I wouldn't expect to see "big" routers shipped without CLIs, but on the lower end I could see this tradeoff. I think xmlconf can be useful here, but may be done in lieu of other methods. I've seen this tradeoff in product manageable only via SNMP.I'd be fired if I attempted to bring out a new product without a CLI! I barely accept the common wisdom that XML is human-readable; IMO, it is human-decipherable at best. It is certainly not human-writeable in the sense that a good CLI is.