New Itential Research Reveals Lack of Automation Undermines Network Configuration Compliance

Conducted in partnership with EMA, findings determine the challenges of network configuration management compounded by compliance concerns

ATLANTA, November 16, 2021 —  Itential, the leader in network and cloud automation software, today released new research findings in partnership with Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) revealing that most enterprise IT organizations are struggling with network and cloud infrastructure configuration management and are worried that their networks will fail configuration compliance audits. The report, “The State of Network Automation: Configuration Management Obstacles are Universal,” identifies the most pervasive IT Infrastructure challenges enterprise companies face and that network automation can ease these concerns through incorporating automation of end-to-end configuration compliance.

Enterprise IT organizations are seeking out solutions that will enable them to be more agile and secure, and infrastructure and operations teams are turning to network automation solutions. Findings from the survey confirm that any network automation initiative should include automated configuration compliance enforcement as a foundational building block. Moreover, configuration compliance should be applied to automation initiatives across any part of the network, from the data center to the cloud and out to the edge.

“Enterprise network engineers are comfortable with how they do their jobs, and take the ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ approach to network infrastructure management. But, companies are beginning to demand more from their networks. Specifically, DevOps and cloud professionals want network configuration changes to be faster, more agile, and more predictable,” said Peter Sprygada, Vice President of Product Management at Itential. “By enabling end-to-end automation across hybrid infrastructure, teams can ensure the consistency of network configuration compliance and accelerate processes like self-service networking.”

Currently, only 34% of network management professionals are completely satisfied with the tools and processes they use for network configuration management. Three out of four IT organizations are concerned that their configuration management process could cause errors that lead to security issues or performance problems. The research also found that over 60% of respondents are not confident that major parts of their networks could pass compliance audits, particularly in the data center and public cloud domains.

“Network automation can drive operational efficiency, but this research found that IT organizations must also deploy automation tools that can provide end-to-end configuration management and compliance,” said Enterprise Management Associates Vice President of Research, Shamus McGillicuddy. “The right tool can not only improve efficiency, but also reduce security risk and improve overall compliance across hybrid-infrastructure. Organizations should identify their priorities for network automation to transform operations by partnering with the right vendor versus developing custom tools in-house.”

Itential and EMA surveyed more than 1,000 IT professionals responsible for some aspect of designing, implementing, and managing networks with additional survey findings highlighting common network automation challenges faced by network engineers and IT professionals, including:

  • Inconsistent processes in place for implementing network automation.
  • Weak change controls which lead to engineers circumventing them to make manual changes, resulting in errors caused by shadow manual processes.
  • Lack of personnel with sufficient expertise to oversee network automation initiatives and poor IT leadership.
  • Legacy equipment which can’t handle the necessary tasks. More than one third of organizations struggle with old network gear that is difficult to automate.
  • Difficulty with evaluating and selecting solutions.

To learn more about the results of this survey, read the complete “The State of Network Automation: Configuration Management Obstacles Are Universal” report.


About Itential

Itential is committed to building world-class products that accelerate the move toward software-driven networks and next-generation, agile network operations. We provide powerful network automation software to organizations worldwide, from Fortune 500 companies and Enterprises of all sizes. The cloud-native Itential Automation Platform is an enterprise-grade Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering that supports our customers in their network automation journey by seamlessly connecting to any IT system, cloud, or network technology, enabling freedom and flexibility to choose the right tools and best solutions for their needs. It helps ensure network compliance, reduces manual operations, and simplifies network management associated with automating physical and cloud network infrastructure. To learn more about Itential please visit www.itential.com.