Products: Network Configuration and Change Management

 

In today’s connected world, organizations increasingly rely on their networks to deliver ‘next gen’ services, conduct electronic commerce and exchange information. This ubiquitous connectivity has also led to increased infrastructure costs and complexity. Device proliferation; convergence of voice, video, data and storage; technology advances; and the need for stringent security have all contributed to these trends. Basic network configuration tools and manual processes are no longer sufficient, and intelligent automation is critical to the effective and efficient management of today’s networks.

Intelliden has pioneered the next generation of Intelligent Networking solutions for network-driven organizations to control, manage and scale their networks.

Challenges
Network-driven organizations face a number of challenges in configuring and managing dynamic, complex and heterogeneous networks:

• Deliver precise and consistent configuration changes to prevent outages, security vulnerabilities and SLA breaches
• Eliminate manual and/or script based applications that lead to errors and operational inefficiencies
• Effectively manage and control multi-vendor network environment irrespective of the device vendor, type, model and OS
• Scale and simplify changes to support thousands of devices with large configurations
• Provide greater visibility and easier integration into network resources
• Ensure that all configuration and change management processes conform to network policies and industry best practices e.g. ITIL

Solution
Intelliden Network Configuration and Change Management (NCCM) application is designed specifically for dynamic, complex and heterogeneous network environments, and provides an unprecedented level of standardization, accuracy and automation. Built upon the innovative and patented R-Series® platform, which provides real-time knowledge of network state and serves as a control plane for underlying network devices, Intelliden NCCM automates time-consuming device configuration and change management tasks. Intelliden NCCM has been proven at leading Communications Service Providers, Financial Services institutions, Government organizations, and other enterprises whose business depends on their networks.

Key NCCM capabilities include:

Discovery & Reconciliation

• Automatically discover and reconcile thousands of devices and related information (e.g. chassis, memory, cards, port, serial number, OS etc.)
• Provide bulk loading of thousands of network devices from external sources

Real-time Configuration Management

• Accurately and rapidly apply configuration changes through data-driven programmable templates based on the real-time network state
• Provide full / partial back-up and restore of device configurations
• Support out of band detection and management of changes

Non Disruptive Rollback

• Rollback devices to a previously known good state without the need for reboot - an essential requirement for network driven organizations

Comprehensive Change Management

• Multiple levels of approvals for network changes through a customizable workflow
• Automate multi-step, complex changes to multiple devices through user defined command sets
• Ability to schedule changes for future execution e.g. during maintenance windows or off peak hours

Audit Tracking

• Maintain complete historical audit trail of all network changes
• Archive and version historical configurations for audit purposes

Security

• Permission-based network lock-down in the event of intrusion
• Comprehensive ACL management

Reporting and Notification

• Out-of-the-box and customizable reports for device changes and configuration information
• Customizable notifications based upon users, groups, and types of changes

Standards-based Integration

• Comprehensive open APIs for easy integration to 3^rd party applications
• Connectors for leading fault management, inventory, network planning and other enterprise / OSS applications

Benefits
Intelliden Network Configuration and Change Management application provides a number of unique benefits:

• Improves operational efficiencies through greater automation and unified control plane for multi-vendor devices
• Prevents outages and reduces mean time to repair by ensuring accurate and efficient change management
• Maximizes security through role-based access and comprehensive ACL management
• Meets the scalability & performance requirements of the largest and most complex networks
• Provides greater standardization and adherence of organizational policies and industry best practices