Automation means many different things, in the context of business it usually involves streamlining processes in order to reduce costs. Applied across the whole organization it means restructuring resources and integrating the applications used across the enterprise to save time and money.

Business process automation (BPA) automation is aimed at those tasks that involve a series of processes which follow a predictable pattern with a series of repeated operations. As research specialist Gartner puts it, "It focuses on 'run the business' as opposed to 'count the business' types of automation efforts and often deals with event-driven, mission-critical, core processes. BPA usually supports an enterprise’s knowledge workers in satisfying the needs of its many constituencies".

When businesses think of automation, they probably conjure up images of simplicity, efficiency, lower costs and increased productivity. Of course, this is something of an oversimplification and there are certainly challenges to adopting workplace automation.

However, it is not hard to see why more and more industries are automating their business processes. Whether it’s via robots or software, automation can eliminate the repetitive, manual tasks that, while essential, are a huge drain on employee time. Automation lets members of staff direct their energies into more productive areas, such as coming up with innovative new ideas.

Automated software delivery specialist Puppet is launching a new Docker Image Build tool, which automates the container build process to help organizations as they define, build, and deploy containers into production environments.

It adds to existing Puppet functionality for installing and managing container infrastructure, providing a standard, consistent way to install Docker operating environments as well as building and deploying containers.

The Henn-na hotel opened its doors to the public last year, and is yet to pay its receptionist staff a single penny in salary. How have they gotten away with this? Well, as it turns out, velociraptors dressed in bow ties and bellhop hats will work for you for free. More accurately, though, it’s because 90 percent of the hotel staff are robots.

As automation technology continues to proliferate almost all areas of work, concerns have begun to surface over the security of human jobs. The Henn-na hotel is a prime example of this -- rooms cost just £36 per night, making it a low-cost automated alternative that could take away hundreds of jobs if the idea spreads.

About a year ago, Wink released its first home automation hub and it came out of the box with a great deal of compatibility, working with a good many of the products already on the market, along with Amazon Echo for voice control of the home.

Since then the list of supported products has grown and Wink has added many new ones, but it seemed increasingly clear that the hub could eventually get overwhelmed. So now the company is introducing a new model known simply as Wink Hub 2.

Whether it says more about their work lives or home lives is unclear, but it seems that more than 1 in 3 working Americans would prefer having a better way to automate all their routine work tasks, such as booking meetings, than have a better sex life. What's also interesting is that 44 percent of those were women and 30 percent were men.

This is among the findings of a survey by automation specialist Built.io carried out in conjunction with Wakefield Research. It also finds that Americans are willing to give up some personal information in exchange for a more automated life.

Business IT is undergoing a major shift as many organizations get closer to adopting a fully cloud-based approach. But this means that IT departments inevitably give up some degree of control over data governance, security and overall data management.

Security automation specialist BetterCloud is launching a new automation engine called Workflows that orchestrates critical, complex processes to ensure accuracy, precision, and compliance across SaaS applications.

You have started down the road to DevOps. You have re-structured your teams and you are experimenting with DevOps tools and processes. You now understand that DevOps is a continuum that starts with planning and development and ends with deployment into operations. So where do you start your DevOps initiative?

DevOps projects tend to start in only one part of the continuum. Often, DevOps teams start with application build automation (development) or they start with automating the deployment of apps into operations. When the driver for DevOps is in the test organization, it is called Continuous Integration. However, it is also important to work to continuously expand automation across the continuum because for DevOps to pay off, there needs to be continuous automation from development all the way through to operations.

With the ever increasing complexity and volume of cyber attacks, companies are increasingly turning to automated solutions and artificial intelligence in the quest for more effective protection.

But how effective is an automated approach and will it become the norm in future? We spoke to Eran Barak, CEO of incident response specialist Hexadite to find out.

Digital transformation strategies are often held back by complex IT systems that have been built over the years and represent significant investment. This may lead to departments seeking their own solutions, placing yet more pressure on back office systems.

Business automation specialist Automic is launching new capabilities to its DevOps release automation product, Automic Release Automation, to allow companies to deliver greater agility, scalability, and speed in order to drive competitive advantage.

We have previously written about setting up lights with the Wink home automation hub – there are a number of bulbs that work including GE Link and Cree. We have also provided a tutorial for installing the Nest thermostat.

Now we're looking at linking the two together. Wink can be paired with Amazon Echo, which means you can control your heating and cooling by voice. For now, let's just worry about the first part and we'll get to Alexa later.

You shouldn’t fear immigrants taking your job, you should fear robots. A new study by jobs search engine Adzuna suggests that more than 100,000 of current job vacancies will be fully automated within the next 20 years.

The results are based on the study of Oxford University researchers, looking at which jobs would basically be given to robots before 2035.

Water damage is a big deal, in fact, it's one of the most reported claims for home insurance, behind only fire and lightning, and wind and hail. Now with home automation products increasingly gaining market share and mainstream acceptability, that problem can be reigned in to a certain extent. No, it won't prevent extremes like Hurricane Katrina, but if a pipe springs a leak then you can get a jump on it.

Wink, makers of a home automation hub that is compatible with many third-party devices, is getting its first water sensors thanks to leakSMART, one of the more prominent manufacturers in the business.

Of the countless product  announcements that filled the Consumer Electronics Show it was easy to miss many things. One announcement came from Vivint, which produces home security and automation products. The company unveiled that it planned to work with Amazon Echo to allow customers to control its products by voice.

It hasn't taken long as the integration becomes available now. Products include smart door locks, an automated thermostat, cameras, smoke detectors, a tocuhscreen control panel and a doorbell camera. You'll need to get an estimate on installation, but that part is free when they put the system in. It also has 24/7 monitoring, just as any alarm system should have.

Home automation gets touted by some as the future, but it's really the now. A seemingly endless list of products are on the market and they allow the user to lock doors, turn lights on and off, open and close shades, there's even a crockpot that can be turned on and off from anywhere.

For a while now I have been controlling some lights with Amazon Echo. It's mostly good, but every once in a while the hub between Alexa and the bulbs needs to be reset. I've also been using the Mivatek Smart Plug to control another light. Therein lies the problem -- a lack of these things working together. Most are trying to, but the integration isn't there yet.