This whole area paints you in a corner and usually causes problems at 2am, so most people shy away from it.
I've found the exact opposite to be true. Having properly configured firmware supervisor and ADC means that at 2am when a drive lets out the magic smoke, instead of my phone ringing, any electrician smart enough to hold a screwdriver can change the drive, set an IP address, and walk away with a fully functional replacement drive.
Yes, you do have to transfer the firmware files to the SD card on the PLC, and this can only be done in program mode. But once you have firmware supervisor and ADC configured for each drive, the drive replacement process looks like:
1. Replace drive (or just the control module, or just the power module - whichever is faulty)
2. Power up drive and set IP address. If you only replaced the power module, this won't be necessary. In every panel where I install ADC drives, I always print and laminate a "here is a list of the IP addresses for all drives in this panel, and here are the parameter numbers to enter them" and stick it to the back of the door
3. PLC sees that a VSD with IP address ABC has connected but has the incorrect firmware version and parameters. PLC flashes firmware and downloads parameters
4. Electrician has already packed up their tools and gone to smoko
5. ASF is still soundly asleep
There's a few nuances to getting it set up and operational, but nothing wildly difficult, and once you set it up, it's fantastic.