It is important for standards to be developed for configuration files within an organization. This allows control of the number of configuration files that must be maintained, how the files are stored, and where the files are stored.

A standard is a set of rules or procedures that are either widely used or officially specified. Without standards in an organization, a network could be in chaos should an interruption in service occur.

In order to manage a network, there must be a centralized support standard. Configuration, security, performance, and other issues must be adequately addressed for the network to function smoothly. Creating standards for network consistency helps reduce network complexity, the amount of unplanned downtime, and exposure to events that may have an impact on network performance.