For decades system components and software have been evolving to deal with the increased complexity of system control, resource sharing and operational management. Autonomic computing is being viewed as an answer to the growing problem of complexity. The most phenomenal point is that it is inspired by the nature itself. This paper examines the genesis of autonomic computing, the nature’s analogy to this new technology, the fundamental characteristics of autonomic systems, the current state of work done in this direction, the glimpse of future shape of IT industry and the challenges to be addressed for this technology to come alive. Viewing the current state of IT industry, the autonomic computing seems the most promising idea.

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Autonomic computing Complexity Characteristics Current State Future