Client Overview & Business Challenge

An international university relied on outdated network inventory tools (NetDisco/NACT) that lacked APIs, fragmented data, and limited automation capabilities. With compliance reporting becoming more complex and hybrid-cloud adoption on the horizon, the legacy systems were creating inefficiencies and risk.

The university needed a modern, API-first platform that would unify network inventory, support automation, and streamline compliance.

The Challenge: Outdated Tools and Fragmented Data

The client was grappling with:

• Legacy tools with no API support for automation
• Fragmented inventory data across multiple systems
• Difficulty in meeting TLS/certificate compliance requirements
• Lack of readiness for hybrid-cloud automation

AHEAD’s Approach: Migrating to Nautobot

AHEAD India led the migration to Nautobot as the university’s new source-of-truth for network inventory.

Key steps included:

• Deploying a Nautobot pilot environment alongside legacy tools
• Building onboarding jobs to automate device integration
• Validating workflows in parallel to ensure zero downtime during transition
• Planning CI/CD pipelines and Terraform integration for future automation

Results: Unified, Automation-Ready Inventory

AHEAD was able to:

• Deliver a unified inventory system with Nautobot as the single source of truth
• Reduce manual onboarding effort by 40% through automation jobs
• Achieve a zero-downtime migration from legacy tools
• Strengthen compliance posture with early TLS/certificate checks

What’s Next: Scaling Compliance and Automation

The university plans to:

• Complete compliance automation across the new platform
• Fully retire legacy NetDisco/NACT systems
• Extend Nautobot integration into cloud-native automation workflows