Driven by the growth and the adoption of run book automation (RBA) and similar IT operations tools, IT operations process automation promises to mitigate IT operations risk, reduce costs, reduce complexity and increase operational efficiency. IT operations automation is not an add-on to existing tools, and it shouldn't be seen as just another IT management tool. It is a new IT operations management paradigm requiring new skills, organizational design, investment and support, which will result in unrealized value, additional costs and complexity. This research provides best practices to ensure that automation value is achieved.