Why “automated” infrastructure might cost more than you think

The New Stack

by Justyn Roberts

February 24, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Automation sprawl, often celebrated as a way to streamline operations, can quietly erode an organization's productivity and efficiency. While the focus is frequently on reducing cloud infrastructure costs, the real expenses of automation sprawl—such as time spent troubleshooting outdated tools, coordinating across platforms, and resolving incidents—are often overlooked. For instance, a mission-critical Jenkins job that no one understands or maintains properly can lead to wasted time, frustration, and even outages. This issue is particularly pronounced in DevOps environments, where teams juggle multiple tools and pipelines, leading to inefficiencies that slow down innovation. The article highlights how automation sprawl diverts engineers from more strategic tasks. Senior engineers may spend 20% of their time just maintaining legacy systems instead of building new capabilities. This "running to stand still" phenomenon occurs when teams struggle with inconsistent environments managed by different tools, leading to confusion and delays in incident responses. For example, a security review might take months if auditors must untangle five separate permission models across platforms. To combat these challenges, successful organizations are adopting consolidation strategies. They start by creating a living inventory of their automation tools, identifying the essential patterns they need (like scheduled jobs or deployment pipelines) and migrating to platforms that support those patterns effectively. Additionally, operations-as-code approaches are gaining traction, where runbooks are treated as executable code rather than static documentation. This shift not only improves efficiency but also ensures that operational knowledge is preserved and accessible, reducing the risk of outages when key personnel leave. By addressing automation sprawl, organizations can reclaim their engineering velocity and focus on innovation. The benefits extend beyond cost savings; they include faster incident responses, clearer security reviews, and more efficient coordination across teams. For DevOps professionals, understanding these hidden costs and implementing consolidation strategies is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge in an increasingly fast-paced technological landscape.

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Originally published on The New Stack on 2/24/2026