In an embodiment, methods and systems have been provided for detecting changes in a network using improved Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) polling that reduces network traffic. Examples of changes in the network include, but are not limited to, configuration and behavioral changes in a network device, and response of network device to a network change. A Network Management Station (NMS) periodically polls Management Information Base (MIB) groups instead of periodically polling individual MIB object instances. The NMS receives the Aggregate Change Identifiers (ACIs) of MIB groups in response to polling, from a SNMP agent. The changes in the received ACIs represent the changes in the MIB groups. A change in an MIB group represents changes in the MIB object instances of the MIB group. The ACIs can be checksum, timestamp, and a combination of number of MIB object instances in a group and checksum of the MIB group.