Guest: Mike Haugh (LinkedIn)
Company: Gluware (Twitter)
Show: Let’s Talk

Gluware automates the networks of the world’s largest and most complex enterprises, keeping them secure and in compliance. Its out-of-the-box automation suite includes capabilities for network inventory, configuration drift monitoring, configuration auditing, and configuration management, all with a no-code approach.

In this episode of TFiR: Let’s Talk, Mike Haugh, VP of Product Marketing at Gluware, shares his insights on network automation and how Gluware is leading the charge in this all-important space.

Highlights of this video interview:

• While the industry spotlight nowadays is on building out artificial intelligence (AI), the fact remains that the network is still that key underlying layer that enables everything. Without the network layer working efficiently and securely, there is no plumbing for any of the applications to work. The AI systems are not going to work. Connectivity to the cloud is not going to work.
• There has been a significant move from task-oriented and silo-oriented behaviors to process-oriented behavior and business outcomes. And it’s happening in automation.
• Gluware offers customers an accelerated path built on data modeling. It has built-in API integrations and is fully customizable. It helps them accomplish those business goals of compliance, security, and efficiency.
• A year ago, it introduced Network RPA, which is process automation. You can do an audit before you make a config change. Or you can verify a state before and after an OS upgrade. You can integrate APIs so you can tie into things like your ServiceNow platform or your remedy platform for ticketing ITSM, or source of truth integration.
• Oftentimes, people have automation, but they are individual low-level scripts or playbooks and there’s some human doing a lot of work before and after it. Ultimately, that’s not highly effective. Gluware has both purposeful apps as well as process automation to help enterprises accelerate their automation journey.

Gluware 5.1 is a major platform release, which includes:

• a new centralized credential management.
• Network RPA app with new capabilities like error handling with Try-Catch Logic, import and export workflows, state assessment
• Topology for the visualization of the network when generating site documentation
• Expanded vendor support for Cisco ACI, Cisco Meraki, and Versa Networks.

Advice for companies looking to transform their business through process automation:

• Break down the silos.
• Enable cross-pollination, i.e., expose your technology teams to the other areas so they see how things work end to end.
• Frame the work that they’re doing—be it networking, automation, security, etc.—is enabling whatever your company’s goal is. For example, if you are a pharmaceutical company finding a cure for cancer, your networking team is actually enabling the company to do that faster.
• Give your people the opportunities to grow and expand beyond their single silo or domain, and opportunities to learn and solve complex business challenges.  
• There’s new energy being given to the networking teams and the infrastructure teams that are delivering technologies that ultimately power exciting technologies like AI/ML.
• The larger the organization, the harder it is to turn the ship. Change within is difficult. Old companies come under competitive pressure, or they have a breach or an outage that affects their business. A catalyst is needed to create the change. Have a leader who understands that process automation can be transformative to your business.
• Have products and people who can integrate APIs, build end-to-end automation, and can evaluate how you’re automating to ensure your company’s moving up into more modern approaches.

This summary was written by Camille Gregory.