IFTTT Rules for IT Professionals

Written by VIRTUS Data Centres Published 2014-07-15 08:00:00

IFTTT stands for “If This Then That” and has been lauded by many as the first major step towards providing seamless connectivity between devices, online platforms and offline tech solutions. IFTTT works by allowing users to create custom “recipes” to sync operations that are typically unconnected. As the popularity and public recognition of IFTTT grows, so will the number of solutions so it’s worth keeping an eye on it over the coming months. In the meantime, here are a few rules we think can help to streamline the day to day routine of an IT professional.

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IFTTT Terminology

Triggers – A trigger, as the name suggests, is what is going to cause IFTTT to activate. For example, this could be any mention of “Data Centre” on Twitter.

Actions – The “action” is what the user decides to have as the result of the trigger being activated. The action will create the overall effect of the recipe. So, the action that may be created from the trigger of “data centre” could be that you want the link saved to your pocket account.

Recipes – Personally crafted combinations of a trigger and an action that help to connect your devices and channels. If you are looking for inspiration, you can also browse and choose from a wide range of rules that have been created by other users. Trigger + Action = Recipe.

Channels – Channels are the basic building blocks of recipes. IFTTT currently have 110 channels to choose from.

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Recipe 1: Mute my Device during Meetings

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No one enjoys being disturbed during crucial meetings. This recipe will automatically turn your android phone to silent when you have a meeting recorded in your calendar.

Recipe 2: upload contacts to Google Spreadsheet

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This handy recipe automatically saves contacts in your phone onto a Google Spreadsheet meaning you never have to worry about losing your contacts if you lose your phone.

Recipe 3: Automatically Tweet from Google Alerts

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Keeping a social media presence is a poisoned chalice: it is a great way to build your reputation and contacts within the industry but it can also be exhausting and time consuming. A combination of Google Alerts and IFTTT can help you cheat the system by automatically tweeting stories that will be relevant to you and your followers.

Here is a list of Google Alerts you can use in synchrony with IFTTT to create an interesting and informative social media presence:

  • “Data Centre” & “new” – Anytime a new data centre is launched you will be one of the first to talk about it on social media.
  • Your Company blog posts – you can do this by creating an alert link to your company blog’s RSS feed
  • Brand name i.e. “VIRTUS”
  • Conference name i.e. “Cloud World Forum”