As the networks you run become more complex, managing and monitoring them has become challenging. As a result, enterprises are turning to network automation to more easily manage their networks. In addition, the increased demand for greater bandwidth, network virtualization, and cloud computing services is further driving the development of network automation.

However, despite the estimated market size of network automation to grow to $30 billion by 2028, many enterprises remain skeptical about which network automation use case to start with. Here are the top use cases for network automation and how they can help businesses get started on their network automation journey.

Enhanced security

In the early days, enterprise networks were confined to a single perimeter. In this case, a signature-based web application firewall (WAF) protects the network. But as cyberattacks increase in intensity and speed, maintaining a signature-based WAF can be time-consuming. In addition, they are obviously ineffective in the face of zero-day attacks, as signatures have not yet been created to define these attacks.

Modern networks are no longer confined to a single location and include internal networks, cloud computing, edge networks, and other third-party networks. Therefore, protecting enterprises from zero-day attacks and similar attacks requires network automation.

An intent-based network automation platform automates the device discovery process, allowing enterprises to develop good cybersecurity policies and implement them consistently across complex and multi-network environments. The addition of a Zero Trust policy ensures that only the right people with the appropriate credentials can access the network.

In addition, by centralizing network policy controls, automatic access control lists and password management capabilities, as well as micro-segmenting the network into multiple zones, these network automation tools leave no vulnerabilities for threat actors to exploit.

Minimize downtime and downtime

According to Verizon's 2022 Data Breach Investigation Report, more than 82% of all network outages are caused by human error. ITIC's 2021 Cost of Downtime per Hour Survey once again found that 91% of businesses cost $300,000 or more per hour of server downtime. Nearly 44 percent of these organizations reported hourly downtime costs ranging from $1 million to more than $5 million.

Network outages can lead to lost revenue, lost productivity, and most importantly, reputational damage. Therefore, the burden of managing the network cannot be left to staff alone, but rather must be enhanced by automation.

Simplifying network changes will make businesses more efficient and protect them from downtime and outages. Because network automation tools provide comprehensive and real-time visibility into the health of the network, problematic issues can be identified in real time so they can be resolved faster.

In addition, real-time topology mapping and custom dashboards reduce mean time to failure discovery (MTTK) and mean time to repair (MTTR) under known conditions, increasing user satisfaction.

Train new employees to use the equipment

Going live is the process by which a new device is allowed to access the network. However, accessing thousands of network devices takes a lot of time, and network operators must manually check every detail before they can use the equipment. This can take days, even months.

Undoubtedly, according to the study, 61% of respondents chose to reduce the time it takes to deploy services, and 59% chose increased productivity as the main driver for automation.

Added to this is the risk of human error. When IT teams don't take the necessary precautions during the device go-live process, they risk exposing systems and networks to risk. With the development of network automation, going online has become a very simple and secure process. Network automation tools allow users to quickly load devices with appropriate customer access policies.

这些工具配备了先进的安全功能，可以持续监控网络安全，在允许每个设备连接到网络之前检查它们。

减少技术债务　　

当开发人员为了快速发布代码而走捷径或抄近路时，通常会导致技术债务。虽然它在短期内有帮助，但最终，开发人员将不得不返回并减少技术债务。糟糕的代码质量、僵尸设备、部分或膨胀的配置、废弃的项目、缺少文档和遗留技术都是技术债务的一些例子。

Technical debt is a key concern for businesses – it not only increases operational costs, limits network agility, but also reduces productivity and has a critical impact on the bottom line.

In LeanIX's 2022 survey of enterprise architects and IT strategies at more than 140 global companies, it was found that 41% of enterprise architects (EAs) believe reducing technical debt is a top priority. Among the organizations surveyed, 96 percent of respondents said they plan at least one project aimed at reducing technology debt.

Fortunately, with network automation, businesses can easily identify and eliminate network technology debt. Network automation tools leverage automation to build the source of truth to the network, helping organizations validate network components before and after network changes.

This helps enterprises ensure that the network performs consistently and predictably as expected. If there are inconsistencies, the tool highlights them. As a result, network build time is reduced, and the NetOps team has more time to focus on the future network.

Network inventory

Knowing the current state of your network is critical to effective network monitoring. But to do this, you first need to have a complete inventory of network devices, and the inventory must be accurate and up-to-date. While early network inventories were done manually, this is completely unfeasible given the size and complexity of modern networks.

Without a standard source of truth, people may neglect to record some devices and miss when the network has changed. Not having full visibility into cyber assets can be dangerous for businesses, as threat elements can infiltrate without people knowing.

Powerful network automation tools continuously scan network devices and automatically detect when assets are added or removed from the network catalog. They use several advanced discovery methods to perform network discovery and create a complete network inventory of devices, providing enterprises with detailed information about each device.

Configuration management

Configuration drift is the process by which configuration items such as software, applications, virtual machines, servers, network devices, or security policies gradually change over time and deviate from their initial state. Manual management of networks often leads to configuration drift that leads to degraded performance, extended downtime, and, more worryingly, regulatory non-compliance.

Network automation takes the guesswork involved in diagnosing configuration drift and provides enterprises with a centrally defined system to monitor the network to address this issue. As visibility improves, organizations can quickly identify and correct configuration drift. By managing configuration drift, the business can align with industry regulations and remain audit-ready.

Although there is a certain amount of configuration drift in the network, with continuous monitoring and timely auditing, enterprises can keep a close eye on drift management and take timely action.