Using continuous compliance for networks


You can achieve Compliance Automation for networks by integrating BMC Network Automation, BMC Remedy ITSM applications and the BMC Atrium CMDB. This integration enables an automated coordination of configuration management processes with other Information Technology Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) processes.

Available use cases

The following table lists a subset of the user stories you can perform after you have implemented the BMC Continuous Compliance for Network Automation solution. These use cases demonstrate how you can automate the way network changes (such as updating configuration attributes across one or more devices) are tracked and approved, whether the changes are initiated by a BMC Network Automation network engineer (that is, Operations) or by a staff member at the BMC Remedy Service Desk.

Use case

Description and references

When network configuration changes are implemented, network engineers are required to document these changes in BMC Remedy Change Management. To automate the change tracking and documentation process, a network change request is automatically created in BMC Remedy Change Management when a network user submits a job that requires BMC Remedy approval. After the change request is approved in BMC Remedy, the change is scheduled for execution in BMC Network Automation.

In the IT environment of most large enterprises, general change requests like provisioning a new server are often initiated by the BMC Remedy Service Desk. The network group is required to make a network change to provision the server onto the network. When the Service Desk user submits a network change request through BMC Remedy, it appears in the BMC Network Automation BMC Remedy inbox where the network engineer can create a job to service the request. The job will contain the actions required to support the change request – for example, provisioning the switch port for the server.

BMC Network Automation performs network compliance audits based on security, operational, and regulatory configuration standards. When a compliance violation is detected, BMC Network Automation can automatically open a network incident in BMC Remedy Incident Management and optionally relate a network change request within BMC Remedy Change Management to begin the remediation and tracking process.

Network engineers occasionally make one-time changes without requiring any prior approvals. Reconciling jobs is a capability that ensures all changes on the network that occur without prior approval can be tracked in the Change Management system.

Additional use cases

If you have completed an integration with the BMC Atrium CMDB, you can also perform other operational tasks within the context of the business service, such as:

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