In what IBM said is one of the most ambitious undertakings in the company's history, Project eLiza will also give computer system administrators the ability to manage systems that are hundreds of times more complex than those that exist today. If IBM succeeds, the end result will be huge global computing networks that will be as easy to manage as kitchen appliances, some experts said. Despite the slowdown in the technology market, the company is convinced that networks will continue to grow and will soon be too huge and complex for anyone to properly maintain using current computing technologies. Evan Whiting, a technology consultant for the government of New York State, agreed that self-managing systems will soon be a necessity. Hacker attacks are on the rise, and we can either turn over the systems to them and abandon the idea of electronic shopping, government and services, or we can look for a better way to secure systems.
Automation is the way to go.
That said, the IT industry hasn't yet focused on it and very few skills are out there. Many of the experts are long-time IBMers, so the company has a head start here. Whiting also said that self-maintaining systems would lower the cost of systems management in the long run, and not by eliminating jobs. You'll still need that human touch to set up, maintain, and really work with any computer system. The job description may change, but the jobs will still be there.