Building Your Own Network Configuration Manager: The Pros, Cons

As organizations grow, so do their networks. Managing hundreds or thousands of network devices quickly becomes a critical and complex task, making a solid Network Configuration Manager (NCM) indispensable. Many companies face a dilemma: Should they build their own NCM using in-house development or scripts, or should they invest in a professional, feature-rich solution?

At first glance, building your own NCM might seem like a cost-saving, flexible approach. You know your network better than anyone, and a customized solution may appear to address your specific needs. However, the reality is more complicated. Developing and maintaining a custom-built NCM can come with hidden costs, scalability challenges, and significant operational risks.

In this post, we'll dive deep into the pros and cons of creating your own NCM versus adopting a professional solution. In doing so, we’ll highlight the flexibility and customization options available with rConfig Automate, a robust solution that offers the best of both worlds: professional-grade capabilities and the ability to adapt to your unique network management requirements.

The Pros of Building Your Own NCM

1. Tailored to Your Needs

The primary argument for building your own NCM is customization. You know the intricacies of your network and can tailor the tool to address specific pain points. For example, a custom-built NCM can automate tasks based on your internal processes, integrate seamlessly with your existing IT systems, and be designed to manage your particular mix of devices, vendors, and configurations.

2. Control Over Features and Updates

When you control the development, you determine the features and when updates happen. This can be especially appealing if your organization has unique requirements or if commercial solutions don’t offer certain niche functionalities. With your own system, you’re not dependent on external vendors to release new features or fixes—you can implement changes on your own schedule.

3. No Licensing Costs

One of the major selling points for building in-house is avoiding licensing fees. Commercial NCM tools often come with high upfront costs or subscription models that accumulate over time. With a custom solution, you're not tied to vendor agreements or continuous payments, at least on the surface.

The Cons of Building Your Own NCM

While there are clear advantages to building your own NCM, there are just as many—if not more—downsides that need to be considered. What initially seems like a simple DIY project often evolves into a complex, resource-intensive endeavor.

1. Significant Development and Maintenance Costs

Developing a custom NCM requires considerable upfront investment, including time, skilled personnel, and resources. Building a robust, secure, and scalable solution can take months (or even years) of work, requiring dedicated teams of developers, network engineers, and testers.

Once the system is built, the costs don’t stop there. Maintaining an NCM is an ongoing effort. Networks evolve constantly, with new devices, configurations, and security challenges to manage. Each change requires updates, patches, and constant monitoring. This continuous development can easily outpace your team's capacity, especially if you’re also handling core business activities.

In many cases, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for a custom NCM ends up being far higher than the cost of licensing a professional solution over time.

2. Lack of Vendor Support

With a custom-built system, there’s no vendor support to lean on when something breaks or when your team runs into performance issues. Diagnosing problems, fixing bugs, and improving the system all falls on your internal team. If key personnel leave the company, their specialized knowledge can go with them, leaving you vulnerable to downtime and operational risks.

3. Scalability Challenges

A DIY NCM solution might work well for small networks, but as your business grows, so does the complexity of managing a larger, distributed network. Without the right design and infrastructure from the outset, a custom solution may struggle to scale efficiently.

Professional NCM tools, like rConfig Automate, are built with scalability in mind. They can handle thousands of devices across various locations and vendors, all while maintaining performance and security standards. Attempting to scale a homegrown NCM to this level often results in performance bottlenecks, higher costs, and increased system fragility.

4. Security Risks

Network security is non-negotiable in today's threat landscape. A custom-built NCM must account for secure storage of configurations, access controls, audit trails, and compliance monitoring. Achieving this level of security requires significant expertise and constant vigilance. In contrast, professional NCM solutions undergo rigorous security testing and come with built-in features to ensure compliance with industry standards.

The Professional Alternative: Why Choose a Feature-Rich NCM Like rConfig Automate

1. Cost-Effective in the Long Run

While upfront costs for a commercial NCM solution might seem high, the total cost of ownership over time is often lower than that of a custom-built system. You eliminate the need for dedicated development teams, constant maintenance, and the risk of unforeseen expenses. With rConfig Automate, you get a robust, feature-rich NCM solution at a price point that scales with your business, ensuring you only pay for what you need.

2. Professional Features Right Out of the Box

Professional solutions come with a comprehensive set of features that would take years to develop in-house. With rConfig Automate, you get out-of-the-box functionalities like:

Automated configuration backups and restorations
Compliance management and reporting
Device inventory management
Bulk configuration changes
Integration with existing IT tools (monitoring, ticketing, etc.)

These features are not just available but have been tested, refined, and optimized through years of real-world usage.

3. Security and Compliance

rConfig Automate provides enterprise-level security features, ensuring that your network configurations are protected against unauthorized access and changes. This includes role-based access controls (RBAC), audit logs, and support for industry compliance standards like PCI DSS and GDPR.

By using a professional NCM tool, you also benefit from regular security updates and patches, keeping your network resilient against evolving cyber threats.

4. Scalability and Performance

Whether you're managing a small network or thousands of devices across multiple locations, rConfig Automate scales to fit your needs. Built on a modern, efficient architecture, it handles the increasing demands of your network without performance degradation, ensuring that your operations run smoothly as your business grows.

Why rConfig Automate is the Best of Both Worlds

The one thing many organizations fear when switching to a commercial solution is losing control and customization. However, with rConfig Automate, you don’t have to sacrifice customization. The platform offers extensive automation capabilities and can be tailored to fit your specific workflows, device configurations, and network architecture.

With rConfig Automate, you get the reliability and support of a professional solution while retaining the ability to customize key aspects of your NCM, such as:

Custom scripts and workflows
Tailored configuration templates
Integration with existing in-house systems

This ensures that you maintain the flexibility you might seek in a homegrown solution but without the maintenance burden.

Conclusion: The Smarter Choice for Network Configuration Management

Building your own Network Configuration Manager might seem like a logical step, but the hidden costs, complexity, and security risks often outweigh the perceived benefits. While an in-house solution offers control and customization, the effort required to maintain and scale it can quickly become overwhelming.

By choosing a professional NCM solution like rConfig Automate, you get the best of both worlds: a feature-rich, cost-effective platform with built-in security and scalability, along with the ability to customize the system to fit your specific needs. It’s time to move beyond scripts and custom development to a smarter, more efficient way of managing your network configurations.

Make the switch to rConfig Automate and gain the confidence that your network is in good hands—without sacrificing flexibility.

Building Your Own Network Configuration Manager: The Pros, Cons, and Why a Professional Solution Like rConfig Automate is the Better Choice