Top Tools and Technologies to Get Started with Network Automation
It’s no surprise that organizations depend on network automation to help meet today’s fast-paced business demands and stay ahead of the competition. As networks grow in complexity, automating repetitive and manual tasks becomes essential for ensuring performance, reducing downtime, and enhancing security.
For organizations considering network automation, it’s crucial to understand the most effective tools and technologies available on the market.The following guide outlines key solutions and why each tool is essential for IT operational efficiency, to ensure your enterprise is set up with network automation that will move the needle and contribute to continued organizational success.
Why Network Automation Is Critical for Business Growth
Network automation is no longer a luxury but a necessity for businesses seeking to maintain optimal productivity. According to a Gartner report, by 2025, 60% of organizations will have adopted network automation to some degree, a marked increase from 30% in 2024. The push toward automation stems from the need to streamline network management, reduce human error, and improve response times to incidents. For businesses with complex infrastructures, automation can drive cost savings, ensure compliance, and allow IT teams to focus on more strategic tasks.
1. Cisco pyATS: Revolutionizing Network Testing and Automation
Cisco pyATS stands out as an innovative solution in the automation landscape, offering data-driven and reusable testing for modern networks. As outlined in the new and groundbreaking book “Cisco pyATS: Network Test and Automation Solution,” this Python-based framework leverages automation to streamline network operations, enabling engineers to accelerate troubleshooting, automate configuration management, and ensure seamless network updates. PyATS also provides a vendor-agnostic framework, making it adaptable across diverse IT environments, which is crucial for organizations managing complex networks with multiple vendors.
By integrating pyATS with existing automation tools and CI/CD pipelines, businesses can take network automation efforts to new heights of efficiency and reliability. For instance, when deploying security updates or conducting large-scale network migrations, pyATS automates testing processes that traditionally require significant manual effort. This reduces human error, minimizes downtime, and enhances overall network performance—vital for businesses operating in fast-paced digital environments.
With the global network automation market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2%, reaching $22.58 billion by 2027, the shift to network automation is no longer just a trend—it’s an industry standard.
2. Ansible: Simplifying Automation with Open-Source Technology
Ansible, an open-source tool, offers businesses a simplified way to enter into the network automation journey. Its key advantage is its agentless architecture, meaning no additional software is required on the devices being automated. This reduces complexity and accelerates deployment, which is crucial for organizations looking to automate large-scale infrastructures efficiently. Ansible’s flexibility allows organizations to automate tasks like configuration management and application deployment through easy-to-create playbooks, making it a foundational tool for network automation. According to a report by Forrester, 63% of IT decision-makers are prioritizing automation to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs, positioning Ansible as an essential component in modern IT strategies.
For more complex, large-scale deployments, Red Hat offers the Ansible Automation Platform (AAP)—a comprehensive orchestration solution that extends the capabilities of Ansible. While Ansible provides the basic building blocks for automation, AAP takes it further by offering advanced features like event-driven workflows, automation analytics, and role-based access control. These features allow businesses to create more sophisticated and scalable automation strategies.
With AAP, organizations can automate a wide variety of network functions, such as configuration management, patching, and security updates, through repeatable, pre-defined workflows. AAP is particularly valuable for businesses with hybrid or multi-cloud environments, as it provides the tools to manage cloud-based and on-premises networks simultaneously. This level of orchestration and automation elevates operational efficiency and helps IT teams manage growing infrastructure with less manual intervention.
With tools like Cisco pyATS, Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), NetBox, Terraform, and Pulumi, organizations can transform how they manage and automate their networks. These solutions offer a path toward greater efficiency, fewer errors, and enhanced network security—enabling IT teams to focus on strategic, high-value tasks while leaving repetitive processes to automation.
3. NetBox: Centralized Network Source of Truth
NetBox is a comprehensive open-source tool designed to serve as a “network source of truth,” offering a centralized platform that organizes and manages the detailed information your network automation workflows rely on. This platform integrates with existing network infrastructures, offering intuitive dashboards and a flexible API that can be used to generate network automation workflows.
For businesses with complex network topologies, NetBox Labs, the commercial offering from NetBox, enhances the solution with enterprise-grade support, making it easier to manage, scale, and automate large-scale network operations. By acting as a single source of truth for network devices and connections, NetBox helps ensure that automation scripts are accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with the real-world state of your network.
4. Terraform: Infrastructure as Code for Seamless Automation
Terraform is a leading tool in the infrastructure-as-code (IaC) space, allowing businesses to define and provision network infrastructure using declarative coding. As network infrastructures become more complex, the ability to automate the provisioning of resources becomes critical for ensuring uptime and flexibility. In a 2023 State of Cloud Strategy Survey, 89% of respondents said that using IaC, such as Terraform, had improved their cloud infrastructure management by increasing agility and reducing misconfigurations. This positions Terraform as a crucial tool for businesses managing hybrid cloud environments and seeking scalability.
By using Terraform, organizations can automate resource allocation, network configuration, and security controls, ensuring consistency across environments and reducing the risk of human error. For organizations seeking to scale their operations or migrate to the cloud, Terraform is an indispensable part of the network automation toolkit.
5. Pulumi: Modern Infrastructure Provisioning with Familiar Programming Languages
Pulumi is an infrastructure-as-code tool similar to Terraform, but it offers the additional flexibility of allowing users to write infrastructure automation scripts using familiar programming languages like Python, TypeScript, and Go, rather than a specialized configuration language. This makes Pulumi particularly appealing for businesses with development teams that prefer to integrate infrastructure management with software development practices.
Pulumi enables businesses to automate infrastructure provisioning both on-premises and in the cloud, helping to ensure consistency and reduce manual errors. It also integrates seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines, allowing businesses to automate infrastructure changes as part of their broader software development lifecycle. This makes Pulumi a powerful tool for organizations seeking to modernize their infrastructure management practices.
Benefits for BlueAlly Clients
| WHY AUTOMATE? | BECAUSE… |
|---|---|
| Efficiency | The push toward automation stems from the need to streamline network management, reduce human error, and improve response times to incidents |
| Simplicity | Automating repetitive and manual tasks becomes essential for ensuring performance, reducing downtime, and enhancing security |
| Future-Proof | According to a Gartner report, by 2025, 60% of organizations will have adopted network automation to some degree, a marked increase from 30% in 2024 |
| Necessity | The shift to network automation is no longer just a trend—it’s an industry standard. |
| Numerous Options | For businesses partnering with BlueAlly, these mature technologies will revolutionize how they operate |
Looking Ahead: The Future of Network Automation
With the global network automation market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2%, reaching $22.58 billion by 2027, the shift to network automation is no longer just a trend—it’s an industry standard. For businesses, this means that investing in the right tools now will offer long-term payoffs, including better security, scalability, and operational efficiency.
With tools like Cisco pyATS, Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), NetBox, Terraform, and Pulumi, organizations can transform how they manage and automate their networks. These solutions offer a path toward greater efficiency, fewer errors, and enhanced network security—enabling IT teams to focus on strategic, high-value tasks while leaving repetitive processes to automation.
For companies ready to take the next step in their network automation journey, partnering with an experienced IT solutions provider is crucial. BlueAlly, with its deep expertise in network and infrastructure automation, is well-positioned to guide businesses through this transition. Whether you need help selecting the right tools, designing an automation strategy, or implementing solutions at scale, BlueAlly offers tailored services to meet your unique business needs.
Connect with BlueAlly today at [email protected] to explore how network automation can help your business achieve its full potential, drive efficiency, and future-proof your operations.