A recent survey by EMA shows that network automation is increasing in use, with over 80% of respondents indicating they are actively using or deploying network automation, and saving anywhere from 16% to 50% of their network group’s daily administrative tasks.

While targeting automation for configuration backups, config monitoring and IP address management ranked highly in the survey, respondents indicated more network automation would be needed for increasing adoption of cloud, server virtualization initiatives and compliance demands.

At Uplogix, we see the increasing dependence on the WAN as an opportunity for bringing network automation out of the cloud and into the local infrastructure. To stick with the EMA angle, analyst Dennis Drogseth said it well in his Ten Things to Watch for in 2011, “Cloud is making the network sexier, or at least more essential.”

As data and services move to the cloud, don’t forget that your users likely aren’t focused on how that information gets to their desktop. The nearly limitless storage and increasingly business-critical applications will require a WAN that is operating at optimal levels.

One way to ensure that network performance doesn’t negate the savings of cloud-based operations is by implementing automation in the WAN infrastructure. Complementing your centralized tools with localized management from Uplogix will ensure that your users can keep their hopes, dreams, data and applications alive in the cloud, and have the WAN they need to access them.

Read more in the white paper, Storm Clouds Ahead: Why “dumb” console servers are bleeding your company’s bottom line.