The increased drive by operators for integration and deployment of
network management protocols and YANG data models may expose issues and
problems with the individual protocols and models, or with the wider
integration of both the protocols and the models. Some of these problems
may only be witnessed when trying to manage large-scale networks, e.g.,
due to the increased complexity and handling large volumes of data
exported in frequent updates.  At the same time, simplifying the network
management and operations, with increased automation, is a high priority
for network operators.

The goals of the Network Management Operations working group are to
solicit input from network operators to identify existing and
anticipated operational issues arising from the near-term deployment of
network management technologies, and to consider potential solutions or
workarounds for those issues.  Those operational issues may relate to
deployments of existing network management technologies or the
integration of related technologies for network management and
telemetry.

Solving those operational issues requires discussion, investigation, and
potentially some experiments, which may take some time.  However, the
working group will focus on pragmatic items achievable in a short
timeframe over long term architectural visions.

Since the focus is on solving network management problems faced by
operators, discussion and experiments are not solely limited to network
management technologies standardized within the IETF but may cover the
wider network management ecosystem as it relates to the management of
IETF protocols, subject to the following two constraints:

 * The working group may discuss network management protocols and data
   models not standardized within the IETF only when they are being used
   to manage IETF protocols or to compare them to equivalent IETF
   solutions.

 * The working group will not work on specific issues or improvements to
   protocols or data models developed and maintained outside the IETF.
   They must be taken to the appropriate organization for discussion and
   resolution.


The Network Management Operations working group is scoped, in rough
order from highest to lowest priority, to:

* Present and discuss operational issues faced by the deployment of
  existing network management technologies.

* Discuss ideas and short term experiments on improving network
  management operations.  Any experiments should focus on incremental
  improvements that can be achieved within 1-2 years.

* Discuss network operator use cases and requirements for solving
  anticipated problems related to the deployment of network management
  technologies.

* Standardize YANG data models to solve operational issues identified in
  the scope items above.

* Seek involvement with developers of open-source software to help drive
  adoption of IETF network management standards and to improve protocol
  maturity.

* Document operational experience and best practice for network
  management and telemetry deployment as BCPs or Informational RFCs.

This working group is not chartered to work on new protocols or protocol
enhancements.


Agenda time at NMOP sessions at IETF meetings should allow for
presentations and discussions of operator issues and experience, and
other work within scope for the working group, but with a default
expectation that priority be given to operator presentations.

The current topics of focus for the working group are:

 * NETCONF/YANG Push integration with Apache Kafka & time series databases

 * Anomaly detection and incident management

 * Issues related to deployment/usage of YANG topology modules (e.g., to
   model a Digital Map)

 * Consider/plan an approach for updating RFC 3535-bis (collecting
   updated operator requirements for IETF network management solutions)

  
Like many of the “ops” working groups, this working group is expected to
be long-lived, and is expected to remain open whilst there is sufficient
interest and drive from the operators to work on topics within the scope
described above.