A distributed computing system comprising: a plurality of application nodes that provide execution environments in which an image of a software application is executable; a control node to provide autonomic control over the plurality of application nodes; and a communications network to facilitate communication among the application nodes and the control node, wherein the control node comprises: an automation subsystem to control execution of instances of the software application to the application nodes; a set of application image objects associated with images of software applications, wherein each of the application image objects implements a set of methods to control deployment of an image of a software application, and wherein an application programming interface common to each of the application image objects defines the set of methods; and an application governor to deploy an image of a software application to the application node by invoking one or more of the methods of one of the application image objects associated with the image of the software application, and wherein the application governor deploys the image of the software application in response to instructions from the automation subsystem. a plurality of application nodes that provide execution environments in which an image of a software application is executable; a control node to provide autonomic control over the plurality of application nodes; and a communications network to facilitate communication among the application nodes and the control node, wherein the control node comprises: an automation subsystem to control execution of instances of the software application to the application nodes; a set of application image objects associated with images of software applications, wherein each of the application image objects implements a set of methods to control deployment of an image of a software application, and wherein an application programming interface common to each of the application image objects defines the set of methods; and an application governor to deploy an image of a software application to the application node by invoking one or more of the methods of one of the application image objects associated with the image of the software application, and wherein the application governor deploys the image of the software application in response to instructions from the automation subsystem. an automation subsystem to control execution of instances of the software application to the application nodes; a set of application image objects associated with images of software applications, wherein each of the application image objects implements a set of methods to control deployment of an image of a software application, and wherein an application programming interface common to each of the application image objects defines the set of methods; and an application governor to deploy an image of a software application to the application node by invoking one or more of the methods of one of the application image objects associated with the image of the software application, and wherein the application governor deploys the image of the software application in response to instructions from the automation subsystem.