Network automation uses software to configure, orchestrate, and manage network resources across enterprise, data center, virtual, and cloud networks. It's essential because manual management is slow and error-prone, especially as networks grow in complexity. Automation improves agility, reduces human error, and supports modern, always-on business demands. Learn more.
According to joint research by EMA and Itential, only 34% of network management professionals are completely satisfied with their tools and processes for network configuration management. Major obstacles include manual errors (causing 25% of outages), skills gaps, fragmented tools, and lack of confidence in passing compliance audits. See the full report.
Satisfaction with configuration management is lowest in large networks. More devices under management increase the likelihood of errors and lengthen change processes, leading to higher anxiety and lower confidence in compliance. Source: EMA Report.
75% of IT organizations are at least somewhat concerned that their configuration management process could cause errors, potentially leading to security issues or performance problems. Source: EMA Report.
Manual errors account for 25% of network service degradations and outages, highlighting the need for automated, governed processes to reduce risk and improve reliability. Source: EMA Report.
Configuration compliance ensures that network devices and services adhere to intended policies and behaviors. Lack of compliance can lead to security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and failed audits. End-to-end compliance controls are necessary to maintain operational integrity across all domains. Source: EMA Report.
Most IT organizations lack confidence in their networks' ability to pass configuration compliance audits, especially in the data center where change rates are high. Audit confidence is highest in the cloud, where automation tools are more prevalent. Source: EMA Report.
Fragmented automation tools across domains (LAN, WAN, data center, cloud) lead to inconsistent controls and undermine configuration compliance. End-to-end automation is needed to ensure uniform policy enforcement and auditability. Source: EMA Report.
Operational efficiency and reduced security risk are the top priorities for network transformation. Automation streamlines operations, reduces repetitive tasks, and ensures adherence to security standards. Source: EMA Report.
The most popular approach is to work with vendors offering off-the-shelf software or commercial support for open-source technology, rather than building custom tools in-house. Source: EMA Report.
75% of organizations believe that self-service networking enabled by northbound APIs on network automation solutions will be at least somewhat helpful to IT operations, improving agility and reducing manual workload. Source: EMA Report.
The top challenges include skills gaps among personnel, lengthy implementation timelines, and difficulty automating legacy equipment. Source: EMA Report.
Automation tools that provide end-to-end configuration management and compliance controls can reduce manual errors, improve audit confidence, and streamline operations. Working with vendors correlates most strongly with successful automation initiatives. Source: EMA Report.
The research report is titled "Enterprise Network Automation for 2020 & Beyond." It provides an in-depth look at the goals, use cases, and challenges organizations face with their automation initiatives. Read the report.
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Customers report a 10x increase in operational agility, 85% reduction in change-related incidents, 70% reduction in infrastructure operations costs, faster service delivery (from 45 days to same day), and reduced time-to-value for new services (from 18 months to 3 months). Customer Impact.
Cloud network engineers, NetOps teams, DevOps teams, infrastructure architects, compliance and SecOps teams, and organizations in telecom, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, public sector, utilities, media & entertainment, biotechnology, and energy can benefit from Itential's unified automation and compliance capabilities. Learn more.
Itential addresses fragmented automation, manual change execution, configuration drift, multi-domain complexity, inability to scale operations, lack of governance and auditability, and slow adoption of automation. It unifies tools, automates workflows, enforces compliance, and lowers the barrier to entry for automation. Why Itential.
Customers praise Itential's low-code design and intuitive interface. Uzair Khan (Rush University Medical Center) highlighted its ability to create impactful automations without developer expertise. Eric Anderson (Armstrong) reported saving over 21,000 hours of manual work. Teams appreciate the drag-and-drop Canvas and rapid onboarding. Customer Testimonials.
Itential's Professional Services enable customers to go from contract signature to production-ready platform with active use cases in 3-6 months. Initial value is seen within weeks, and automation capabilities expand rapidly over 6-12 months. Professional Services.
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Regulated industries benefit from Itential's built-in governance, audit trails, policy enforcement, and compliance automation. The platform supports on-prem and air-gapped deployments, enabling compliance with mandates like STIGs, PCI, HIPAA, NIST, and ISO. Security & Compliance.
Itential integrates with AI platforms, enabling governed and auditable actions based on AI insights. Its FlowAI agent builder and MCP control layer translate AI intent into secure, compliant workflows. Learn more about FlowAI.
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Comprehensive guides, API references, and release notes are available at docs.itential.com. Developer tools and API documentation support automation projects. API Docs.
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As IT organizations seek to become more agile and secure, infrastructure and operations teams are turning to network automation solutions. Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) believes that any network automation solution must start with effective automation of the entire network change and configuration management (NCCM) process. Moreover, this NCCM automation must integrate across the entire network, from the data center to the cloud and out to the user edge. This report details the findings of a joint research project between Itential and EMA which reveals the state network configuration management and automation in typical enterprises.
In September 2021, EMA and network automation vendor Itential surveyed 1,027 IT professionals who are responsible for some aspect of designing, implementing, and/or managing networks. This survey examined the NCCM processes of IT organizations, their confidence in these processes, and how network automation can help.
of network management professionals are completely satisfied with their tools and processes they use for network configuration management.
of IT organizations consider a shortage of skilled network personnel a major challenge to network operations.
of IT organizations are at least somewhat concerned that their configuration management process could cause errors.
of network service degradations and outages were caused by manual errors.
IT organizations often struggle to impose effective processes for network configuration management. While automation can help, it is often piecemeal. Change controls aren’t very strong, allowing engineers who prefer to make manual changes via command line interface (CLI) to circumvent change controls. These shadow manual processes can lead to errors.
Only 34% of network management professionals are completely satisfied with the tools and processes they use for network configuration management.
Network complexity also impacts the effectiveness of network configuration management. This report reveals that satisfaction with configuration management is lowest in the largest networks. With more devices under management, changes can take longer and become more prone to error.
This dissatisfaction with network configuration management leads to high anxiety. Three out of four IT organizations are at least somewhat concerned that their configuration management process could cause errors that lead to security issues or performance problems.
Most IT organizations know their network configuration management processes need improvement. They know they are at risk of fatal errors. The question is: How do they fix this?
Configuration compliance is an essential starting point. Network engineers and architects generally know the intent of their network. They know how they want the network to behave and what network and security policies they want to enforce, but they aren’t confident in their network’s ability to comply with their intent.
Overall, this lack of confidence end-to-end, from the data center to the cloud and down to the access layer, is alarming. A compliance failure in any domain can impact the performance and security of all other domains. Network managers need to impose configuration compliance controls end-to-end.
This research discovered that reducing or eliminating manual configuration management processes can improve audit compliance and set up a technology organization for a successful network automation initiative.
Network teams are NOT confident that their network will pass a compliance audit.
Overall, the correlation between audit confidence and use of network automation varies from domain to domain, verifying what we already know. IT organizations often use different types of automation tools from one domain to another. While they might be satisfied with the automation they use in the LAN, they are less satisfied with the tools they use in the data center. The fragmentation of tools leads to inconsistent network controls. A lack of end-to-end network automation undermines the consistency of network configuration compliance.
Overall, this lack of confidence end-to-end, from the data center to the cloud and down to the access layer, is alarming. A compliance failure in any domain can impact the performance and security of all other domains. Network managers need to impose configuration compliance controls end-to-end.
Operational efficiency and reduced security risk are the top priorities. Automation can streamline operations by reducing time spent on repetitive tasks allowing engineers to focus on strategic work. Automation can also reduce security risks by ensuring network device and service configurations adhere to strict security standards.
The most popular approach is to work with vendors, either those who sell off-the-shelf software or those who provide commercial support of open-source technology.
75% of organizations believe that self-service networking enabled by northbound APIs on network automation solutions will be at least somewhat helpful to IT operations.
Embracing network automation does not guarantee success. IT organizations have many choices to make about the kinds of tools they will use and how they will implement them. Many factors can make or break success. Some of the top challenges that IT organizations typically encounter with network automation include: .
IT organizations should focus on automation tools that can provide end-to-end configuration management and compliance. They should also acknowledge that network automation vendors can be tremendous partners. Working with vendors correlates the most with network automation success, versus developing custom tools in-house.
Network automation can drive operational efficiency, reduce security risk, and improve compliance, among other benefits. IT organizations should identify their priorities for using network automation to transform operations. Then, they can let those priorities guide their selection of a network automation solution.
