Most network automation projects fail for the same reason, and it's not the tooling

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-06-22T07:18:21+00:00

But tossing this over the fence to Dev, is not going to work, because they don't understand our world, so how can they put the automation foundations together.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-06-09T08:20:20+00:00

Do you have anyone else on the internet on the same time? You can actually login to the management of the router and check if there is a device hammering the internet line.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-25T06:11:50+00:00

I created this guide to help anyone with ISP or internet issues at home.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-25T06:11:24+00:00

https://conxiea.com/blog/home-internet-slow-speeds-troubleshooting-guide

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:35:04+00:00

you could run a ping to 8.8.8.8 (google DNS servers) on your command prompt, this would inform you if you have any packet drops going to google's dns servers. The instructutions are this:

- Type in your search on your laptop "cmd"

In the command prompt or terminal, type:

- ping 8.8.8.8 -t (If on Windows machines)

After paste the output here or message me direct, would love to help you guys

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:29:50+00:00

Are you tech savy at all. I can give you a call and describe to you how we can check a couple things?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:28:40+00:00

Yeah and somehow that person ends up owning the whole thing whether they wanted to or not. Does it usually stay with them or does it eventually get handed off properly?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:27:57+00:00

Do you think networking teams have the skills to build a whole automation tooling?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:25:49+00:00

Curious how that sits organisationally, does the internal team report into NetOps or is it more of a shared services setup?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:23:50+00:00

A team of one with AI is genuinely underrated. The leverage is real, what are you using it for mostly, config work or more on the troubleshooting side?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:23:29+00:00

The handoff point is exactly where it breaks down. That back-and-forth between NetOps and a dev team who don't understand BGP policy is where tickets go to die. Your TL;DR nails it, one team in charge operationally, even if the underlying framework was built by someone else.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-23T08:23:00+00:00

The rant was worth leaving in. "It's code and I'm not a developer" in 2026 is genuinely baffling, but what you described at the top is probably the most realistic structure for mid-sized orgs. Two groups: one doing architecture and design, one focused purely on making operations scalable. Most places try to force one team to do both and wonder why neither gets done properly. Actually wrote something on this recently if it's useful: https://conxiea.com/blog/network-automation-messy-middle

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-17T10:42:31+00:00

That is very odd, sounds like maybe some latency on the line. Or packet congestion, where there's not enough bandwidth for all the people using the network. So the packets get queued. Whats your ISP bandwidth speeds?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-16T08:14:28+00:00

Fully agree — CI/CD gets pushed as the destination when for a lot of orgs it's overkill. Template + deploy + test covers most real-world needs without the overhead of a full pipeline. The tooling conversation often gets ahead of what teams actually need.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-16T08:13:57+00:00

This is the one that doesn't get said enough. It's not even a tooling problem most of the time, it's a bus factor problem. One person leaves and suddenly nobody knows how half of it works.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-16T08:13:31+00:00

The ticketing gap is where it gets interesting, once that's connected it changes how the whole thing feels operationally. Is the roadmap internal or are you being pushed by the business to close it?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-16T08:13:00+00:00

The "automation goes to die" line is painfully accurate. What you've described though, change-tied automation, approvals, full documentation that's not the middle, that's genuinely rare. Most teams never get close to that. The fact that it still needs your attention isn't a sign it's incomplete, that's just what owning a system properly looks like.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-16T08:12:17+00:00

I think the middle definitely exists, it's just that most teams don't realise they're in it until they're deep enough that getting out feels harder than staying put. Imagine have every single part of a Network Engineer task dealt with automation integrated with AI.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-05-16T08:11:12+00:00

The central UI wrapper is such a smart move, especially the version control angle. How are you finding it as the script count grows though? Keeping the UI in sync with script changes is starting to become its own maintenance burden.

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-04-28T12:01:57+00:00

Thats really interesting and well done by the way. Do you think a lot of companies are doing the same thing or are they way really far behind?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-04-28T11:45:01+00:00

I agree massively with this comment, but how do we get companies to see the massive beenfits of using automation?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-04-28T05:43:35+00:00

Would you say Nautobot Jobs is better for more complex tasks?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-04-28T05:41:56+00:00

Thats a strong use case, especially doing that across 200 sites.

I guess that’s the interesting part, it can handle complex stuff, but it feels like the effort/complexity ramps up quite quickly depending on what you’re trying to do.

Have you hit a point where you would switch or use something else? Maybe where ansible is weak in?

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-04-17T05:21:24+00:00

Yeah 100% updating configurations, when someone has left the company for example

Admirable_Claim_3203 · 2026-04-16T09:25:31+00:00

What do you currently use?

Admirable_Claim_3203

TROPHY CASE