Remote systems management for IT organizations has come into its own in recent years. Further, providing solutions that cross multiple functional products for IT Asset discovery and inventory, OS deployment, patch management, and system upgrades of remote systems has also gained acceptance and adoption. This type of aggregated solution is increasingly referred to as "IT automation." Organizations see IT automation as a way to shift manual processes for provisioning and updated user systems to an automated solution so key IT personnel may devote more attention to aligning IT with business objectives, integrating IT into business processes, and developing core competencies and competitive advantage for the business.

This Executive Brief examines the need for and use of IT automation solutions, both in-house and via a managed services provider.