Gluware expands network automation platform with AI copilots, GitHub integration

Gluware today announced a series of upcoming features for its network automation platform, designed to streamline network management and reduce downtime across diverse network environments. The new features include an AI-powered copilot that will provide a conversational interface to help network administrators with operations, more scripting options, and integration with NetBox and Github to provide new types of controls and visibility.

At the core of Gluware’s platform is its Device Interaction and Automation Layer (DIAL), which enables communication with a wide array of network devices. The platform currently supports 56 operating systems across 22 vendors, making it a versatile solution for complex network ecosystems. Gluware’s automation capabilities extend to network discovery, inventory management, configuration drift detection, and remediation.

“We are an out-of-the-box platform for network automation,” Ernest Lefner, chief product officer at Gluware, told Network World.

Gluware advances NetOps with AI copilot

Key to Gluware’s new update is the introduction of AI copilots for both developers and network operators. These features aim to transform how users interact with network infrastructure through conversational interfaces.

For network operators, the AI copilot will facilitate tasks such as discovering network devices, updating device attributes, and even automating remediation workflows – all through natural language interactions.

“The goal there, from a network operator’s perspective, is just really helping you take advantage of all the information and the capabilities that you have in the network without having to get on there and be a CLI [command line interface] jockey,” Lefner said. “It’s really simplifying the approach.”

The developer-focused AI copilot assists in writing code, generating JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) structures for configuration modeling and audits. Lefner explained that Gluware has a wrapper around JSON called “J types and jnibs” that allows developers to construct tasks and integrate with other parts of the Gluware platform. The JSON-based wrapper enables developers to leverage standard JSON-based interfaces, rather than having to use Gluware’s GUI exclusively.

Gluware gets into GitOps with GitHub integration

Infrastructure as code (IaC) is an increasingly popular way for organizations to manage operations. One of the common approaches is known as GitOps, where a Git code repository is used as a central location for configuration data.

Gluware is now advancing its GitOps capabilities with a GitHub integration. This integration enables a GitOps model, allowing for more automated and version-controlled infrastructure management. Organizations can now store and manage their Gluware-related code alongside other infrastructure code, improving consistency and compliance.

“The goal is to be able to allow organizations to store their code [and] manage their code, especially from a compliance perspective, in a centralized location,” he said. “We’re already infrastructure-as-data right out of the box, so this is really about getting into the infrastructure-as-code pipeline.”

NetBox integration brings in more network attributes

Gluware is also adding an integration with the increasingly popular NetBox tool, which is an open-source-based technology for documenting and modeling networks.

There are many Gluware customers that use NetBox already, according to Lefner. He commented that NetBox has a powerful technology and acts as a “source or truth” for network configuration. Gluware doesn’t natively store all the same network attributes as NetBox, and there have been Gluware customers that wanted to be able to use some of those attributes to make automation decisions.

The integration opens up new possibilities for automation based on a richer set of network data, enhancing the platform’s decision-making capabilities. 

Reducing network downtime is the goal

Looking ahead to 2025, Gluware is emphasizing what it calls a downtime zero concept. In Lefner’s view, there should not be any acceptance of network downtime in the industry, especially with innovations in AI and automation.

“Even in 2024, and it’s almost 2025, it’s actually sort of absurd how much downtime there is with networks today,” he said. “There’s really no excuse anymore.”