Scaling Automation with a DDI-Enabled Network Source of Truth 

A Network Source of Truth (NSoT) is critical to sustainable network automation, especially in the context of hybrid multicloud. As DDI (DNS-DHCP-IPAM) platforms contain rich, authoritative network data, they form the ideal foundation for building a trusted NSoT. This blog explores what an NSoT is, why it matters for network automation, how to build one effectively using DDI, and how it enables scalable automation across your ecosystem.

What is a Network Source of Truth?

A Network Source of Truth (NSoT) is the authoritative reference that defines the intended state of your network—not just what is currently connected, but how your network should be, based on how you have structured it. Think of it as a digital blueprint for your infrastructure. Structured and centralized, it represents how you designed your network: from subnets and VLANs to DNS records and application dependencies.

Unlike the actual network state—retrieved through discovery tools—your NSoT reflects the intended configuration, supporting proactive planning, consistency, and control.

This structured dataset is open and accessible via APIs, allowing for seamless integration with automation tools. Instead of relying on spreadsheets or scattered documentation, you can automate with confidence, knowing your source data is accurate, complete, and reliable.

In the world of automation, trustworthy data is everything. Without a reliable NSoT, workflows fail, integrations break, and inconsistencies cause outages or security gaps. That’s why building and maintaining a strong NSoT is so essential.

Why a Network Source of Truth is Critical Today

The growing complexity of hybrid multicloud networks makes manual operations unsustainable. Automation is the way forward—but it hinges on data quality.

Yet, according to latest EMA research, 73% of organizations do not have a comprehensive Network Source of Truth that spans hybrid and multicloud environments. However, organizations that do have one are three times more likely to succeed with their cloud networking initiatives.

Why? Because an NSoT offers several benefits, as organizations emphasize::

• Improved network data quality (59%)
• Enhanced network visibility (57%)
• Reduced security risks (54%)
• Streamlined automation (44%)

You can safely automate, pinpoint anomalies or vulnerabilities, and identify risks early when your network objects, related data, and metadata, including IP addresses and DNS records, are centrally managed and consistent.

To move in this direction, most organizations start by leveraging tools they already trust—particularly IP Address Management (IPAM) systems.

How to Build an Effective Network Source of Truth

IPAM becomes a natural starting point. As part of a DDI platform, this solution already includes valuable data on DNS, DHCP, and IP address allocations among others. According to the same EMA report, almost 50% of organizations use IPAM as the foundation for building their NSoT. Additionally, 42% enhance that foundation with network discovery tools to ensure real-time actual insights, which they can reconcile with their IPAM data to enrich data and increase its quality, making it more reliable.

This combination—DDI at the core and discovery tools at the edge—lays the groundwork for building a truly effective, comprehensive NSoT.

A powerful NSoT starts with a DDI solution—DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management – but a DDI-enabled NSoT goes further.

It aggregates and manages not just IP addresses and DNS records, but also:

• VLANs and VRFs
• Applications
• Devices and other physical or virtual network objects, such as servers, routers, virtual machines, and containers as well as their related data and  metadata, such as owner, site, location, purpose, and state

The key lies in establishing structured relationships across all these layers. EfficientIP’s NSoT data model manages these complex interdependencies and ensures consistency. Additionally, it offers flexibility by allowing you to adapt the NSoT to your specific business requirements and create custom object classes by adding metadata to your object model. 

Discovery tools also play a key role. They continuously provide what’s connected to your network across your hybrid multicloud infrastructures. An effective NSoT enables you to compare what is in your NSoT i.e. the intended state with what is connected in real-time i.e. the actual state of the network. When discrepancies are found, an effective NSoT automatically lists them and suggests ways to remediate them, if needed, to ensure the intended state is always accurate and up to date. 

This reduces configuration drift and improves change management.

All of this data is accessible through open APIs. You can pull data out to feed other systems—or ingest external data to keep your NSoT enriched and synchronized. This two-way integration is what makes the NSoT truly actionable.

Using a DDI-Enabled NSoT to Scale Network Automation

With a DDI platform such as EfficientIP’s SOLIDserver DDI, your NSoT becomes the core of our Network Automation Hub.

This hub connects with tools and systems of the ecosystem—from Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to ITSM platforms and security systems—enabling robust, end-to-end automation.

We offer three levels of integration:

• No-code: Off-the-shelf plugins for tools like Ansible, ServiceNow, or Terraform
• Low-code: Quick-start templates and simple config-based integrations
• Pro-code: Rich REST APIs with full documentation for custom workflows

Whether you’re looking to automate VM provisioning, manage DNS zones, or orchestrate multi-step network workflows, our DDI-enabled NSoT provides the reliable, structured data that makes it possible.

In our recent webinar on taming hybrid multicloud complexity, we demonstrated exactly this—how our DDI solution enables automation across VM lifecycle management from creation to deployment and deletion.

Conclusion: Changing the Mindset to Enable Automation

A DDI-enabled Network Source of Truth is more than just a database. It’s the foundation for scalable, sustainable automation.

By modeling your network in a structured way and maintaining an accurate intended state, you unlock the ability to integrate, automate, and orchestrate across your entire ecosystem.

It’s a shift in mindset—from managing infrastructure reactively, to driving it proactively through data-driven control.