Understanding ROI for Network Change & Configuration Management

Understanding ROI for
Network Change &
Configuration Management
© 2013, SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
1

Agenda

• Why Do Enterprises Need NCCM?
• How Does NCCM Improve Network Management Efficiency?
• Maximize ROI with SolarWinds® NCM
•

Cost achieved by automating NCCM

•

Automate NCCM with SolarWinds NCM

•

Maximize network management ROI with SolarWinds NCM

• 4 Case Studies of Companies That Achieved NCCM ROI Using SolarWinds

2

Why Do Enterprises Need NCCM?
In a growing network infrastructure, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep
pace with updates, patches, and configuration changes that are necessary to
keep networking devices compliant.
Traditional manual methods fall behind on network configuration & change
management activities due to:
»

The large amount of time & effort involved in testing & executing changes

»

Error-prone manual processes that lead to network outage & loss of productivity

»

The large amount of time taken to resolve configuration issues

»

Difficulty in applying management tasks to a large number of devices

»

Difficulty in maintaining up-to-date inventory of devices in the network

3

How Does NCCM Improve
Network Management Efficiency?
Implementing an NCCM solution is a key component of wellstructured network management best practices.

4

NCCM Deployment Doesn’t
Have to be Costly!
Let’s See How SolarWinds can
Help Improve Your Network
Management ROI

5

Cost Savings Achieved By Automating NCCM
»

For example, with an estimated cost of $35/hour for a network engineer to handle a
network of 300 managed switches, the cost savings percentage as compared to
manual efforts would roughly translate to the cost savings in the table below:

»

Further cost savings are realized in terms of worker productivity and how quickly
network outages can be addressed and resolved.
* Based on EMA estimates
6

Automate NCCM with SolarWinds
Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
In order for network engineering and operations to achieve the best possible
operational efficiency, manual processes must give way to automated ones.
- Enterprise Management Associates©(EMA™)

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) helps simplify &
automate network configuration & change management processes by
offering:
»

»
»
»
»
»

Real-time configuration change notification to help reduce downtime caused by
configuration issues
Standard templates that help drastically reduce the time taken to roll out new devices
Easy backup options for device configurations
The ability to execute bulk configuration changes and with rollback options
Compliance audit reports to detect policy violations
Management of device inventory and end-of-life (EOL)


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Maximize Network Management ROI
with SolarWinds NCM
»

Simple & Transparent Licensing - SolarWinds NCM is licensed by the number of
managed network devices and includes the first year of maintenance in the cost.

»

Affordable Pricing - To manage 300 devices it would be necessary to purchase a 500
node SKU @ $7,895 USD.

A single configuration audit cycle in the

Bulk configuration updates, if done once

example pays for the NCM investment

a month, would completely pay back the

almost six times over!

investment in a mere nine months!

* Based on EMA estimates
8

4 Case Studies of Companies
That Achieved NCCM ROI
Using SolarWinds

9

Case Study 1: Legal Services Organization
Situational Snapshot:

» Growing infrastructure of 439 devices across multiple locations
» Encountered two major outages caused due to device configurations within a six
month period
Challenges

Problems
» Increased network downtime

Existing solution failed to archive
configuration

files

and

due to delay in replacing &

the

configuring switch.

configuration for a failed switch

» No configuration backup or

had to be rebuilt form scratch.

archival available for use at the
time of issues.
10

Case Study 1: SolarWinds NCM Value-Add
Values recognized:

» Easily backup & retain all good configurations
» Ensure device compliance with automated compliance reports
» Minimize downtime by quickly replacing device configurations in case of
device replacements/installations

ROI Realized
The legal services organization was able to drastically bring down network
downtime caused due to configuration issues.

11

Case Study 2: Public School District

» No centralized infrastructure to manage networking equipment
» All device configuration tasks are carried out manually
Challenges

Problems

» 300 legacy Cisco® devices
were out of support contract
» Patches were to be applied
manually to each device

» Difficulty in keeping track of
device inventory
» Large effort involved in manual
management
of
device
configurations

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Case Study 2: SolarWinds NCM Value-Add
Benefits of using SolarWinds NCM:

» Notification of changes made to device configurations, when & by whom
» Reduce performance issues due to configuration errors
» Automate & adopt a proactive approach to managing device configurations
» Very little training required to use NCM

ROI Realized
The public school district benefited from large cost savings compared to the
manual method of executing configuration changes over large number of devices.

13

Case Study 3: Government – State Agency

» IT operations are isolated and spread across multiple branch offices over
many locations

Problems

Challenges

» No platform for centralized
management for the multiple
locations
» Unable to manage inventory
and configurations for all
devices in the network

» Manual
configuration
management process
» No standardized process in
place for device backup and
change management

14

Case Study 3: SolarWinds NCM Value Add

» Greater consistency over all devices in the network
» Accountability through user roles and access rights
» Reduced recovery time from configuration issues
» Reduced downtime due to unauthorized and bad configuration changes

ROI Realized
The government-state agency benefited from organized asset management, policy
compliance , and automated configuration management.

15

Case Study 4: Large Healthcare Provider
» Network equipment used is leased and a third party service provider takes
care of remote monitoring and maintenance

Challenges

Problems

» Heavy dependence on the
third party service provider for
notification & resolution of
issues
» Need for better quality
support & increase in network
performance at a lower cost

» No visibility or control over the
network

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Case Study 3: SolarWinds NCM Value Add

» Increased overall network performance
» No more dependency on a third party service provider
» Better and faster troubleshooting of issues
» Formal and controlled process for change and configuration management
ROI Realized
The large health care provider moved from a manual third party vendor for their
network change & configuration process to an in-house formal and controlled

process.
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Read What Industry Experts Say About Improving
Network Configuration Management ROI
Learn how your organization can save time and money, and
improve operational efficiency with a network change and
configuration management (NCCM) solution!

EMA White Paper
ROI for NCM Solutions in
Enterprise Environments: 4
Case Studies
Take a look at how NCCM Solutions
can move you from
unstructured/reactive practices to
more disciplines/proactive
practices

18

Download
FREE White Paper

Thank You!

19

Understanding ROI for Network Change & Configuration Management

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