RED HAT ANSIBLEFEST — Every MSP knows that change is a constant element of providing services; however, change can often increase costs and cut into profits if there is no way to charge back that change to a customer. Naturally, introducing automation helps to reduce the cost of change and also brings forth efficiencies that are hard to beat.

Case in point is Red Hat Ansible Network Automation, which takes a holistic approach that allows MSPs to adopt a framework that that brings network automation to fruition. Red Hat says Ansible Network Automation is a powerful tool for automating network configuration changes and is an innovative tool for networking teams across the globe. By using common APIs to “handshake” Itential and Red Hat Ansible technologies, organizations can apply low-code methods and intelligent capabilities to networking automation. This can help teams accelerate their organization’s movement toward a software-driven network operations practice.

Ansible can’t automate everything, however, which means other technologies must come into play to further improve efficiencies and reduce the burdens of creating code. That’s exactly where Itential comes into play. The company has focused on adding intelligence to the network-automation process.  

“We have seen network engineers embrace Red Hat Ansible Network Automation,” said Chris Wade, co-founder and CTO of Itential, at Red Hat Ansiblefest in Austin, Texas. “Now with the integration of Itential’s federated and network intelligent workflow builder with Ansible Network Automation, organizations have a more comprehensive set of technologies that can help accelerate their journey toward network automation.”

Chris Wade

That integration is intended to enable both network engineering and IT operations teams to create and execute network automation capabilities without writing code.

“Through the integration with Itential, we can extend Ansible automation deeper into organizations that may lack specific networking expertise,” said Justin Nemmers, general manager, Ansible, Red Hat. “Using Itential’s service-orchestration capabilities with the powerful automation of Red Hat Ansible Tower helps to provide users an additional tool in automating within their organizations.”

The Itential for Red Hat Ansible solution includes features that help enhance and expand Ansible’s network automation capabilities:

What’s more, Itential embraces the open-source ideology and is offering resources via GitHub, such as Itential’s Ansible modules and Ansible Tower job templates, which can be called from playbooks, further easing automation challenges.

For MSPs interested in bringing more automation to their own hosting roles and to their clients’ infrastructures, the mashup of Red Hat Ansible Tower and Itential is well worth a long hard look.