I just recently talked with a customer about selecting a method for network automation; a new innovation for them. I did some up-front planning, made some notes, then we talked for an hour. The outcome was a small set of decision requirements that I believed would be useful to the hectic corporate IT/ network executive. The process is similar as you would use for any essential decision regarding the adoption of brand-new technology.
Exactly what is Needed?
We started the conversation with a conversation about specifying realistic goals for their company. We spoke about determining the functions that were driving the need for network automation:
Initial provisioning for a big rollout
Enabling agile setup management to track vibrant operations in the IT server space
Performing OS upgrades to close security holes in network hardware
Confirming operational correctness of the network versus the network style documents
Setting up and controlling of hardware from several suppliers
Determining exactly what they needed permitted us to establish some borders around the issue area. It is just as valuable to understand what you do not want to accomplish– non-goals– as it is to define exactly what you want to achieve. By setting goals, you can develop metrics versus which to determine success.
Is the Organization Capable?
The next stage of our discussion developed whether the organization might develop a network automation system. The number of people could be put on the job? What amount of time was needed? Exactly what is the budget plan, both in time and loan? How huge is the network, in regards to the number and range of network hardware boxes? What other jobs will not occur (i.e. will be postponed) because of this task?
We were able to use the knowledge of the objectives to approximate the size of the jobs. That let us get a handle on exactly what the organization was capable of doing.
Possible Methods
The conversation then relied on possible methods. We considered 3 paths:
Construct it yourself utilizing open source software packages
Purchase a business item
Hybrid– construct it using specialists and open source software packages
We invested the staying time discussing the risk/ benefit tradeoffs of each approach. The objective was to gain some preliminary insights into each method, not to come up with a service (this organization didn’t need to make an immediate choice).
Conclusion
What was the final decision? Nothing yet, but they have a greater understanding of the issue area from which they can do more thinking and research study. It offered the company info that they had not previously considered, which is precisely what they employed us to do.
Consulting with trusted consultants is one of the functions that we provide at NetCraftsmen. The next time you’re attempting to choose a specific technique to an issue, think about getting some thoughts from among our senior personnel.
I recently talked with a client about picking a method for network automation; a brand-new technology for them. The outcome was a small set of choice criteria that I believed would be helpful to the hectic corporate IT/ network executive. The procedure is much the same as you would use for any crucial decision regarding the adoption of new innovation.
The next stage of our discussion developed whether the organization could create a network automation system. How big is the network, in terms of the number and variety of network hardware boxes?
