Automating Network OS Upgrades with Itential

It is vitally important for every device on a network to have the latest software installed and operating on the device. This straightforward process alone is a critical component that helps to ensure the network is operating securely and reliably. Despite this fact, many enterprises are woefully behind in their ability to upgrade every device in the network in a reasonable amount of time.

Network Configuration Management Automating Software Upgrades

Are Manual Network OS Upgrades Holding You Back?

Enterprise networks have grown at a rapid clip over the years, which means there are many more devices that comprise the network. While the process of executing a software upgrade appears to be a straightforward process, in reality there are multiple steps that must be done before and after the upgrade, and the process itself can take from 30 minutes to hours. In addition to this, different network devices may have different methods of upgrading which adds to the complexity. Finally, because there are so many devices in the network and due to the time it takes for a person to do a single upgrade, it becomes impossible to upgrade every device in a reasonable time period. This means that there are probably devices in your production network that are susceptible to security vulnerabilities or software defects, which could spell disaster for the business.

So ask yourself, are you still:

Manually upgrading software on your network devices?
Most enterprises are still running the entire software upgrade process manually with maximum human intervention. Because of this, there is no way to possibly upgrade every device in a timely manner.

Concerned that old, unsupported software is running on your network devices?There are probably devices running in the network that haven’t been upgraded in a year or more. Network downtime due to a software defect, or even worse, a network security breach is something you wished you could have avoided after it happens. It’s a very good thing to be concerned.

If yes to either of these, it’s undoubtedly time to automate.

The network team deserves to have modern automation tools that can remove this burden from their shoulders. This is problem that cannot be solved without an end-to-end solution, and if left unresolved, the network will perpetually exist in a state of unnecessary risk. Because of the time-consuming nature of manually running software upgrades, there are only a small fraction of the devices on the network today that are up to date with software. The large portion of devices outside of that are in “no man’s land”, and that’s not acceptable.

Why It’s Time to Modernize & Automate Network OS Upgrades

As we have already discussed, it takes a person too long to accomplish a single software upgrade, and when you do the math, it turns out to be impossible for the team to upgrade all of the network devices within a window of time. Because of this fact, many network engineers turn to scripts to help them with the CLI portions of the upgrade process. This may provide a small amount of time savings, but the reality is that there are other steps in the process that simple CLI scripts cannot automate. It’s these other steps that incur a significant amount of time for a person to manage, and the idea of running a script to automate everything just doesn’t pan out. What is really needed is a modern solution that provides network engineers the ability to automate the entire software upgrade process and reduce the time to complete to minutes, which allows for more devices to be upgraded in less time with minimal human intervention.

Itential provides an easy way for network teams to modernize the way they accomplish software upgrades, helping them leverage automation to finally bring every device in their network up to current versions. This will provide a higher degree of trust and confidence in the network’s ability to remain secure and reliable.

Legacy Processes

Itential Automation Platform

Unsure about network reliability and security. Network devices running old versions of software pose security risks and have more software defects, making the network that much more sketchy, and networks aren’t supposed to be sketchy.

Greater confidence with network security and reliability. By leveraging automation to always keep your network devices up to date with the latest software, which includes the most up to date security patches and bug fixes, you can be confident the network is operating with the most optimal software available.

Network teams unfairly burdened. Accomplishing software upgrades manually is not a possible task for network teams. This is a burden they carry, without a solution to help them accomplish it.

Network team with more time. With an automated solution that can remove the software upgrade burden, network teams have actual hope and enough time to focus their talents on other important network projects.

Limited automation scope and more time wasted. Running scripts to automate a single task is limiting because it does not integrate with other systems in the process, causing more required human intervention.

Integrate with everything. Itential’s automation platform is built to quickly integrate and network or IT system using APIs., which means the network team will be able to build bigger and better automations integrating with ITSMs, IPAMs, controllers and more. This means they will save more time, more money, and have a meaningful impact for the business.

How to Automate Software Upgrades with the Itential Automation Platform

With the Itential Automation Platform, network teams finally have a modern solution that eliminates the constant problem of accomplishing software upgrades for every network device in a timely manner. Achieve consistent software upgrades, along with automating network configuration and compliance across physical, virtual, and cloud-based networks and provide a high degree of trust and confidence that the network is configured securely and performing reliably.

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