NetOps: The New Stone Soup

Networking Operations can be given a DevOps shake-up by introducing automation, observability and agility- it’s like Network Engineers coming to a Developers’ party

The word ‘Ops’ is used very generously these days, it seems. There’s SecOps, SecDevOps, AIOps and pretty soon something like EverythingOps. The story can be traced back to DevOps. A scenario where developers were given a new power steering wheel, ADAS, Anti-lock Braking system and sharp sensors so that they could recline every now and then without turning the engines off. Someone was bound to come up with a question- Hey, why not use this for network engineers too! Don’t they deserve to stretch their legs, and have a coffee break without staring at the screen all the time?

So came in NetOps. Just put network applications and services in this pot and start adding any ingredient from the new IT backyard in it. Toss in automation. Put some proactive network management. Sprinkle orchestration. Stir in some virtualisation. Add a lot of observability. Pour all rapid deployment syrup that you can. You will soon start smelling new flavours out of the same network pot.

In a NetOps milieu network engineers automate perform management, operational, and maintenance tasks. When this happens, response time and accuracy is improved for changes in conditions – and it builds NetOps muscle. With a single source of truth and deep visibility, network managers can detect anomalies, handle troubleshooting, update network elements and accelerate incident response. It is augmented through various approaches and tools- like automated network configuration, multipath WAN optimisation, performance reporting and remote access control.

What transpires then is – real and dependable agility. Network engineers can spin up services faster, control failures better, cut down mean time for services, amp-up mean failure recovery metrics and get a bird’s eye view across all network devices and applications. The bird in case here – an eagle.

It doesn’t end there. It starts there. Soon enough AI will be added in a generous way to make this area more autonomous, more agile, more predictable, more consistent and more transparent. With Machine Learning and Software-Defined Networking coming in generous doses, this soup will only get more and more fluid and spicy.

It’s an area that is evolving fast and brewing with new directions. We are already hearing about NetOps 2.0 and who knows what’s coming next, and how soon. It’s a stone soup. As long as you don’t ask what’s the ‘stone’ here, keep stirring the pot! Or the car. Whatever your hands like.