In my first blog of this two-part series, I broke down the five automation metrics and principles I rely on most to help leadership demonstrate value. This second blog builds on that thinking. In my e-book, ‘Network automation in 2026: building resilience, assurance and future-ready networks’, I explained that one of the biggest challenges that network and operations leaders face today is making every change safe. 

Automation is not just about efficiency, but maintaining control within modern networks that are dynamic, distributed and tightly-connected to cloud platforms and third-party services. While automation is essential, speed without control creates risk. By unifying the three capabilities of assurance, observability and lifecycle management, it becomes possible to execute network changes in a safe and repeatable way.

Assurance: Validate before and after every change

For me, assurance is the foundation. Validate every change is safe and compliant before it goes live, then confirm it behaves as intended after deployment. Continuous validation before and after every change is now expected, helping to ensure changes are safe and compliant. Streaming telemetry and service mesh architectures provide real-time visibility, making it easier to spot issues and respond quickly

How to implement assurance:

• Define policies as code and embed them in your pipeline. 
• Run intent checks to catch misconfiguration and drift early. 
• Use change windows that include automated validation and safe rollback paths.

Outcome: Fewer failed releases and emergency fixes and better audit outcomes because evidence is generated as part of normal work. 

Observability: Real insight from streaming telemetry

In my first blog, I covered MTTR and MTTD with the time it takes you to detect issues and restore normal service. Observability is what drives this. Move beyond static, device-centric health checks to provide continuous visibility across paths, services and users.

How to implement observability: 

• Stream telemetry from network and edge assets into a common model. 
• Use service mesh patterns where appropriate to trace requests end-to-end. 
• Align dashboards to service objectives, not individual devices. 

Outcome: Faster detection, clearer root cause and performance data that stakeholders can actually trust. 

Lifecycle management: Remove tech debt as you modernise

Teams often try to automate on top of legacy risks. Lifecycle management prevents that. You plan upgrades, renewals and retirements proactively to prevent new changes from piling risk onto legacy.

How to implement lifecycle management: 

• Maintain an accurate inventory and map controls to business risk. 
• Standardise on reference designs that are easier to secure and support. 
• Budget for renewal and decommissioning alongside new projects. 

Outcome: Lower exposure, simpler operations and a platform that adapts as the business evolves. 

How to implement a safe automation framework

To bring assurance, observability and lifecycle management together for safe automation, I recommend organisations consider the following best practices:  

1. Start with responsibility: Assign clear owners for providers and controls. Everyone should know who approves what. 
2. Use reference designs: Build simple patterns that map known threats to specific controls, then reuse them. 
3. Automate safely: Codify configuration and policy, prevent drift and escalate recovery with tested rollbacks. 
4. Adopt Zero Trust: Assume breach, verify access and enforce least privilege across sites and clouds. 
5. Strengthen monitoring: Track performance, changes, access and compliance in one place. 
6. Keep governance practical: Set standards that teams can follow, measure them and iterate. 

What to measure

To make progress visible and defensible, you can refer back to the core metrics from my e-book and previous blog:  

• Change success rate and rollback avoidance 
• MTTR and MTTD
• Compliance score and drift
• Latency and packet loss against service objectives.

These metrics will help you determine whether your automation is actually making change safer.  

Two quick wins for the first 30 days

If you want to quickly build momentum, I recommend: 

• Pre-change validation on one high-traffic service: Add automated checks for policy compliance and performance impact, then track the effect on change success rate. 
• Drift detection with weekly remediation: Choose a critical domain, enable drift alerts and close gaps to raise your compliance score. 

Where SD-WAN and SASE fit

At the edge, SD-WAN and SASE extend consistent policy and observability to every site. They simplify operations, support identity-led access that aligns to Zero Trust and reduce risks from technical debt and legacy systems so networks can adapt securely as business needs evolve. 

How we can help

In my work with clients, I see the same challenge time and again: network change needs to move faster, but it also needs to be safer and more predictable. At CACI, we help organisations bring structure, visibility and governance to complex networks so change can happen with confidence. 

We support teams in putting practical assurance and observability in place, improving lifecycle management and reducing configuration drift, without slowing delivery. That means fewer regressions, clearer accountability and a more predictable change pipeline.
 
If you’d like to explore how this approach could work in your environment, visit our Network Automation page to start the conversation with our specialists. 
 
You can also download my new Network Automation in 2026 eBook for a deeper dive into how assurance and automation work together to build resilient, future-ready networks. 

In my new e-book ‘Network automation in 2026: building resilience, assurance and future-ready networks’, I uncover how network automation is no longer just about speed, but about reducing operational risk, strengthening compliance and stabilising services when the unexpected strikes. To meet the expectations of leadership, network automation must clearly demonstrate its ability to deliver on outcomes.  

This first blog in a two-part series breaks down five automation metrics and principles I rely on to help advise leadership: practical, executive-friendly and aligned to how boards evaluate resilience, risk and customer experience.

1. Change success rate and rollback avoidance 

What it is: This is the proportion of changes that complete as planned without causing incidents or requiring rollback. 
Why it matters: In my experience, this is one of the fastest ways to prove to leadership that automation is about increasing safety and predictability, not just throughput. 

How to improve:  

• I always begin with applying pre-change validation, policy gates and standardised reference designs that map controls to threats with simple, repeatable patterns. These give teams simple, repeatable patterns that map controls to threats. 
• Instrument your pipelines to capture change outcomes automatically.
• Assign clear ownership to execute each change and align teams.  

What good looks like: A steady rise in successful, first-time changes and a consistent fall in rollbacks over consecutive release cycles. 

2. Mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to repair (MTTR)

What it is: The time it takes you to detect issues and restore normal service. 
Why it matters: I find that detection and recovery are very important for leadership, especially because automation and observability deliver measurable business value. 

How to improve:  

• Stream all of your telemetry into a single view, then use intent checks to highlight drift or policy violations and automate first line remediation where safe.  
• Strengthen monitoring by tracking network performance, changes, access, compliance and security events.

What good looks like: Faster detection windows followed by runbook-driven recovery that is measured in minutes, not hours.

3. Compliance score and configuration drift

What it is: A combined indicator of how closely your estate aligns to policy and how far it strays from approved configurations. 
Why it matters: Boards and auditors need confidence that controls are enforced consistently across hybrid estates. 

How to improve:  

• Treat policies as code and run continuous checks.  
• Block non-compliant changes before they land.  
• Generate audit evidence automatically to save a huge amount of time.  
• Keep governance practical by setting clear standards, control owners and measurable policies. 

What good looks like: A rising compliance score with drift trending down. Exceptions are documented and time-boxed. 

4. Alert volume reduction

What it is: A measure of how many alerts actually correlate to meaningful incidents. 
Why it matters: High alert volume hides real risk and drains team capacity. 

How to improve:  

• Consolidate tooling, de-duplicate at the source, only measuring what maps to user or service objectives.  
• Safely automate by applying Infrastructure as Code and Policy as Code to prevent drift and speed up recovery.

What good looks like: Fewer alerts, higher signal quality and a clear link between alerts and customer impact. 

5. Latency and packet loss against service objectives

What it is: End-to-end performance measured against the targets that matter most for your services. 
Why it matters: User experience is the ultimate goal. Device health means little if transactions stall. 

How to improve:  

• Set service-level objectives (SLOs) for your priority journeys, instrument path visibility and factor network changes into performance reviews.  
• Adopt Zero Trust principles to assume breach, verify access and enforce least privilege.  

What good looks like: Stable or improving latency and loss for your top services, even during high change periods. 

How to get started 

I recommend teams start small when adopting these metrics, but take the following into consideration: 

1. Select two high impact metrics that you can measure today. 
2. Automate the collection and reporting so data is timely and trusted.
3. Share a simple scorecard with trend lines and short commentary.
4. Only add more metrics when the first set is stable. 

How we can help

In my work with CIOs, one of the biggest challenges I see is turning network automation into something that’s measurable, governed and trusted. At CACI, we help organisations align automation with business goals, reduce operational risk and create real clarity around performance and compliance. 

We bring proven architectures, practical operating models and clear measurement frameworks, so teams can track success rates, reduce configuration drift and improve incident response. We also help teams build simple, outcome focused scorecards that connect day-to-day network activity to executive priorities. 

If you’d like support establishing a metrics baseline or shaping an automation roadmap around the principles in this blog, visit our Network Automation page to learn more or get in touch with our specialists. 

You can also download my Network Automation in 2026 eBook for a deeper look at the frameworks and metrics that high performing organisations are using today. 

In the next blog in this series, I’ll explore how assurance, observability and lifecycle management work together to make every network change safe. 

When it comes to strengthening your network security posture, doing so is no longer a nice-to-have, but a strategic necessity. The notion of strengthening your network may sound time-intensive and lengthy, however, there are some immediate changes that can lead to quick wins. In this blog, we uncover four key steps IT leaders can take to strengthen network security posture and immediate quick wins that can be achieved upon doing so.  

Four steps to strengthen your network security posture

Security is no longer optional. These four foundational actions will help you reduce risk and build resilience: 

1. Adopt zero trust principles

Zero trust means “never trust, always verify.” Every user and device inside or outside the network must be authenticated and authorised. This approach limits the impact of breaches and is now recommended by the NCSC and leading global providers.  

• Implement strong authentication for all users and devices.  
• Segment networks to limit lateral movement.  
• Continuously monitor for unusual behaviour.  

2. Automate detection and response

Manual processes cannot keep pace with modern threats. Automation can reduce response times by up to 40%, demonstrating its ability to help defenders stay ahead. 

• Use AI-driven tools for threat detection and alert triage.  
• Automate patching, backup, and incident response workflows.
• Regularly test and updated automated playbooks.

3. Operational load

With many IT teams stretched thin, managed network services allow organisations to focus on strategy while experts handle day-to-day operations, monitoring and compliance. 

• Consider managed firewall, detection and response and vulnerability management services.  
• Ensure providers offer transparent reporting and clear SLAs.

4. Secure hybrid work

With two-thirds of UK employees working remotely at least part-time, endpoint protection and secure remote access are essential.  

• Enforce multi-factor authentication for all remote access.  
• Protect endpoints with up-to-date security software and policies.
• Educate staff on secure working practices. 

Quick wins: Immediate actions UK IT leaders should take 

Not every improvement requires a major investment or a long-term project. The following actions can quickly reduce risk and strengthen your security posture:  

Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) 

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the most effective ways to prevent account compromise, blocking the majority of phishing and credential stuffing attacks.  

• Enforce MFA for all users, not just administrators.  
• Use app-based or hardware tokens for stronger protection. 
• Regularly review and test MFA coverage.  

Read NCSC guidance on MFA  

Patch the basics consistently and quickly

Most breaches exploit known vulnerabilities. Even delays in patching of a few days can be costly.  

• Maintain an up-to-date inventory of all assets, including cloud workloads and remote endpoints. 
• Apply critical patches within 14 days, as recommended by the NCSC.  
•  Automate patch deployment and monitor for failures.  

Back up critical data securely and test your restores

Ransomware is only effective if you cannot recover your data. Secure, tested backups are essential.  

• Use immutable, offsite or cloud-based backups.  
• Regularly test restores to ensure data integrity.  
• Protect backup credentials with MFA and restrict access.

Review firewall rules and access controls

Firewall policies can become cluttered over time with unused or overly permissive rules, creating hidden vulnerabilities.  

• Schedule regular firewall reviews to remove unused or risky rules.  
• Align policies with current business needs.  
• Use automated tools to analyse policies for overlaps and compliance gaps.   

Run a tabletop incident response exercise 

Plans are only effective if teams can execute them under pressure. Tabletop exercises simulate real-world incidents, allowing teams to rehearse roles and identify gaps.  

• Involve both technical and business stakeholders.  
• Use realistic scenarios tailored to your organisation.
• Capture lessons learned and update your incident response plan.  

See NCSC’s guidance on incident response exercises 

How CACI can help enhance your network security

CACI has helped UK businesses protect their networks for decades. From network security to data centre solutions and IT consulting, our expertise delivers secure-by-design architectures, automation, and incident readiness for robust network security.  

Download our 2026 Network Security Survival Guide today to learn more about how your organisation can set its network environments up for success. 

The demand for cloud-based offerings and cloud adoption has accelerated, with the importance of flexibility and agility now being realised. Without adapting, businesses risk being left behind. What are the benefits, however, and how do you know if it’s the right solution for you? 

We shared the key advantages of cloud adoption in our previous blog. This time around, we identify the biggest challenges of cloud security. 

Cloud adoption has become increasingly important in recent years, with 64% of all enterprises now regarding cloud security as a pressing security discipline. Despite its integral role, more than half of all enterprises find securing cloud environments to be more complex than securing on-premises venues. 

As cybercriminals increasingly target cloud environments, the pressure is on for IT leaders to protect their businesses. Here, we explore the most pressing threats to cloud security you should take note of. 

Limited visibility

The traditionally used tools for gaining complete network visibility are ineffective for cloud environments as cloud-based resources are located outside the corporate network and run on infrastructure the company doesn’t own. Furthermore, most organisations lack a complete view of their cloud footprint. You can’t protect what you can’t see, so having a handle on the entirety of your cloud estate is crucial. 

Lack of cloud security architecture and strategy

The rush to migrate data and systems to the cloud meant that organisations were operational before thoroughly assessing and mitigating the new threats they’d been exposed to. The result is that robust security systems and strategies are not in place to protect infrastructure. 

Unclear accountability

Pre-cloud, security was firmly in the hands of security teams. In public and hybrid cloud settings, however, responsibility for cloud security is split between cloud service providers and users, with responsibility for security tasks differing depending on the cloud service model and provider. Without a standard shared responsibility model, addressing vulnerabilities effectively is challenging as businesses struggle to grapple with their responsibilities. This not only obfuscates incident response, but increases the likelihood of risks and misconfigurations. 

Misconfigured cloud services

Misconfiguration of cloud services can cause data to be publicly exposed, manipulated or even deleted. It occurs when a user or admin fails to set up a cloud platform’s security setting properly. For example, keeping default security and access management settings for sensitive data, giving unauthorised individuals access or leaving confidential data accessible without authorisation are all common misconfigurations. Human error is always a risk, but it can be easily mitigated with the right processes. 

Data loss

Data loss is one of the most complex risks to predict, so taking steps to protect against it is vital. The most common types of data loss are: 

• Data alteration – when data is changed and cannot be reverted to the previous state. 
• Storage outage – access to data is lost due to issues with your cloud service provider. 
• Loss of authorisation – when information is inaccessible due to a lack of encryption keys or other credentials. 
• Data deletion – data is accidentally or purposefully erased, and no backups are available to restore information. 

While regular back-ups will help avoid data loss, backing up large amounts of company data can be costly and complicated. Nonetheless, ransomware attacks swelled by 126% earlier this year, reiterating the necessity for businesses to conduct regular data backups.  

Malware

Malware can take many forms, including DoS (denial of service) attacks, hyperjacking, hypervisor infections and exploiting live migration. Left undetected, malware can rapidly spread through your system and open doors to even more serious threats. That’s why multiple security layers are required to protect your environment. 

Insider threats

While images of disgruntled employees may spring to mind, malicious intent is not the most common cause of insider threat security incidents. Worryingly, the frequency of insider-led incidents is on the rise. According to a report published this year, nearly half of the organisations surveyed noticed an increase in the frequency of their insider threats. The financial repercussions of this increase have led to costs increasing by 109% between 2018 to 2024, posing serious financial risks to affected organisations. 

Compliance concerns

While some industries are more regulated, you’ll likely need to know where your data is stored, who has access to it, how it’s being processed and what you’re doing to protect it. This can become more complicated in the cloud. Furthermore, your cloud provider may be required to hold specific compliance credentials. 

Failure to follow the regulations can result in substantial legal, financial and reputational repercussions. Therefore, it’s critical to handle your regulatory requirements, ensure good governance is in place and keep your business compliant. 

API vulnerabilities

Cloud applications typically interact via APIs (application programming interfaces). However, insecure external APIs can provide a gateway, allowing threat actors to launch DoS attacks and code injections to access company data. 

In 2020, Gartner predicted API attacks would become the most frequent attack vector by 2022. With over half of all enterprises reporting an increase in direct attacks to compromise infrastructure as of 2025, this prediction has become a reality. Addressing API vulnerabilities will therefore be a chief priority for IT leaders in 2025 and beyond. 

Check out our comprehensive guide to cloud security for more insights on overcoming these challenges and safeguarding your business against evolving threats.

Cloud adoption is no longer seen as a means for storage, but a foundation for intelligent business capabilities. Businesses that have adopted the cloud are able to reap benefits far beyond cost savings, enhancing operational flexibility, enabling faster disaster recovery and much more. In the first blog of our cloud security series, we explore the key advantages of cloud adoption. 

Flexibility

Cloud infrastructure is the key to operational agility, allowing you to scale up or down to suit your bandwidth needs. The pay-as-you-go model offered by most cloud service providers (CSPs) also means that you pay for usage rather than a set monthly fee, making IT spending a more manageable operational expense. The ability to scale resources according to demand also ensures performance will be optimal during peak times and eliminate waste during downtime. 

Reduced cost

Kind to your cash flow, cloud computing cuts out the high hardware cost. The availability of the aforementioned pay-as-you-go models can significantly cut costs. Not to mention the cost-savings of reduced resources, lower energy consumption and fewer delays.  

Disaster recovery

From natural disasters to power outages and software bugs, if your data is backed up in the cloud, it is at a reduced risk of system failure as the servers are typically far from your office locations. You can recover data anywhere to minimise downtime by logging into the internet’s cloud storage portal. 

Accessibility

We’ve all heard that the office is dead. Workers want the ability to work anytime, anywhere. With cloud (and an internet connection), they can. The cloud enables workforces to be distributed through secure access to data and applications from any location, which is critical in today’s hybrid working world. 

Greater collaboration

Cloud infrastructure makes collaboration a simple process, changing the parameters of how and where teams can work. The cloud can drastically improve workplace productivity, from online video calls to sharing files and co-authoring documents in real-time. It offers a centralised, secure and real-time working environment that bolsters communication and helps streamline workflows. These cloud-native applications are designed to make our lives more efficient through greater collaboration.  

Strategic value

Ultimately, businesses that have adopted the cloud typically experience greater cost efficiencies, faster speed to market and enhanced service levels. Adopting the cloud not only reimagines business models and builds resilience but also enables organisations to be agile and innovative. For example, adopting DevOps methodologies can be an essential element for businesses looking to get ahead of their competitors. 

But what about security? Earlier this year, a reported 61% of organisations felt security and compliance were their primary barriers to cloud adoption. Rushed application and the resulting lacklustre security have only intensified security concerns as cybercriminals increasingly target cloud environments. 

Download our comprehensive guide to cloud security and start securing your cloud today.