type counts as 'automated' if a maintained playbook/role exists for it, regardless of how often it runs. Tracking this over time highlights where manual toil is concentrated and whether an automation investment program is making measurable progress.

Formula

coverage_percent = (automated_tasks / total_operational_tasks) × 100

automated_tasks
Tasks managed by automation (Ansible, scripts, etc.)
total_operational_tasks
Total operational tasks including manual ones

Worked example

With the default values below, Automation Coverage Calculator returns Automation Coverage of 70.0%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Total Operational Task Typesaccepts 1–100,000 task types
60 task types
Automated Task Typesaccepts 0–100,000 task types
42 task types

Results

Automation Coverage
70.0%
Automation Maturity
Mature — most workflows automated
Manual Task Types Remaining
18 task types

Step by step

  1. 1Manual task types remaining= 18 task types
  2. 2Coverage: automated / total × 100= 70.0%
  3. 3Maturity level= Mature — most workflows automated

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I count how often a task runs, or just whether it's automated?

This calculator counts distinct task types, treating each as binary (automated or not) regardless of frequency — a rarely-run but automated disaster-recovery task counts the same as a frequently-run automated deployment. Weighting by frequency or risk is a reasonable variation if manual toil hours matter more than breadth.

What counts as 'automated' if the playbook still needs manual approval?

Most teams still count a task as automated if a human clicks 'run' or approves a pipeline stage — the distinction that matters here is whether the actual execution steps are codified versus done by hand via SSH/console.

What's a good coverage target?

There's no universal number, but teams operating at scale typically aim for 80%+ coverage of routine operational tasks, while accepting that some rare, high-risk, or highly variable tasks may remain intentionally manual.

How do I find my total operational task count?

Audit runbooks, on-call tickets, and change requests over a recent period (e.g. a quarter) to enumerate distinct recurring task types, then cross-reference against your Ansible role/playbook inventory to count how many are covered.

Related Calculators

Automation Coverage Calculator | Calcrivo