You're not imagining it: IT is getting more complex. Things are moving faster, infrastructure is diversifying, and the list of critical business functions is growing. Yet most IT professionals would never guess that the answer to these challenges lies in software with roots that extend all the way back to the days of batch processing.

 "Today's cross-platform workload automation solutions have taken job scheduling to places no one would have dreamed of even five years ago," says Jim Manias, vice president of Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc. "These solutions far outstrip the siloed scheduling tools typically packaged with mission-critical applications and database management systems."

Modern workload automation is able to address both the demands and the opportunities presented by real-time data processing and distributed, virtual computing. It can also make life easier for IT staff in a world where employees are everywhere and computing assets are increasingly mobile. In this slideshow, Kaitlin Olcott, Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc., has outlined 10 unexpected ways automation can make any IT organization more agile — and less stressed.