BackBox introduces Network Configuration Management (NCM) on the BackBox Network Automation Platform, a set of NCM capabilities built on automation to improve NCM scalability, performance, and utility. With this set of capabilities, BackBox integrates NCM automation into NetOps workflows, adds a searchable configuration repository, and now works with ServiceNow.

The new ServiceNow integration improves device discovery by enabling the BackBox Automation Platform to connect to the ServiceNow CMDB to import devices. Administrators can also now automate trouble-ticketing and ticket-enrichment, with the ability to open and close tickets, and populate technical details in a ticket saving time and simplifying problem investigation.

"With a proven track record of network and security device automation, BackBox is creating new opportunities for network administrators to improve their team's performance," said Andrew Kahl, CEO of BackBox. "Incorporating ever more robust NCM capabilities into our automation platform empowers network operations teams to improve network security, performance, and solve problems faster."

For the first time, Gartner's "Market Guide for Network Automation Platforms," released in Q4 2023, included NCM capabilities as standard requirements for a network automation platform. Gartner's inclusion of NCM in their Network Automation category suggests that modern NCM architecture is built on automation, not as an extension of network monitoring as it has been in the past.

BackBox NCM takes traditional NCM to the next level by building NCM onto an automation platform. The BackBox Network Automation Platform delivers out-of-the-box simplicity and rapid time-to-value for NCM use cases:

• Enables improved NCM performance and scalability
• Leads with API-first integration into the cloud-native world of NetOps.
• Has the same trusted simplicity as BackBox backups, OS updates, compliance, and NVM.
• Is simple and automated; no scripting, like Python or YAML, is needed.
• Includes broad multivendor support, including firewalls and other security devices; expanding NCM's reach relative to other solutions.
  

"BackBox NCM's no-code automation means that engineers don't also have to be developers," said Josh Stephens, CTO Emeritus and Board Advisor of BackBox. "The API-first approach means that any automation can be integrated into a NetOps workflow. With the fastest time to value and lowest total cost of ownership, BackBox NCM is an easy economic decision as well."