Efficient processes are supported heavily by automation, as this ensures minimal human involvement and consistent, repeatable end results. Standardization also supports this, as it means that much of the decision-making process has already been completed, and so all people involved know exactly what they are doing and how it should be done.

In short, stick to these principles outlined in this book and your build processes will, by their very nature, be efficient. Some degree of manual intervention is inevitable, even if it involves choosing a unique hostname (though this can be automated) or perhaps the process of a user requesting a Linux server in the first place. However, from here, you want to automate and standardize wherever possible. We will follow this mantra throughout this book. For now, though, we will take a look at the importance of consistency in our build processes.