AnsibleFest 2022 Quick Take: expanding to AWS, Event-Driven Automation and Project Wisdom

AnsibleFest 2022 was our first in-person event in a few years, and it delivered some exciting news that will impact the growth and expansion of automation for our customers in the months to come. We had more than 450 organizations represented in person in Chicago. Our keynotes featured Red Hat, IBM Research, and Rockwell Automation. During the two days, we announced several new features and capabilities to make adopting automation more accessible. In addition, IDC analyst Jevin Jensen recently published his opinions and insights on AnsibleFest 2022 that we break down below . 

What did we announce? 

Each day of the event featured keynotes, one on the Current State of Automation and one on The Future of Automation. There was a lot of excitement over the many announcements, including: 

• New Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offering for AWS
  • By offering Ansible Automation Platform as a pre-integrated service that can be quickly deployed from cloud marketplaces, we are meeting our customers where they are, while giving them the flexibility to deliver any application, anywhere, without additional overhead or complexity. Whether you are automating your hybrid cloud or multi-cloud environments, Ansible Automation Platform acts as a single platform. This platform provides consistency, visibility, and control to help  you manage these environments at scale. Ansible is the IT automation “glue” for bringing your cloud, network, bare-metal and cloud-native infrastructure together. This  provides the functionality to coordinate and manage across  hybrid cloud environments in a simple and efficient way. Interested in learning more? Check out the press release. 
• The developer preview of Event-Driven Ansible, available to the Ansible open source community
  • With Event-Driven Ansible, you can eliminate low-level tasks from the day-to-day routine so you have more time to focus on innovations. This means a happier, more productive, and more engaged team. It is fast, accurate, and will free you (and your teams) to work on the things you WANT to be doing, without being dragged down by all the things you HAVE to do. Learn more about this latest announcement here.
• Red Hat and IBM Research’s unveiling of Project Wisdom
  • Project Wisdom is a Red Hat initiative, developed in close collaboration with IBM Research, to give Ansible artificial intelligence superpowers. The first goal is to bring together automation novices and Ansible experts while enabling new automators to drastically reduce the challenge of learning and mastering Ansible. The first capability we are using AI for is content generation. The AI models we use underneath Project Wisdom are able to generate Ansible Playbooks or roles that are both syntactically correct and functional. You can also head to www.redhat.com/wisdom for more information on how to get involved. 
• New Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offering for Azure
  • Red Hat announced the availability of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform on Azure at Azure Marketplace, furthering Red Hat’s commitment to giving customers choice and flexibility to deploy its portfolio of open technologies wherever and however needed. With availability in the Azure Marketplace, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform on Azure further simplifies how customers can automate across hybrid cloud footprints, their datacenters, the Azure public cloud, and the edge. Learn more here.

What IT Executives should know

In this IDC Quick Take, analyst Jevin Jensen makes recommendations for IT executives to consider following the announcements made at AnsibleFest:

• “IT executives already using AWS or Azure public cloud and looking to jump-start their automation initiative should consider using the marketplace.”
• “Project Wisdom is in early release developer preview but worth evaluating for existing customers.”
• “Event-Driven Ansible is a possible game changer for digital enterprises needing to provide a highly resilient and consistent customer experience.”
• “Current customers that have not upgraded to the Ansible Automation Platform should consider moving soon.”
• “Automation has many ROI benefits, and with today's challenging workforce and skills shortage, automation can also help augment your staff.”

To learn more about the announcements at AnsibleFest and how automation can help you, check out the AnsibleFest 2022 newsroom, the full IDC report or go to ansiblefest.com for more information. 

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¹ IDC, AnsibleFest 2022: Red Hat Ansible expands to AWS and into event-driven automation, Project Wisdom looks to the future of AI, Doc #lcUS49797022, October 2022