That is precisely what I mentioned in my first post. Activating the customer and getting them to value is the biggest challenge these frameworks have. It is hard to buy into a framework from get go.

So part of the problem from a sysadmin/developer perspective here is that these automation solutions are too difficult/time consuming to setup on the side and prove their value to management. They basically can’t start as a one or two person on the side initiative and then grow the way other technologies like introducing version control and CI can.

They absolutely can. Find a spare host or create a VM. Write a shell script to run docker, or much better, use "docker compose" to create the setup. Have it run on the quiet for a while and get familiar with it, a little more every day, before using it in production. It's crucial that you are confident about using it, so that when you come to sell it to anyone else, your confidence transfers to them. (Sales, in large part, is about the transfer of feeling.) Once you have got the deployment and backup/restore procedures clear in your mind, you're ready.

It's not a five-minute job; it's about demonstrating your strategic value to management by getting out of the toil loop. But, to be clear, if you feel you don't have the backing of anyone about such things, you do have my sympathy. The best way out of the mire I have found is to work on a workflow (create/destroy, backup/restore, ldap integration) a little a day, until it's there, and then suddenly, your weeks of work will be an overnight success.

Good luck!

The competition is cron and a folder of scrips which provides a productive result from day one.

I am not in an ops role at the moment, but in the past nothing has been able to beat cron. And the main reason is the time required to get automation tools up and running.

You missed the point of my reply, and simply repeated your position.