With NetMRI now retired, the network world is moving into a new phase of configuration management. Teams aren’t just looking for backups and diff reports anymore — they want real-time visibility, active verification, and deeper intelligence about the actual state of their network. This article explores how NCM is evolving and what comes next in a post-NetMRI world.

For years, NetMRI had a reputation for being one of the most dependable NCM tools on the market. It wasn’t flashy, but it did the important things consistently well — and that’s why engineers trusted it. With the product now retired, it’s worth taking a closer look at what made NetMRI so popular and how modern platforms like rConfig carry those strengths forward without the overhead.

With NetMRI officially retiring, many teams are now facing the practical reality of moving away from a tool they’ve relied on for years. Migration can feel daunting, especially when daily operations depend on accurate backups, clean compliance reporting, and stable automation. The good news is that with the right approach, the transition doesn’t need to be chaotic.

NetMRI’s end-of-life didn’t just create a gap — it exposed a bigger shift happening in the NCM space. Legacy tools that once dominated the market are now struggling to keep up with modern network realities. This article looks at why that’s happening and why many teams are moving toward lighter, faster, more adaptable NCM platforms.

With NetMRI officially reaching end-of-life, a lot of teams are scrambling to understand what to choose next — not from a vendor marketing perspective, but from a real operational one. This guide gives you a clear, grounded framework to evaluate NetMRI replacements in 2025, based on what actually matters to network and security teams.

NetMRI has officially reached end-of-life in 2025. Here’s how it affects network and security teams, what risks it creates, and what a modern NCM replacement actually needs to deliver.

For years, network automation has been propped up by the same familiar tools and the same familiar story: a clever mix of Python...

For a long time, Oxidized and RANCID were the heroes of network automation. They were community-driven, lightweight, dependable, and genuinely ahead of their time. They helped thousands of organisations survive an era when vendors offered little or nothing in the way of automation or modern configuration management.

Script-driven network automation once helped teams move fast — but in 2025, it no longer meets compliance, security, or audit requirements. With NIS2 and DORA enforcing strict configuration governance, unauthenticated or script-based NCM introduces real organisational liability. This article explains why tools like Netmiko, NAPALM, Batfish, Oxidized, and RANCID can’t meet the new bar — and what modern, compliant network automation looks like.