What is network automation?
As a relatively new discipline, it’s not uncommon to see a broad spectrum of network automation definitions that vary in scope and goals. Network automation isn’t about one use case or technology in particular, but rather what can be of help in your environment and benefit your business.
Some engineers would argue that routing protocols already automate networks and the CLI is the intent-based API, transforming individual network commands into a dynamic network state. We don’t try to argue with this point of view, as there are some grains of truth in these statements, but it’s certainly not the most popular definition in the industry.
Instead, let’s define network automation as a set of processes to automate common manual workflows performed by a network operator, such as provisioning services, performing software upgrades, or telemetry processing. This includes tasks that network engineers would otherwise traditionally...
