Automating the deployment and configuration management of application delivery and security devices has become a near-mandatory practice. In the 2017 IDG FutureScape report, automation and multi-cloud management ranked as some of the key initiatives that will impact businesses by 2021.1 Automation brings scale, reliability, and integration to the deployment of the essential security, optimization, and availability services that applications need—and makes their delivery part of the orchestrated build, test, and deploy workflows that are emerging as the dominant model of application deployment.

In this paper, we will provide an overview of ways you can automate the deployment, management, and configuration of F5 BIG-IP appliances (both physical and virtual) along with some advice about how to choose the path that’s right for your business.