Why organizations should implement network automation?

Network automation has become increasingly prevalent in the last couple of years. It provides solutions to the networking technology that has historically relied on manual processes. As manual network processes have an adverse business and IT impact, network automation unlocks exponential growth and business transformation. It reduces errors caused by human workers and helps keep the network functioning at an optimal level. Organizations that have already deployed complex IT processes and network automation now seek to capitalize on making their IT function more efficient by automating business processes.

Since there have been multiple network automation solutions, most have not taken root in the market significantly owing to implementation and maintenance complexities. Additionally, most organizations implementing proprietary or home-grown DIY automation solutions have experienced subpar outcomes mostly because of the volume of technical debt incurred by creating and maintaining the platform instead of adding value to IT and the business itself.

To this effort, it is essential to make a substantial investment of time, resources, and expenses. Building network teams can help take the required resources away from strategies and initiatives to fortify the value-add a company can offer its customers. Moreover, creating a financial analysis of these investments is crucial for decision-makers to comprehend the impact of network automation initiatives on business operations.

Leveraging network automation tools significantly automate the maintenance of virtual and physical network device configurations, minimizing costs, lessening human error and improving compliance with configuration policies. The tools consist of four distinct segments: Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics (NPMD); Network Configuration and Change Management (NCCM); Virtual Network Configuration Automation, and Network Configuration Automation (NCA).

According to a report, about 78 percent of cloud providers use some type of network automation, following by 75 percent of communications service providers (CSPs) and 71 percent of enterprises.

Digital Transformation Trends Driving the Need for Network Transformation

Many organizations still use a decade-ago built hub-and-spoke network to support computing centered around an on-premises data center hosting applications accessed by workers using stationary, IT-controlled desktop computers. This network architecture is inapt to support and secure cloud-enabled applications, direct Internet access, non-IT-managed devices, mobile users, bandwidth-intensive voice and video applications, in addition to millions of IoT devices. By integrating advanced digital transformation technologies such as multicloud infrastructure, secured SD-WAN architecture, unified communications, and other, enterprises can gain the most out of their networks.

Network Automation Drives Flexibility

In a Juniper report, most IT decision-makers believe automation is the cornerstone strategy to bolster network agility and reliability while controlling OpEx and CapEx, i.e. automating the 20 percent of networking tasks that take up to 80 percent of the staff’s time. On the other side, most decision-makers consider automation as essential, i.e. only 16 percent to 30 percent of daily network administrative tasks have been automated. Moreover, 80 percent of businesses experience network errors caused by human mistakes regularly.

As network automation eliminates tedious and manual processes through automated and orchestrated infrastructures, it gives businesses the ability to extend their networks: ' capabilities while gaining a faster ROI.