Application services are the fuel that keeps applications up and running. Hundreds of web servers sit behind a business’s applications to handle multiple customer requests simultaneously. The application delivery controller (ADC) sits between the client and the server to accept incoming network and application traffic, distributing that traffic across multiple back-end servers.
The application delivery market has evolved to do much more than application load balancing. In fact, the advent of digitalization has opened doors for cloud-native ADC solutions and open-source load balancing software services.
However, network teams are finding it difficult to manage this new heterogeneous ADC infrastructure, which is very complex and dynamic. Most enterprises approach ADC management manually, prioritizing requests related to business-critical applications, which leaves them little time left to maintain network maps, optimize configurations or to validate post-deployment. On top of all this, they are also tasked with addressing dozens of daily change requests.
According to a recent ADC survey by ZK research, most network functions can be provisioned quickly, but provisioning core ADC features still presents a challenge. When respondents were asked how long it takes to implement an ADC change request – 51% said it takes days, 31% said it takes weeks or months, and only 18% said they could complete the process in minutes and meet the SLA. The research also notes that the lag in ADC change management is impacting application rollouts, and 67% of survey respondents said a lack of automation creates delays.
To begin addressing these challenges, enterprises must consider a more centralized approach to managing ADCs. An advanced ADC automation and management solution integrated with DDI and ITSM systems can automate the entire change workflow and address common challenges by:
- Introducing consistent change management controls and enforcing deployment standards to address various application deployment scenarios.
- Standardizing service offerings to quickly address change requests.
- Automating configuration change requests to enable faster, more efficient delivery.
- Maintaining an optimized ADC deployment process and bridging the gap between network and application teams.
Download the new 2018 Guide to ADC Management and Automation: How to Get Ahead of the Curve which presents a simplified framework for automating repeatable processes, enabling more effective collaboration, enforcing compliance, eliminating errors and reducing costs.
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About the Author
Anand Purusothaman
Chief Technology Officer
Anand has more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry, specifically in product design and development.
