Onsite Ignite 2018 Survey: The Results Are In

Amidst the hustle and bustle of Indeni’s lively booth at Palo Alto Networks Ignite 2018 conference, research was underway. Indeni’s booth visitors were invited to answer a brief survey. Over 260 Palo Alto users answered the survey, providing the Indeni community with even more data regarding Network Security Automation Trends in 2018.

It was clear that “automation” was the hot buzz-word on the expo hall floor this year. The industry is responding to this growing need within the network security industry to automate pieces of maintenance. This being said, it comes as no surprise that 90% of Palo Alto Networks Ignite attendees said automation was either a high priority or on their horizon. This is consistent with our previous research revealing both engineering and IT operations agree automation is a priority for keeping the lights on. For these managers and individual contributors, 68% of automation projects are commissioned to ensure network availability.

There is an agreement to implement automation, yet there are not enough skilled professionals to manage current and future projects. Participants in a previous survey revealed day-to-day troubleshooting is the #1 barrier preventing engineers and operations to contribute to more strategic efforts. On trend with those findings, a quarter (25%) of surveyed Palo Alto Networks attendees reported they spend way too much time on maintenance tasks. To give credit where credit is due, Palo Alto Networks devices do provide reliable visibility to end users, which is why 55% of participants say they dedicate a “moderate” amount of time to maintenance tasks. Needless to say, the vast majority of end users are still dedicating valuable time to the operational health of their firewalls.

These claims resonate with Indeni end users leveraging Indeni to automate maintenance tasks. After analyzing Indeni Insight data, Palo Alto Networks Automation Report showcases the top four issues across Palo Alto Networks devices. Here are the percentages breakdown by category for the top issues:

1. 43%​ Network Visibility
2. 23%​ Maintenance
3. 20%​ Best practices
4. 13%​ High availability

The Network Security industry is filled with intelligent, capable professionals. The Indeni Crowdsourcing model utilizes the knowledge and best practices of this talented community to make the Indeni platform smarter. Witness this collaborative approach to IT in Indeni’s upcoming live webinar and see what crowdsourced knowledge is waiting for you. After all, we could all use a little help from our [expert] friends!