How can network administrators align automation with business goals?

The main point here is to pay attention to a sentence from Brendan Gregg: The real task is not finding an issue, it’s identifying the issue or issues that matter the most So the first step is clear enough, You should focus on points that will affect your infrastructure.

To me, it's really quite simple. Give your admins a voice in business matters, one listened to and respected. Quite often, they are viewed as janitors charged with plugging in "solutions" implemented... Poorly. C-suiters and sales teams, we all have to work together, but you *do not know* what you are talking about in many cases. Listen to your own people before falling for a slick outside presentation claiming it will solve all your problems. It will not. And your deadlines and tedious reports are nonsense, with which you're going to get a half assed job of securing your data *properly*.

It's irresponsible to not teach your employees automation. For instance, if you took a automation first approach, long term employees will be more efficient. If there is employee turnover is high, a lot of the processes are already built. Cyber's job is to research and review automation implemented. It's costly to review it so hiring a 3rd party MSSP (managed security service provider) is important because they may have more skillsets then one cyber person. They also offer 24/7 monitoring in the event your automation goes wrong when people aren't in office. Having documented processes is important and having changes get documented at implemention time will make it easier in the long term vs playing catch up after a month or yearly.

KNowing how the business wants to move will help you so very much in this. Be an active participant in the strategic planning of infrastructure goals. Know what the business goals are when it comes to Recovery Time, and Uptime. Use tooling that helps you document how these goals are being met (or exceeded) The more automation you can wrap in to your administrative tasks the better!

Choose automation tools and technologies that are aligned with the organization's business goals and existing IT infrastructure. Consider factors such as scalability, integration capabilities, and compatibility with existing systems.

A lot of these are hard to convey, because as per usual if you're doing SRE work right, everything just works. An underdiscussed part of our job is to *find metrics* for things that are broken so that we can objectively analyze the issue. This is also true on the business side: find something concrete, like the number of deploys without rollbacks, and address that with automation, then show the change in metrics.

Get the business goals straight first. Target repetitive tasks for automation. Check your network’s capacity for change. Prioritize tasks that'll hit business goals hard. Map out a phased plan. Pick tools that fit and can grow with us. Move step-by-step, train your team, and keep a sharp eye on results. Loop in the bosses, play by the rules, and gear up for future needs. Add AI where it counts. Aim to make tech work for the mission.

Find a balance! There can be a clash of objectives. For example, the business may want to reduce costs, while the network team may want to improve security via a new firewall that needs new hardware. The network team will need to work with the business to find a solution that meets both objectives. May be implement the firewall in a phased approach? Lateral thinking.

Once the organization's needs and requirements have been identified, the network team can begin to evaluate different automation tools. It is important to compare the features, functionality, and pricing of different tools before making a decision. It is also important to consider the vendor's support and training options.

The best network automation tools for an organization will depend on its specific needs and requirements. In addition to selecting the right tools, it is also important to develop a clear plan for implementing and managing network automation. The plan should include the following steps: - Identify the specific network tasks or functions that will be automated. - Develop a roadmap for implementing automation in a phased approach. - Define clear roles and responsibilities for the network team. - Establish procedures for testing and deploying automation scripts and workflows. - Implement monitoring and alerting mechanisms to ensure the smooth operation of automated tasks

Again, consider the clash of objectives between different types of tools. Some are designed for agility, others for stability. Some are designed for specific network vendors, others are more vendor-agnostic. We need to weigh the different factors carefully Say, if the organization is looking to accelerate the deployment of new network services, they may want to choose tools that are designed for speed and agility.

Selecting the proper tools is a strategic decision. These tools need to be based on well known solutions with as much as possible protocols supported but at the same time offer the capability for people to write their own plugins. The short listed tools must be investigated for all available integrations between them since integrated solutions automate themselves natively. Terraform and ansible offer the richest support with native vendor libraries. Terraform can automate device deployments and ansible can be used as the configuration authority. OpenNMS, Nagios and Zambia offer the opportunity to automate device onboarding and templatise their monitoring KPIs through device and metadata profiles.

In the implementation phase, the concept of 'Sustainable Network Automation' is essential. This phase focuses on ensuring the efficiency, reliability, and long-term sustainability of automation solutions. A systematic and controlled approach is vital for success. The implementation process begins with rigorous testing and validation to identify potential issues before deploying solutions in the network environment. Regular reviews of automation processes and policies are key to continuous improvement, allowing adjustments to enhance efficiency. By integrating sustainable practices, administrators can ensure that automation solutions not only operate efficiently but also remain adaptable and resilient to evolving network requirements.

I look for every task and duty which is occurs many time For example, update firmware on multiple switch I identify model of them and categorize them based on their models Then create custom script for updating Finally implement script in 3 phase Test in test environment, Pilot in 1-2 model inproduction environment and rollout on all device

Having one or two automation platforms and making sure that they integrate. For instance Microsoft 365 power platform, and Microsoft 365 dynamics

Dont leave to one person's responsiblitly, ensure that everyone in the admin team knows what is being automated and knows how to fix it. Leaving it to one person creates a silo effect and a dependancy to that one person. Knowledge sharing is import. Having automation still requires a human. Dont let the human die out.

Network administrators can align automation with business goals by first understanding the needs and objectives of the organization. They should identify repetitive, time-consuming network tasks that can benefit from automation, such as configuration management, monitoring, security compliance. Then they should select the right automation tools and frameworks that align with the business's technology stack and budget. Constant communication with stakeholders is essential to ensure that automated processes support business objectives, increase efficiency, and reduce operational costs. Regularly assessing the impact of automation on performance and security and making adjustments as necessary is also crucial for alignment with business goals.