Network Automation Evaluation Guide

Your guide to the 10 most important criteria to consider when comparing and evaluating your network automation options.

Overview

Selecting the right network automation and orchestration solution for your organization’s needs can be difficult. As the number of tools that claim to enable network automation increases, it’s becoming more complex to determine the capabilities you need and how to select the right tool for the right job.

When adopting a network automation solution, your organization needs to be sure that the investment is worthwhile. Many options have challenging limitations, and this guide is designed to help you understand how to filter them out and find the right solution. In this guide you’ll see what makes up network change processes, understand how to build an automation strategy, and learn the ten most important criteria to consider when evaluating how to successfully implement network automation.

The Network Change Process: What Am I Automating?

In a manual network change management process, the only entities that initiate network changes are engineers, who typically get their change requests through tickets or email. The engineer might have previously written a script to execute the task at hand, but they still need to manually input any required variables and “feed the beast” to get things started.

And while the network team might have built out a healthy library of these task automations, each automation likely only performs actions on a single network domain – coordination of cross-domain changes would need to be done manually via a swivel-chair approach. Automation and orchestration platforms enhance those basic functions – like receiving work orders, executing changes, and coordinating changes across multiple systems and domains – to increase the value of automation efforts. Adopting the right automation solution elevates a network team’s capabilities, enabling greater flexibility, higher capacity, and end-to-end process coverage.

The Automation Process

You can think about a network change as a multi-step flow, like the diagram here: first, an entity initiates a change, then steps are executed along a workflow across any relevant domains until the change is complete. Automation provides more options and greater functionality all the way through.

Expected Automation Platform Capabilities

An automation platform should be able to EXPOSE automation to more types of users, including events, order systems, and CI/CD pipelines.

It should ENHANCE your infrastructure by working directly with other network systems such as network sources of truth, monitoring systems, and AI ops to both provide and output the right information to the right place.

And it should EXTEND the value of automation by enabling workflows across all your network domains and by using and improving the use of existing automation assets like Python scripts or Ansible Playbooks.

Next, we’ll look at each of our ten criteria through the lens of these three sets of capabilities and provide some questions to consider when making your evaluation. With these criteria and the three-step expose, enhance, and extend concept as the building blocks for your automation strategy, you’ll be well equipped to select the best possible solution for your organization.

Solution Evaluation Criteria

The following ten evaluation criteria are each an important element of a holistic network automation solution. If you select an automation solution that meets these requirements, your network team will be enabled by its exposure, enhancement, and extension capabilities that make network automation easier to adopt and more useful to the rest of IT.

01 Network Focus

Is network automation the core focus of the solution?

06 Scalability

Can the technology scale to support current and future growth?

02 Multi-Domain Support

Does this solution support multiple network domains?

07 Deployment Flexibility

Can the solution be deployed both as-a-Service and on-premises?

03 Integration Ecosystem

Does this solution provide flexible integration capabilities?

08 Ease of Use

Is the solution easy to use, or does it require heavy set-up and/or development competence?

04 Adaptability

Will this solution work with systems and platforms you adopt in the future?

09 CI/CD Capabilities

Does the solution provide support for integration with CI/CD pipelines?

05 Skillset Requirements

Does the solution require special skillsets to successfully build end-to-end automations?

10 API Exposure & Self-Service

Does the solution provide self-service capabilities and expose its API for northbound integration?

01 Network Focus

Is network automation the core focus of the solution?

There are plenty of tools out there that pay lip service to network automation but were designed to solve a different problem. When solutions are offered by third-party vendors, these vendors can be network equipment vendors looking to evolve toward EMS and automation, or they may be IT orchestration vendors positioning IT-focused products toward networking. And with open source tools, additional effort is often required for networking because the tools are more general. A solution that’s built for networking will be able to work more effectively with other network infrastructure and will make network automation more widely usable across your organization.

Why It Matters
  • It’s important to differentiate network-oriented solutions from business process automation (BPA), equipment vendor automation systems, and other tools that are limited when it comes to networking.
  • The limitations of a solution will be defined by what it’s designed for – an open source tool might require custom work for integrations between systems, and a solution from an equipment vendor might not support certain devices.
  • A network-focused solution will work with your network-specific systems such as AI ops and telemetry tools.
  • A network-focused solution will allow you to build automations across your network domains including SD-WANs and cloud environments.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Is network automation the core focus of the solution?

02 Multi-Domain Support

Does this solution support multiple network domains?

Modern network infrastructure is distributed across multiple network domains, including traditional on-premises data centers, public and private cloud environments, SD-WAN, and more. It’s critical that an automation solution easily orchestrates automation workflows across these domains so a network team can keep up with their evolving infrastructure.

Why It Matters
  • Automation solutions should meet the reality of your distributed network across all domains and third-party tools.
  • Multi-domain, multi-vendor support for all devices and all platforms enables future expansion and evolution of network infrastructure.
  • End-to-end automation across domains simplifies network management and reduces manual swivel-chairing.
  • IT service delivery speed can continue to increase even as domains like cloud and SD-WAN branches gain a growing share of your network traffic.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Does this solution support multiple network domains such as cloud and SD-WAN?
  • Is the solution proprietary and/or built for equipment from a single vendor?

03 Integration Ecosystem

Does this solution provide flexible integration capabilities?

For most organizations, network infrastructure is comprised of a disparate and growing collection of third-party tools across different network domains. As infrastructure evolves, this ecosystem is only going to become larger and more complex. An automation solution must be able to integrate with everything that makes up your network to facilitate end-to-end automated processes. The platform should have the capabilities to integrate with all relevant API formats and should eliminate any roadblocks to building integrations.

Why It Matters
  • You need to be able to build automations that operate seamlessly across different systems, tools, and platforms.
  • Integration eliminates swivel-chairing by enabling network engineers to use an automation workflow to perform actions across any system.
  • End-to-end automations will be possible for all processes regardless of which systems or tools they rely on.
  • Integrations should be easily built or generated for newly adopted tools and systems, as opposed to paid offerings or services.
  • More types of users and events can initiate automations if a platform exposes automation access to other systems, such as ITSM tools.
  • If a solution goes a step further, you’ll be able to keep using whatever automations your team has already built with tools like Python or Ansible, and they’ll be able to slot into end-to-end automated processes.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Does the solution support multiple types of systems and environments?
  • Does this solution require hard coding or custom work for integrations?
  • Are custom integrations free to build, or a service offering that you will be charged for?

04 Adaptability

Will this solution work with systems and platforms you adopt in the future?

When considering an automation solution, you’re not deciding in a vacuum. An automation system will interact with many other systems across your network infrastructure, so it needs to be adaptable to fit with your future plans for new systems, new network domains, or increased scale. It’s important to ensure a solution supports automation for multiple technologies, like different data formats and platforms from multiple vendors, as opposed to a limited ecosystem. This ensures you have full freedom when building out your constantly evolving network infrastructure.

Why It Matters
  • Proprietary or closed solutions lock you into a certain ecosystem, limiting options when looking to evolve network infrastructure.
  • If an automation solution requires you to invest in changing up the network infrastructure tools you use today, it’s reducing the value you’ll see from automation adoption.
  • A solution that is built to work across all domains and systems will be better equipped to handle innovations and new developments in networking going forward.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Will this solution work with systems and platforms you adopt in the future?
  • Does the solution make it easy to manage cloud, SD-WAN, and other newer domains?

05 Skillset Requirements

Does the solution require special skillsets to successfully build end-to-end automations?

Some network teams who have become familiar with open source tooling like Ansible or Python will adopt a full-on DIY approach to network automation, and these teams often see success initially. However, it’s difficult to use these tools to automate anything more complex than a single discrete networking activity or task, and network teams who stay still can end up stuck at a lower level of automation maturity. Similarly, there are some proprietary, third-party solutions that require complex or rare skillsets, sometimes even including a vendor’s proprietary language or format. In both cases, the unique and hard-to-find skillset a solution requires will limit its potential value.

A robust automation solution is one that requires very little re-skilling to get up and running but still provides advanced functionality for those who dive deeper, enabling the solution’s value to scale with the network team’s skill without delaying automation adoption.

Why It Matters
  • Complex skill requirements increase time-to-value and potential cost for automation adoption.
  • Avoiding specialized skillsets ensures any changes to team structure wouldn’t significantly affect automation effectiveness or cause delays.
  • A simple solution increases buy-in and enthusiasm from the network team.
  • Consumption of automations is made possible for any required users who lack networking experience.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Does the solution require special skillsets to successfully build end-to-end automations?
  • Does it require training with a proprietary model or language?
  • Could it practically be used by others outside the network team?

06 Scalability

Can the technology scale to support current and future growth?

Increased demand on the network and growth of an organization will lead to more networking elements that need to be managed. And as network infrastructure scales and the volume of devices and changes increases, automation only becomes more important for managing it efficiently. The right automation solution will provide all the necessary tools to automate at scale and won’t slow or limit the expansion of your network infrastructure.

Why It Matters
  • Network infrastructure is growing – network teams need to be able to operate faster across greater scale no matter the size of the network.
  • With scale comes new systems to monitor and manage your network, and your automation solution needs to be able to keep up.
  • A solution that can’t scale will cause significant issues down the road once limits are reached, as switching may involve re-skilling or new integration work.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Can the technology scale to support current and future growth?

07 Deployment Flexibility

Can the vendor solution be deployed in a manner that suits your needs?

For most organizations, software is ideally delivered as a cloud-based service, where you have access to easy scalability and rapid software updates. Most automation solutions can be deployed through the public cloud like many other applications, but for some customers the option to choose an on-premises deployment could satisfy some regulatory or security requirement they have and give more control back to the customer. If a solution enables flexible deployment options, your organization can select whichever option best matches needs and requirements, enabling more user and organizational confidence.

Why It Matters
  • Deployment flexibility allows the system to meet your needs.
  • This will enable you to deliver automations to the users your organization needs.
  • Regulatory or security concerns can be alleviated depending on deployment.
  • Different options ensure you don’t need to change the rest of your network management to adopt the solution.
  • The choice allows the automation solution to orchestrate across all your domains even if some of your domains have specific security requirements.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Can the solution be deployed both as-a-Service and on-premises?

08 Ease of Use

Is the solution easy to use, or does it require heavy set-up and/or development competence?

A solution that’s usable out-of-the-box is going to deliver value much more quickly than one that requires customization and set-up work. Open source solutions and many third-party options will require custom development work for integration with your network systems, and many of these systems also require development know-how to use effectively. For these reasons, solutions that are able to offer an easy onramp to building automations can provide a lot of value – just ensure you’re not overcorrecting and selecting a solution whose simplicity limits your capabilities.

Why It Matters
  • Customization and setup work would increase time-to-value, decreasing the return on automation investment overall.
  • More complex solutions will require investment in re-skilling or will be limited to a small number of practitioners.
  • An easier solution allows additional IT teams to interact with network automations as needed.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Is the solution easy to use, or does it require development competence?
  • Is there a heavy set-up or customization process necessary for adoption?

09 CI/CD Capabilities

Does the solution provide support for integration with CI/CD pipelines?

CI/CD practices are tried and tested, with a history of success in software development. As demands on network infrastructure grow, network teams will need to adopt methods and approaches that bring their processes more in line with the rest of IT to enable faster delivery of any network-dependent services. A solution that allows CI/CD pipeline integration sets teams up to succeed by adopting a NetDevOps approach to network operations.

Why It Matters
  • The future of networking is in NetDevOps and treating infrastructure as code, and an automation platform that supports CI/CD pipelines and practices enables network teams to evolve.
  • With a northbound integration, the solution can expose automations to be called as steps in a CI/CD pipeline.
  • With a southbound integration, the solution can call pipelines as part of an automation workflow.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Does the solution provide support for integration north/south with CI/CD pipelines?
  • Can the solution be part of a NetDevOps strategy?

10 API Exposure & Self-Service

Does the solution provide self-service capabilities and expose its API for northbound integration?

To fully integrate into your IT ecosystem and ensure the automations built by the network team can be utilized to their full potential by the rest of the IT organization, an automation solution should provide northbound integration capabilities by exposing an API for tools such as ITSM systems to call. This enables any IT team to call and run a network automation published by the network team in a self-serve manner. The network team’s ability to deliver network as a service (NaaS) to end users increases the usability and effectiveness of automation across your organization.

Why It Matters
  • Northbound integrations enable delivery of network automations as services, enabling the rest of IT to run automations without a re-skilling effort.
  • This exposes automation to as many potential end users as possible.
  • The NaaS model increases intra-team speed and efficiency.
  • Increasing automation usage ensures automation investment improves ROI by increasing the value of all your automations without requiring additional work.
Solution Evaluation Questions
  • Does the solution enable you to provide end users with self-service capabilities?
  • Does it expose its API for northbound integration with your IT systems?

Final Takeaways

With network infrastructure more critical to how organizations function than ever, it’s important that teams find ways to keep up with speed, scale, and security needs. The only practical way teams can make the jump is by adopting some form of network automation. There are many options: a variety of open source tools, solutions from network equipment vendors and IT vendors, and third-party vendor solutions. Teams looking for the right solution can filter by the criteria in this guide to find a solution that offers a complete range of capabilities and meets organizational needs.

Remember to avoid:

  • High learning curves and complex environments that make sophisticated automation prohibitively difficult.
  • Limited or proprietary tools that limit your network infrastructure now and in the future.
  • Red flags: paid integrations, generic IT or BPA focus, a hard-coded data model, and a lack of API support.

The right solution will enable scale and efficiency by integrating with your infrastructure and making automation easy, powering up your network team for the future.

Download the Network Automation Evaluation Guide.

Your guide to comparing and evaluating network automation solutions.

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