Yes, automation with IPMI can be done (for a particular hardware due to quirks), and I recommend doing it (and I have done it) with a separate DHCP environment

Yes, automation with IPMI can be done (for a particular hardware due to quirks), and I recommend doing it (and I have done it) with a separate DHCP environment for the BMC NICs to be at least agnostic about the OS NIC's network environment. So, I share your excitement when it works but I'm not happy with the out-of-the box experience of IPMI. I wish there was something better but unfortunately this is just one case of a split/mismatch of what HW people provide and what software people need.