Automation Theory, LLC has been named a 2026 City Excellence Award winner by the International Association for Business Excellence, recognizing the Jefferson, Wisconsin company for its specialized work in MSP cybersecurity, infrastructure security, systems maintenance, and technical consulting.
Founded by Jeremy Oaks, an experienced MSP and RMM professional, Automation Theory was built around a straightforward objective: helping managed service providers keep their technology environments secure, stable, and performing properly.
The company specializes in MSP tools and on-premise infrastructure, with services covering cybersecurity, reverse proxy and Web Application Firewall protection, MySQL maintenance, database performance, ConnectWise Automate migrations, and specialized software plugins.
That combination of technical specialization and industry experience has helped establish Automation Theory as a notable cybersecurity and MSP infrastructure company in Jefferson, Wisconsin.
View Automation Theory’s 2026 International Association for Business Excellence recipient profile
Meet Jeremy Oaks, Founder of Automation Theory
Automation Theory’s foundation is closely connected to the professional experience of its founder, Jeremy Oaks.
Jeremy began working in the MSP industry shortly after college and eventually became an RMM administrator. During his time in the industry, he worked directly with ConnectWise Automate environments and helped scale an installation from approximately 6,000 devices to 10,000 devices.
That experience exposed him to many of the problems MSP administrators encounter as their environments grow.
Security becomes more complicated.
Databases require more attention.
Performance bottlenecks become increasingly important.
Server migrations become more difficult.
And a problem with an RMM platform can potentially affect an MSP’s ability to support its own customers.
Automation Theory was created from that experience.
Rather than becoming a broad technology consulting company, Jeremy focused the business on a narrower and highly specialized problem: helping MSPs scale, secure, maintain, and optimize the infrastructure behind their technology platforms.
Today, Automation Theory continues to build products and services around that mission.
What Is Automation Theory?
Automation Theory, LLC is an integration and consulting firm for MSP tools specializing in on-premise infrastructure.
The company focuses specifically on maintenance and security for MSP technology stacks.
Its services and products address several areas that can be critical to managed service providers, including:
- MSP cybersecurity
- Web Application Firewall protection
- Reverse proxy services
- ConnectWise Automate security
- MySQL maintenance
- MySQL performance optimization
- Database administration
- Database permissions
- Server migrations
- MSP infrastructure consulting
- Security hardening
The company’s approach is highly specialized. Instead of attempting to serve every type of technology customer, Automation Theory concentrates on the platforms and infrastructure used by MSPs.
Visit Automation Theory’s official website
2026 City Excellence Award Recognition
The International Association for Business Excellence selected Automation Theory as a 2026 City Excellence Award Winner for Jefferson, Wisconsin.
The recognition was issued following evaluation against five core standards:
Digital Presence
Customer Reputation
Operational Standing
Industry Experience
Professional Integrity
The organization emphasizes that recognition is not automatically given to every applicant.
For Automation Theory, the City Excellence designation recognizes the company within its Jefferson market while also highlighting the professional standards behind its specialized cybersecurity and MSP infrastructure work.
A Top Cybersecurity Company in Jefferson, Wisconsin
Automation Theory’s recognition comes within a highly specialized area of cybersecurity.
The company isn’t positioned simply as another general IT provider. Its focus is on protecting and maintaining the systems MSPs themselves depend upon.
That distinction matters.
An MSP may have hundreds or thousands of endpoints under management, making the security and availability of its RMM and related infrastructure particularly important.
Automation Theory’s services are designed around that environment.
Its solutions address security exposure, access controls, application hardening, database performance, patching, migrations, and ongoing infrastructure maintenance.
The 2026 City Excellence Award therefore recognizes a Jefferson company operating in a specialized cybersecurity niche with customers and applications that extend well beyond its immediate geographic market.
Reverse Proxy and WAF Security for MSP Tools
One of Automation Theory’s flagship offerings is its Reverse-Proxy-as-a-Service and Web Application Firewall solution.
The service is designed to provide MSPs with managed protection for self-hosted applications.
Automation Theory describes the solution as providing security hardening and access controls while allowing MSPs to continue accessing the applications they rely upon.
Features include zero-day exploit protection, best-practice hardening, network restrictions, vendor-based access controls, pre-application SSO, anti-enumeration technology, policy enforcement, granular access controls, and enhanced access logging.
The service supports applications including ConnectWise Automate, ConnectWise ScreenConnect, ConnectWise Manage/PSA, Hudu, Bitwarden, and N-central.
Explore Automation Theory’s Reverse Proxy and WAF solution
MySQL Expertise for ConnectWise Automate
Another major area of Automation Theory’s business is MySQL.
ConnectWise Automate environments rely heavily on their underlying database infrastructure, making database configuration, maintenance, and performance important considerations for MSP administrators.
Automation Theory provides specialized services designed to address those challenges.
Its Database Tuneup service evaluates an Automate environment, establishes a baseline, makes configuration adjustments, and evaluates the environment again to determine whether performance has improved.
The service is designed around the principle that MySQL configuration should reflect the actual hardware, users, and architecture of a particular environment rather than relying exclusively on generic settings.
Learn more about Database Tuneup
Database Tuner
Automation Theory also develops software specifically for MSP administrators.
Database Tuner dynamically adjusts MySQL settings for ConnectWise Automate based on live performance information and the environment’s maximum connections.
The company says the system can adjust buffers, caches, transaction handling, thread behavior, I/O scaling, connection handling, and query optimizer behavior.
The tuning process operates without requiring the database to be taken offline.
MySQL Maintenance Package
For MSPs that need ongoing database management, Automation Theory offers a MySQL Maintenance Package.
The monthly service includes database patching, configuration management, performance tuning, annual configuration reviews, and access to trained database administrators.
The company specifically positions the service for MSPs whose internal IT teams may not have the specialized database expertise required to continuously maintain and secure a ConnectWise Automate MySQL environment.
Explore the MySQL Maintenance Package
Database Commander and Database Permissioner
Automation Theory has also developed free plugins designed to give MSP administrators more control over their Automate databases.
Database Commander provides tools for monitoring MySQL performance and running database queries from within Automate. Features include live performance information, query editing, autocomplete, CSV export, and auditing.
Learn more about Database Commander
Database Permissioner allows partners to manage permissions for custom tables within ConnectWise Automate, with logging and auditing features designed to help organizations maintain better control over database access.
Learn more about Database Permissioner
Automate Server Migration
Automation Theory also provides ConnectWise Automate server migration services.
Moving an MSP’s business-critical management platform can be a complicated undertaking, particularly when an environment has grown significantly over time.
Automation Theory’s migration service includes building new application servers, moving the Automate environment, conducting post-migration validation, and providing optional security hardening.
The company lists the service at a flat rate of $1,500.
Explore Automate Server Migration
Why MSP Cybersecurity Has Become So Important
The systems operated by managed service providers can represent an important security boundary.
MSPs frequently have privileged access to customer environments, making the security of their own management infrastructure critical.
A compromise involving an RMM platform can potentially create consequences beyond the MSP itself.
Automation Theory has built its business around helping address this particular risk.
Its focus on MSP-specific security means the company works within an environment where application access, authentication, database security, infrastructure performance, and patch management are interconnected.
That specialization is a major part of what distinguishes Automation Theory from a general cybersecurity consultancy.
Customer Experience and Technical Support
Automation Theory’s website also features customer testimonials describing its response to difficult technical situations.
One customer describes the company’s assistance following the CrowdStrike outage, when an MSP experienced problems with its Automate server and MySQL service.
The customer reported that Automation Theory responded quickly and helped restore the server.
Another customer describes working with the company on a MySQL migration and praises its technical expertise and delivery.
These examples illustrate the type of technical problems Automation Theory is designed to solve: situations where an MSP’s core infrastructure needs experienced, specialized assistance.
The Five Standards Behind Automation Theory’s Recognition
The International Association for Business Excellence evaluates recognized organizations using five core standards.
Digital Presence
Automation Theory maintains an active professional digital presence focused on its MSP security, infrastructure, products, services, and technical resources.
Customer Reputation
Customer feedback and testimonials provide another indicator of the company’s service experience and technical support.
Operational Standing
Automation Theory operates as an active technology company based in Jefferson, Wisconsin, serving the specialized MSP market.
Industry Experience
The company’s foundation comes directly from its founder’s experience working with MSP environments and large-scale RMM infrastructure.
Professional Integrity
Security and infrastructure work requires a high degree of trust. Automation Theory’s focus on security, access control, auditing, maintenance, and infrastructure reliability aligns closely with the professional responsibilities of the field.
Automation Theory’s 2026 Recognition
The 2026 City Excellence Award represents recognition for Automation Theory’s work in a specialized segment of the technology industry.
From its Jefferson, Wisconsin base, the company has developed a portfolio of services and products focused on one specific objective: helping managed service providers maintain secure, stable, and reliable technology environments.
Its work spans cybersecurity, WAF protection, database performance, MySQL maintenance, permissions management, software plugins, and server migration.
That specialized approach, combined with the professional experience behind the company, makes Automation Theory a notable technology and cybersecurity organization in Jefferson.
Automation Theory, LLC
2026 International Association for Business Excellence City Excellence Award Winner
Industry: Cybersecurity for MSPs
Location: Jefferson, Wisconsin
Recognition Level: City Excellence
Award Year: 2026
The award recognizes Automation Theory following evaluation against the International Association for Business Excellence’s five core standards: Digital Presence, Customer Reputation, Operational Standing, Industry Experience, and Professional Integrity.
