Top 5 Benefits of Network Automation

Networks have grown increasingly complex in the wake of rapid technological advances. Due to this growing complexity, lengthy downtimes may result from network devices breaking down, financially impacting company operations, and potentially overloading IT staff as they try to perform mitigation.

Network automation will help improve your IT infrastructure to cope with this growing complexity. As network device provisioning, configuration, and management become automated, the people that oversee network operations can also become more productive and capable. Ultimately, your network becomes more stable, scalable, and resilient.

Defining Network Automation

Network automation is a way of configuring, provisioning, managing, and testing network equipment using software. Enterprises and service providers utilize it to increase efficiency, eliminate human error, and lower operating costs.

Basic network mapping and device discovery are supported by network automation technologies, as are more advanced procedures like network configuration management and provisioning of virtual network resources.

Software-defined networking, network virtualization, and network orchestration all benefit from network automation, which allows for automatic provisioning of virtual network tenants and tasks like virtual load balancing.

The Process to Introduce Network Automation

Network automationYou can introduce network automation at a speed that’s comfortable for you. IT migration doesn’t have to mean starting from scratch. You can keep your current network infrastructure and policy definitions as you begin the migration process.

You can start by automating the process of designing and testing new networking products. By automating designing and testing, you can save resources and introduce new products and services faster. You can also consider automating deployment and scaling of virtualized or cloud-native network components before going all-in on network automation. Network monitoring and fault management are also good starting points for eventually achieving zero-touch automation.

Benefits of Network Automation

Some of the benefits of network automation include:

1. Removes the risk of human error

Lengthy and cumbersome manual processes involving network devices are prone to errors, even if your company has IT staff members who are capable of carrying them out. It is highly probable that automating such processes would lower the chances of error occurrence, even as network changes are successfully carried out on the first try. Aside from avoiding troublesome incidents resulting from manual changes, automated network configuration can prevent the network from breaking down, increasing its reliability. Network security rules also become easier to enforce, allowing security audits to be passed without any need for further investigation.

2. Reduces the workload for IT staff

Since network-related processes are run automatically, IT staff only need to see if these were triggered and implemented without any hitch, although they must also remain on alert against potential problems. They also do not need to document configuration changes in network devices, as reports that have this information are often already available. Thus, IT staff become more productive as they are able to focus on strategic initiatives that drive business improvements and attempt to make your processes become more efficient.

3. Standardizes processes

With standard processes implemented throughout the network, potentially troublesome situations within the IT infrastructure are avoided, even as day-to-day maintenance activities become routine. Even if a network administrator leaves, the next person in line may be just as capable of handling administration tasks as older, more experienced staff members. However, you should keep in mind that initiating a staff reduction just because your company has implemented network automation may not be necessary since the processes still need to be run by capable people.

4. Increases resilience

Optimal network performance is achieved through automated updates and changes that are undertaken regularly and without fail, unlike in a manual setup where processes that take time may be overlooked because of the effort involved. In addition, network automation results in simpler management tasks due to the availability of tools that allow monitoring of network performance and alert your staff to potential errors before they occur, helping them prevent downtime and achieve service level agreements with relatively minimal effort.

5. Improves scaling

Network automation can help boost your IT infrastructure’s ability to scale, even as it runs complex analysis based on inputs from the various devices available within your network. It allows speedy rollout of new services, devices, and applications based on established and reusable processes. Network automation also allows your network to handle increased usage demands before they impact performance. This scalability would not be possible in manual networks without significant investment in time and manpower.

How Parallels RAS Provides Network Automation

With Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) it’s possible to streamline the deployment and maintenance of IT infrastructures with a set of automation tools, freeing administrators from lengthy and repetitive tasks.

Network administrators use PowerShell to help manage their Parallels RAS deployments from the command line. With PowerShell, administrators can automate configuration operations, simplify cloud automation and create automatic scripts for repetitive and complex tasks within their networks. Parallels RAS PowerShell SDK can be installed as a standalone component that makes all of this possible, allowing IT to connect and manage the farm from any location.

Moreover, Parallels RAS supports REST API, which automates features such as the configuration of the Parallels RAS environment, publishing of resources, and the management of user sessions.

Check out the capabilities of Parallels RAS in your network by downloading your 30-day Parallels RAS trial.