Not everyone needs the same access to network management systems. Too often, we take the easy path when assigning access credentials on our important tools (and the network resources they manage) and treat all users the same. Do you forego the rigors of RADIUS/TACACs style authentication on your network components, or give everyone from installers to the helpdesk the same login credentials on your management systems?
How you administer your systems should be arrived at with the same care that shapes other operational practices. Accept anything less, and you’re probably lacking important pieces of the overall security and support puzzles.
By requiring anyone who needs system access to use their own credentials with permissions appropriate to their positions, you gain important audit trails and safeguards against misconfigurations. If a settings change mucks things up in an environment where lots of fingers are in the pie but everyone logs in with the same credentials, it’s hard to know who really did what. And those who need view-only rights shouldn't have access to GUI or CLI knobs and buttons outside of their scope, even if they are trusted staff. Don’t risk it!