ITSM BASED CHANGE MANAGEMENT AUTOMATION IN CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS: A CROSS SECTOR EMPIRICAL STUDY

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive cross sector empirical review of IT Service Management (ITSM) based change management automation in cloud environments. Traditional ITSM frameworks such as ITIL and COBIT, originally designed for static, on premises infrastructures, face increasing challenges due to the dynamic and fast  paced nature of cloud computing. Integrating automation, infrastructure as code, and policy as code mechanisms has become essential to align change governance with modern operational demands. Drawing on 122 peer reviewed studies across finance, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing sectors, this research investigates how organizations adapt ITSM practices using DevOps pipelines, continuous integration and continuous deployment workflows, and automated policy enforcement tools. Findings reveal significant reductions in change lead time by up to seventy percent, rollback incidents by forty percent, and audit preparation efforts by sixty percent when automation is effectively implemented. Sectoral differences are evident: finance prioritizes compliance with SOX and PCI mandates; healthcare emphasizes traceability requirements under HIPAA and GDPR; retail focuses on rapid deployment and rollback capabilities; and manufacturing concentrates on safe, hybrid automation strategies involving digital twins and Internet of Things integration. The study highlights how orchestration tools such as Jenkins and GitHub Actions, ITSM platforms like ServiceNow and Jira Service Management, and cloud  native technologies including Terraform, AWS Config, and Azure Policy enable these tailored strategies. Moreover, the analysis identifies cultural and organizational readiness, including cross functional collaboration and the adoption of DevSecOps practices, as critical enablers for successful automation. The proposed unified framework integrates governance, orchestration, risk intelligence, and cultural alignment to guide scalable and compliant change automation. Ultimately, this study provides actionable insights for organizations seeking to modernize their ITSM processes in cloud environments while balancing agility with control.