Who watches the watchmen? I've been in many environments where a layer of abstraction doubles, rather than halves, the complexity.
How many psych-majors-turned-sysadmins/netadmins does it take to change a light bulb? One, but the bulb has to WANT to change.
I've run into issues explaining (repeatedly) the differences between Cisco UCS (integrated rackmount) and a pile of rackmount servers going into a switch. If I had something automating the flows of that platform, I'd be even more strained to explain to someone who wants to switch ports on and off, unless the admins make the shift with me.
I think as network configuration, topology, management become more fluid and less dependent on identifying a specific switch port and duplex setting (or optical module failure mode), admins who are ready (and even eager) for that change will make it beneficial to all involved. But I'd guess I'm not the only one still in an environment where the search for suitable deployment of blame is still an ongoing quest.
And I guess the application-aware network isn't going to be backwards compatible, so I have some token ring gear for sale. (just joking) (kinda)
