Unlike other areas of IT operations where commercial tools dominate, network teams continue to rely heavily on homegrown scripts and open-source tools — despite the costs.
64% of enterprise networking teams use internally developed software or scripts for network automation, but 61% of those teams spend six or more hours per week debugging and maintaining them, according to From Scripts to Platforms: Why Homegrown Tools Dominate Network Automation and How Vendors Can Help, my latest Enterprise Management Associates (EMA™) report.
Network engineers often talk about the 80/20 rule with network automation. Most vendors can fulfill 80% of network automation use cases with commercial tools, but there always remains that 20% that only a DIY approach can address. The report explores a possible hybrid approach, where engineers can merge their DIY automation with commercial platforms to hit 100% of use cases more efficiently and effectively.
Based on 12 in-depth interviews with enterprise network automation experts, this new report examines why do-it-yourself (DIY) network automation persists, the value it offers, and the hidden costs and risks it introduces. It also explores how network automation vendors can enhance or replace these tools without disrupting existing operations.
Some of the key findings from the report include:
- The drivers of DIY network automation include budget issues and the need to have full control over an automation roadmap.
- DIY automation strategies typically struggle with skills gaps in the network automation team, tool complexity, usability issues.
- Network automation pros would like vendors to deliver value around tool governance, modularity and extensibility, and logging and reporting.