Five reasons you need network automation

When you’re managing a network, it can be hard to keep track of all of your devices. You might have hundreds or even thousands of computers and other devices connected to your network. As you add more, it’s easy for your system to become increasingly complicated. That’s why automation is so important in IT today: It helps minimize human error and creates extremely useful applications that would’ve been virtually impossible to do otherwise.

1.Network automation = reliability

Automation equals reliability.  The consistency from automating workflows leads to less network downtime. Automation also speeds application deployment and reduces labor time. Research shows that 73% of IT leaders say that thanks to automation success, employees are saving between 10 and 50% of the time they previously spent doing manual tasks which in return creates reliability

2. Network automations saves you money

Automation allows you to do more in less time, which means that your company can get more done in less time as well. This makes it easier for you to grow your business without having to increase headcount and/or spending additional money on hiring more employees (which would be expensive).In fact, research shows that 57% of IT leaders agree automation technology saves departments between 10 and 50% on costs previously associated with manual processing.

3. Network automation makes it easier to troubleshoot issues.

Automation helps to make troubleshooting easier. The more automated your network is, the more quickly you'll be able to identify and solve problems. Troubleshooting a network problem involves managing and applying reasoning over very large volumes of data. It is in most cases a high-touch, time-consuming, and error prone endeavor. To automate troubleshooting undeniably saves time and money, and also makes troubleshooting easier.

4. Automating your network gives you more time to focus on your goals.

Automating your network allows you to spend more time on planning, strategizing and improving your network infrastructure. You'll also be able to better multitask by delegating work across different teams or individuals.

A good example is an organization that has multiple people responsible for managing devices on its network—a network engineer who performs technical tasks like configuring routers and switches, another engineer who works with vendors on new contracts, an IT director who oversees overall operations, etc. By automating tasks such as monitoring performance metrics or detecting equipment failure conditions without requiring human intervention, this organization frees up its engineers' time so they can focus on other projects such as developing new features instead of spending hours each day responding to alerts from their ticketing system or phone calls from vendors asking questions about contracts that have been submitted but not yet approved.

5. Network automation scales easily, helps with security, saves money and even frees up some time to focus on new projects.

Network automation is essential in today's business world as it scales easily, helps with security, saves money and even frees up some time to focus on new projects.

• Automation scales easily: Network automation can be used to perform tasks at any scale. Whether you're trying to automate a network with 10 switches or 2,000 devices across multiple data centers, the process of implementing network automation should be simple enough that an administrator without much technical knowledge can work through it easily.
• Automation helps keep things secure: If a single device gets infected with malware or otherwise becomes compromised then any other device connected directly or indirectly may also become infected.  (e.g., one switch connects directly to another switch). Automation can prevent that... automatically!

If you want to know more about Automation within Micetro, we have a dedicated youtube playlist with a number of videos that will help you better understand how you can make managing your network easier and simpler through our single API. Click here to see our automation playlist.

Micetro by Men&Mice connects and orchestrates multiple platforms under a single interface, built on a single API. Network engineers can automate all of them using a single format; Micetro will do the rest. The API in Micetro is fully-featured and complete: every operation that is available through the UI can be done and automated through scripting.

We hope these five reasons have helped you to understand why network automation is so important. It’s not just a good idea—it’s essential for any business that wants to succeed in today’s competitive landscape.
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