This is a tough problem, but Jim was right to ask this question, and we can see from the response that it's right on.

The next question he forces us to ask is: is it better to suffer with people managing changes manually (expensive, slower, error-potential), or is it better to buy change software and hope when changes are made through automation they don't break devices and cause more damage?

Answer: Telling your CCIE to get on a plane or drive across town in the night to fix what someone else broke is not a great employee retention strategy. After all of their training and experiences, haven't they earned the right to work smarter?

One way to overcome this is to use a safety net architecture for change management. That way, if someone does something wrong (i.e. "fat fingers" an ACL), you can always roll back without a truck roll. Analysts are calling it "secure remote management".

Not every device deserves to be "saved", but of the millions of devices in the data path of ten of thousands of mission-critical applications, plenty of devices make the cut.

And just maybe we'll save a few valuable CCIEs and CCNAs in the process.