Every time you make a change to your network, there’s a chance the change will break something. The solution isn’t to make fewer changes; if you’re a growing business, you need to make changes that add bandwidth and create new connections. Instead, the solution is to make changes safely, in ways that minimize the chance of creating errors.

Network automation helps reduce errors by packaging the routine tasks of network management, including provisioning, change management, and security and compliance.

Reduce Errors, Boost Your Bottom Line, and More

Because automation reduces errors, less rework is required and your business operations don’t get interrupted, reducing your expenses and boosting your income. You also save money by reducing the time you spend on routine compliance and configuration tasks.

You save time as well as money from network automation. Change control can be streamlined, reducing the time necessary to implement changes. The speed of the actual implementation tasks is reduced as well.

With the time saved, your network administrators can focus on proactive network improvements rather than constantly reacting to problems. The most skilled network admins can focus on strategic issues of network design and security rather than day-to-day operational concerns.

Automate (Almost) Everything

Automation can support the full range of network configuration, provisioning, and management. The starting point for an automation project is typically device provisioning, enabling plug-and-play installation of new switches. Routine manual tasks, such as those that implement a standard response to a problem, can also be automated.

Don’t automate tasks that require human judgment. Don’t automate tasks that will affect applications that are dependent on specific network configurations, even if those tasks are safely automated on other network segments.

Automate By Writing Scripts or Using Vendor Tools

Network admins should be comfortable using scripting languages, whether using basic shell commands or a language like Python. Some automation tools like Puppet and Chef also offer generic scripting capability. You may need to spend time learning vendor or product-specific APIs in order to implement changes on devices.

When you write your own scripts, you have full control over their capabilities and the change process, but using them effectively becomes more complex as network size and complexity increases. Many network device vendors offer management tools with scripting capability. These tools make it easier to manage changes in more complex environments and to oversee the impact; when you’ve built custom tools and scripts, you may need to update them when you make network changes, and the chance of missing something that causes a problem is real.

Network Automation Requires Human Expertise

While network automation makes managing and overseeing your network easier, designing a network that meets your business needs and developing the procedures and tools to monitor and manage it requires expertise. Prescient Solutions team of experts holds Cisco certifications, plus certifications in related security technologies. We use tools to help us identify your infrastructure vulnerabilities and then implement and oversee the solution. Contact us for a free infrastructure assessment and learn how our network services can free up your resources to focus on your business challenges.