When you invest in a network configuration manager, you’re also committing to a process that’s easy to ignore at times. Yes, you can make the tool push templates for mass changes, take config backups, and tell us when base configurations are altered by field techs. That’s usually the easy stuff, if you get your SNMP strings right and know what you want out of the management tool.
But where are your backups stored? Have you ever actually tried to push a restore from a saved config? If the tool itself goes down, is IT backed up anywhere? Murphy's Law is all too applicable during times of networking crisis, and the only defense is to periodically test for the “what ifs” that drove the purchase of the tool to begin with. Assume nothing!