This post was originally published on Network Computing
Many people working in IT will be familiar with the “buy versus build” debate for IT tools and software. Now, that same debate has come to the market for network automation. Where do Network Operations teams fall on this? On both sides at the same time.
A 2024 EMA analyst report found that most IT organizations (94%, to be precise) cobble together a mix of homegrown, open source, and commercial tools to automate their networks. There is no clear industry consensus on which is better. But that same report found that only 18% of organizations consider their automation strategy a success. Clearly, this approach still needs work. I believe the missing pieces are better automation tools and a shift in the mindset and culture of NetOps teams. Here’s why.
Automation helps NetOps do more with less
Networks have gotten much more complex over the last few decades thanks to factors like the proliferation of IoT devices, remote work, the rise of software as a service, and software-defined networking. Budgets for NetOps haven’t kept pace with this increasing complexity, however, which leaves today’s engineers trying to do a much harder job with the same resources. That, in turn, has led to greater interest in
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