BLOG | May 15, 2025

How a Network Digital Twin (NDT) Powers Scalable Network Automation

Visit Us at AutoCon3 in Prague to See Network Automation in Action with a Network Digital Twin (NDT)

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Dawn Slusher Senior Manager, Content Marketing and Analyst Relations

Who should read this post?

Network architects and engineers looking to scale automation without compromising reliability or security
IT leaders and infrastructure teams seeking to reduce manual effort and streamline compliance
Security and compliance professionals interested in using always-accurate network data for audit readiness and risk reduction

What is covered in this content?

How a Network Digital Twin (NDT) enables automation across verification, inventory, security, and audit workflows
What are the benefits of using a single source of truth to safely execute changes and prevent outages
What are real-world use cases and outcomes, including automated ticketing and documentation, driven by the NDT platform

In the race to modernize IT operations, automation is no longer optional—it’s essential. For network teams tasked with managing complex, hybrid environments, a Network Digital Twin (NDT) provides the trusted foundation required to automate intelligently and confidently. By offering an always-accurate, mathematically-precise virtual copy of your network, an NDT accelerates automation across key operational domains—enabling safer changes, faster audits, and more resilient infrastructure.

What Is a Network Digital Twin?

A true Network Digital Twin creates a digital replica of your organization’s network across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments. By using APIs and SSH, the read-only network digital twin collects config and state data from all network devices and models every possible network path, offering complete visibility into network behavior, security posture, and compliance status. It’s an always-accurate single-source-of-truth that enables safe automation at scale.

How a Network Digital Twin Enables Automation

Automated Verification Checks

An NDT enables automated policy and intent verification—eliminating manual reviews and catching errors such as misconfigurations before they cause issues such as outages or security breaches. Whether validating segmentation policies or checking ACLs, the system ensures changes won’t introduce risks.

Automated Inventory

With an NDT, your inventory is always accurate. It continuously collects data from across your infrastructure, delivering up-to-date device lists, configurations, and state—critical inputs for automation workflows and audit readiness. With this feature, you'll always be aware of which devices in your network are approaching end of life or end of service, so that you can prevent risks associated with unsupported devices on your network.

Configuration Drift Avoidance

Unplanned changes can lead to outages and compliance issues. A Network Digital Twin identifies and alerts teams to drift from gold-standard configurations, enabling remediation before there is an incident.

Automated Security Posture Verification

Security automation depends on accurate data. An NDT continuously verifies firewall rules, segmentation, corporate security policy, and vulnerability exposure based on actual traffic paths—eliminating blind spots and strengthening defenses.

Automated Audit Documentation

A Network Digital Twin (NDT) makes compliance automation a reality. It can generate audit-ready documentation that supports standards like ISO 27001, NIST, PCI DSS, and HIPAA—saving time and reducing audit preparation cycles.

Automated Service Ticket Creation

When the NDT detects violations or misconfigurations, it can automatically open ServiceNow tickets—routing issues to the right teams with all the context they need to act quickly.

Fueling Broader Automation Initiatives

The power of a Network Digital Twin extends beyond individual automation tasks. As a centralized, always-accurate single-source-of-truth, it enables safer and more efficient change management. Pre- and post-change verifications ensure automation can occur without introducing unintended connectivity disruptions or security risks.

Build Smarter Automation with a Network Digital Twin

Whether you're automating security, compliance, or operational workflows, an NDT is the foundation that makes it possible. With deep, actionable insight into how your network is behaving—and how it will behave—Forward Networks enables intelligent, scalable automation that reduces risk, increases efficiency, and empowers teams to innovate without hesitation.

See our Network Digital Twin in action

We’re exhibiting at AutoCon3 in Prague, CZ. Stop by Booth 3 to see how Forward Networks is transforming automation with the power of a Network Digital Twin.

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