Blue Planet, a division of Ciena, is closing the governance gap in network operations by unveiling Blue Planet Configuration and Change Management (CCM), unifying device configuration, change, and lifecycle management across multi-vendor networks. Backed by Blue Planet’s deep Operations Support System (OSS) expertise, CCM replaces fragmented tools and manual processes with AI-driven workflows to reduce risk, prevent outages, and strengthen the foundation for autonomous networking.
As networks grow more complex, configuration errors and unmanaged changes remain a leading cause of outages. Service providers must manage simultaneous manual and AI-driven automated changes across multi-vendor environments, often with limited visibility and fragmented control. CCM provides a real-time view of network state and activity, enabling service providers to safely scale automation and AI-driven operations. With embedded governance, it closes the automation loop by validating and tracking every change, reducing operational risk and strengthening network reliability.
“All network change carries an element of risk, not only in designing the right change to make, but also in executing the change and ultimately validating it correctly,” said Robert Curran, Consulting Analyst, Appledore Research. “Increasing autonomy in network operations depends on progressively building trust in the agents and systems empowered to change the network. Auditability and explainability are essential elements in the autonomous networks vision.”
“The industry is moving toward AI-driven autonomous networks, but autonomy requires governance, control, and traceability of network changes,” said Joe Cumello, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Blue Planet. “Designed with input from customers, Blue Planet Configuration and Change Management provides a unified governance layer for network changes. It helps service providers realize the operational benefits of AI-driven automation with trust and confidence.”
Key capabilities of CCM include:
Centralized configuration and change visibility and governance across multi-vendor networks
Automated configuration drift detection and policy-driven compliance validation
Software image and device lifecycle management, with automated workflows, from upgrades to end-of-life
AI-enabled risk assessment, compliance monitoring, and pre-change impact analysis
CCM embeds governance directly into network operations, with pre-built AI agents for drift detection, compliance validation, and change risk assessment to reduce manual review cycles and improve operational efficiency. Integrated across the Blue Planet portfolio, CCM connects inventory, orchestration, and assurance to ensure every change is informed, executed, and monitored in context.
The result is a more controlled approach to network change, helping operators improve outcomes today while accelerating the shift to autonomous operations.
