IT pros are of mixed minds about CLIs. They know CLIs inhibit network automation, but they appreciate the agility they can provide. Based on an ESG survey of IT pros, the main benefit of network automation, cited by 20 percent of respondents, is that configurations become more consistent as manual methods are used less often. Another 14 percent are worried about human error. On the flip side, 18 percent say that want agility gained through “scripting and author automation methods.” The paradox here is that scripting is often done using CLIs. TNS just covered an Ansible announcement that dealt with network automation, and also wrote about StackStorm, which has since been bought and integrated into Brocade’s portfolio.
