The NMSaaS NCCM module delivers key Network Configuration and Change Management functions including real-time configuration backup and restoration, process orientated change management, configuration policy management and two additional subscription services delivering vulnerability and end-of-life/end-of-service updates.

The NCCM module is a fully integrated component of the NMSaaS family, using the same common core services, device interaction layers and user interfaces as the current products, which delivers a true ‘single product’ management solution with a greatly reduced time for user familiarization.

This module is a core component of any companies ITIL service and change management implementation. Using a powerful device scripting engine support for new devices can be enabled within the product quickly and easily.

For devices under management, all configurations are captured and historically versioned as soon as a change has been detected, even when that change was made from outside the product through other management ports or products. In addition, snapshot device troubleshooting information can be captured during the same interaction process.

As the NMSaaS NCCM module captures every configuration change for a device within its database, the time to identify, analyze and rectify change related faults is greatly reduced as the operator is given the answers to the key questions of who, what, where and when. Historical device configurations can be used to restore devices to a previous known state with only a few mouse clicks.

Organizations can never truly eliminate the ad-hoc changes to network device configurations but with the NMSaaS NCCM module the impact of these changes can be mitigated. Larger scale changes can be structured into change process jobs for controlled execution and these changes can be rolled back at any time. Configuration changes can be made either using simple CLI commands or using more powerful logic based snippets and templates which enable less technical staff to make routine changes.

“Over 40% of network downtime can be directly attributed to configuration faults due to human error.” Source, Gartner Group

Key to managing device configurations is ensuring that they meet the corporate standards which can include, for example, security settings and software version requirements. The NMSaaS NCCM module allows these configuration standards to be built into policies that can be applied to devices and action can be taken if a device is in violation of these policies. Policies can be built using standard pattern matching techniques, advanced scriptlets for repetition checking and full script logic. This allows the user to create policies to cover even the most complex requirements using while-if-then-else logic to eliminate false-positives and false-negatives.

Features

• Fully integrated module within the NMSaaS network management solution.
• Full device configuration backup and restoration through real-time change detection, manual request and scheduled processes.
• Extensible device interaction scripting enables rapid new device support.
• Device configuration change using simple CLI commands, advanced logic command snippets and templates.
• Intelligent configuration policy management using advanced logic snippets or scripts.
• Out-of-the-box security policy and remediation examples from the NSA best practice guidelines.
• Advanced multi-vendor device vulnerability identification and remediation.

Benefits

• Ensures a complete configuration backup for all devices under management.
• Historically version all configuration backups for easy restoration to previous known state.
• Automate complex tasks into simple templates.
• Accelerate time to complete changes and rollouts.
• Eliminate the risk associated with human error in the change process.
• Enforce corporate policies and quickly view configuration deviations from those standards.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley or Basel2 with a full audit trail.
• Enable the use of Best Practices within an organisation such as ITIL v2/v3.