Pantheon launches new website automation solution

Pantheon has launched a new solution Autopilot to bring new levels of automation to website management.

Autopilot has been designed to keep sites up-to-date by automatically detecting, performing, testing, and deploying updates for WordPress and Drupal CMS solutions in a single, fast workspace environment.

According to the company, it allows organisations to better visualise and manage sites, users, traffic, and metrics, to keep website management smooth, scalable, and built to craft digital experiences.

The Pantheon WebOps Platform utilises open source CMS to deliver on digital experiences and introduces collaborative agile workflows to enable digital marketing teams to rapidly build, test, and deploy unique web experiences.

According to the company, Pantheon's customers will access enhanced value by keeping backend systems up-to-date.

Autopilot will automatically detect when new updates across a large portfolio of sites are available and perform the updates in an isolated multidev environment, testing the updates with automated visual regression testing (VRT) and optionally deploying the updates.

Since each site has its own unique critical dependencies, Autopilot will maintain these all while keeping a site secure and performing efficiently.

Pantheon cofounder and chief strategy officer Josh Koenig says, "Site upkeep can be tedious. Autopilot streamlines routine maintenance by detecting any defects before they go live via automated quality assurance.

"This enables the efficient release of trouble-free updates at scale, freeing up developers and marketers to focus on creativity and innovation, and delivering the great digital experiences that ultimately move the needle.

"This feature is the first of its kind on the market and further supports our mission to make the web a best-in-class platform that drives results.

Enterprises will increasingly adopt automated IT operations practices to support the greater scale required for digitally-driven enterprises, according to the IDC IT outlook for 2021.

In its report, IDC predicts that by 2023, 75% of Global 2000 IT organisations will adopt automated operations practices to transform their IT workforce to support unprecedented scale.

With the release of Autopilot, Pantheon states it is staying ahead of the curve when it comes to automation technology, including with roadmap features of AI and machine learning.

IDC research director digital experience strategies Marci Maddox says, "Smart automation tools will play an important role in helping organisations fortify their competitiveness and cultivate exemplary digital experiences for their customers.

"With the introduction of Autopilot on Pantheon, organisations can boost productivity by automating routine updates across large portfolios of sites, supporting online collaboration across hybrid working environments and reducing time for developers and digital experience managers.