Tail-f Systems' Cisco Configuration Engine Transforms Management of Cisco Networking Equipment

STOCKHOLM, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tail-f Systems, the leading provider of configuration management software for networking equipment and network management systems, today announced the launch of its Cisco Configuration Engine. A module of Tail-f Systems' NCS platform, the Cisco Configuration Engine is the first and only code-free solution for automated configuration management of Cisco equipment.  In comparison to traditional CLI (Command Line Interface) scripting tools, this new approach radically reduces the cost and time required to develop and maintain service activation systems for Cisco equipment while at the same time reducing the risk of disruptive configuration errors.

"The historically painful practice of using CLI scripting to provision Cisco equipment has reached its breaking point, becoming a significant impediment to cost effective network operations," said Nancee Ruzicka, OSS/BSS Strategy Director, Stratecast. "Service providers are looking for reliable and cost effective solutions for configuration management. Innovation in this area is long overdue and Tail-f Systems' new Cisco Configuration Engine is intended to be a game changer."

Up until now network operators have opted to use either CLI scripting or commercial adapter-based software to automate configuration of Cisco networking equipment. Both approaches suffer from significant limitations. The maintenance of CLI scripts is very time consuming and the absence of programmatic transaction management and error handling make CLI scripts prone to errors and resulting network disruptions. Commercial adapter-based software is expensive, inflexible, and, typically, the workflow required to make changes is complicated and time consuming.

Tail-f Systems' NCS platform implements a model-driven architecture that enables developers to build powerful service provisioning platforms. NCS can be used to augment OSS systems or build full FCAPS EMS/NMS platforms. Out of the box, NCS provides fine-grained configuration management for NETCONF-enabled network devices including Juniper JunOS-based products. Tail-f Systems' Cisco Configuration Engine now enables Cisco IOS, IOS-XR and NX-OS-based products to share the benefits of NCS.

Key Benefits of NCS with Cisco Configuration Engine:

• Innovative code-free technology eliminates soaring development costs and delays associated with writing and maintaining task-specific CLI scripts;
• Bidirectional engine outputting Cisco CLI commands from a single data model or processing  Cisco CLI commands from live devices;
• Extensive transaction and validation management reduces risk of configuration errors during complex multi-box changes;
• Auto-rendering of management interfaces and a built-in device simulator allows developers to rapidly prototype and test management platforms during development.

"It is now common to find large teams of in-house or outsourced programmers working on CLI scripting, but despite all the money spent on these efforts, configuring Cisco equipment is still a painful process," said Fredrik Lundberg, CEO, Tail-f Systems. "With the Cisco Configuration Engine added to our NCS product line, we now can help our customers build automated service provisioning platforms that seamlessly support a high percentage of all installed network devices."

Availability

The Cisco Configuration Engine will be available in Q3, 2011 and is being announced at the TM Forum's Management World in Dublin on May 23-26, 2011 where Tail-f Systems will also participate in the Catalyst demonstration "Managing Cloud Resource, Service and Revenue" in conjunction with Telus, HP, Amdocs, Aria Networks, Cariden, and Sidonis. For more information on NCS and its Cisco Configuration Engine, please visit http://www.tail-f.com/products-and-services/ncs/cisco-configuration-engine.

About Tail-f Systems

Tail-f Systems is the leading provider of configuration management software for networking equipment and network management systems. Six of the ten largest global networking equipment providers are Tail-f Systems' customers. Users of Tail-f Systems' technology radically reduce their time-to-market and benefit from carrier-grade implementations of NETCONF, CLI, Web, and SNMP interfaces. Tail-f is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information, please visit www.tail-f.com.

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Media Contact:  Ashley Marsh, 210-853-5851, [email protected]

SOURCE Tail-f Systems