In today's ever-automating world, businesses are increasingly focused on optimizing network operations, including configuration, management, and troubleshooting. This study scrutinizes the comparison between manual and automated methodologies within the framework of the cloud-based Cisco Meraki platform. Our objective is to establish decisive criteria for identifying the most advantageous circumstances for automation, particularly in network configuration. To achieve this, we constructed a network consisting of three Meraki devices. Automation of network configuration was facilitated through the development of Python scripts leveraging the Meraki API library in conjunction with configuration files. The configuration files were constructed in various file formats–Excel, CSV, JSON, and YAML– in order to assess their impact on automation effectiveness. Moreover, manual configuration tasks were undertaken by three network technicians with varying levels of Meraki proficiency. A comprehensive series of tests, encompassing both automated and manual methods, was subsequently conducted, focusing on metrics such as execution time and keystroke count. Through meticulous analysis, we provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of automation in network configuration processes. Results demonstrated that the use of JSON files in the automation process yielded the shortest completion time and required the fewest keystrokes compared to other automation methods. Moreover, manual configuration via the Meraki dashboard GUI exhibited comparable efficiency to automation methods in networks with a small number of devices. Nonetheless, owing to the capacity to reuse configuration files with minor adjustments for similar setups, the true advantage of automation over manual configuration becomes apparent as the device count increases.