Why standardisation is good for NetOps: Innovation instead of impediment

Standardisation is sometimes viewed as an assault on innovation. Being forced to abandon a polyglot buffet and adopt a more limited menu will always sound stifling. That may be because standardisation is often associated with regulatory compliance standards that have official sounding names like ISO 8076.905E and are associated with checklists, auditors and oversight committees. The reality is that there are very few standards – in fact none that I can think of – governing enterprises' choice of languages, protocols and frameworks. Enterprise standardisation is more driven by practical considerations such as talent availability, sustainability, and total cost of ownership over the (often considerable) lifetime of software and systems.