A computerized method for managing network device metadata is provided. According to one embodiment, a metadata file is created which is an ASCII representation of objects in a router. The router metadata is read by an application such as a service management system application. The metadata is converted into a runtime object model. In one embodiment, the objects in the runtime object model are loaded onto a router or a service processing switch using SNMP functions. The objects are then inserted into the SNMP MIB.