Self-management is the process by which computer systems manage their own operation without human intervention.
Self-management technologies are expected to pervade the next generation of network management systems.
[citation needed] The growing complexity of modern networked computer systems is a limiting factor in their expansion.
The increasing heterogeneity of corporate computer systems, the inclusion of mobile computing devices, and the combination of different networking technologies like WLAN, cellular phone networks, and mobile ad hoc networks make the conventional, manual management difficult, time-consuming, and error-prone.
More recently, self-management has been suggested as a solution to increasing complexity in cloud computing.