Automation
Automation has become a top priority for organizations due to the increased speed, scale and complexity of their hybrid and multicloud environments. Enterprises not only need the ability to easily create automation, but they also need to be able to share and reuse automation across projects and teams with the right level of governance and control.
What is Automation?
Automation refers to the use of software applications to create repeatable processes with the purpose of replacing or drastically reducing manual interaction with IT systems. Automation software works within the limits of those instructions, tools, and frameworks to carry out the tasks with little to no human intervention.
Not sure where to begin? Discover recommended quick-win areas to help you get get started in a way that makes the most sense for your business transformation.
Ansible Automation
Proof-of-Value QuickStart
Our Ansible Automation Proof-of-Value QuickStart provides an easy entry to a proven automation practice (for the end-to-end orchestrated hybrid data centre). The offering includes expert assistance training your team, deploying the platform as a proof-of-concept (POC) targeted to automate and deploy an initial workflow or processes.
Why Should I Automate?
Less wasted time
Decrease in number and frequency of errors
Increase in team productivity
Competitive advantage
Can extend into technologies like DevOps, Containers, Cloud, & more
Automation is key to a successful IT modernization strategy as it allows for faster scaling and a more efficient workload. Automating repetitive tasks allows teams to be more productive, with significantly less time wasted on menial duties. Freeing up time provides your team the ability to improve collaboration and innovation; strategies that actually drive the business forward toward new levels of growth.
We can create a successful modernization strategy that will advance your enterprise to the next level.
Book a FREE Discovery Session with one of our HighVail experts. In 30 minutes or less, we can show you what is possible.
Automate With Us
HighVail has been working with automation for years to help organizations reduce manual complexities and increase efficiencies. We strive to tackle the most stubborn challenges and have a deep-rooted belief that life is better when difficult things are automated.
As a company, our philosophy has always been to empower our customers. This is why during every engagement, we offer an ongoing working knowledge transfer to ensure that our clients have an understanding and comfort level prior to the completion of a project.
What is Ansible?
Red Hat Ansible is a popular, mature technology used by thousands of organizations globally to help them automate IT tasks such as:
- Configuration Management
- Provisioning / Infrastructure-as-Code
- Workflow orchestration / Continuous Integration (CI)
- Application Deployment / Continuous Delivery (CD)
- Life-Cycle Management
It supports multiple platforms, devices, environments and is agent less by nature.
What is Terraform?
HashiCorp Terraform is a widely adopted tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently using an Infrastructure-as-Code approach. Terraform’s sole purpose is to do a small number of things extremely well:
- Automate the provisioning of new infrastructure using best configuration practices
- Automate the on-going changes to existing infrastructure, safely
Terraform connects to wide range of infrastructure providers, like publics clouds, virtualization / container platforms, networking devices, storage, etc. to simplify automation operations. Terraform and Ansible can be – and often are – complementary to one another.
HighVail in Action
Read real customer use cases to learn about what our experts can do for your business.
Terraform & Ansible Automation for Lab Provisioning in AWS
A LARGE CANADIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Issues They Faced:
Each participant required their own K8S lab cluster that did not conflict with other attendees
If a participant's lab environment broke down, it would have to be re-provisioned quickly
All K8S cluster members needed to be configured identically
HighVail Solution:
Using the AWS provider for Terraform we built a dynamic infrastructure to isolate attendees in their own lab environment
Next, we utilized Ansible to configure all K8S clusters
Utilizing our K8S branded training we onboarded participants providing them with their own personalized environment
Outcomes:
Ability to deploy training environment in AWS using a consistent and repeatable pattern
Created an accelerated enablement experience for the customer
The agile automation templates that were created can be reused or leveraged for other content
DevOps and Automation for IT OPS Curriculum
A LARGE CANADIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Issues They Faced:
- The existing corporate culture largely utilized manual workflow patterns for IT Ops
- Knowledge barriers and complex processes created friction in developing an effective Infrastructure-as-Code strategy
- The IT Ops centric teams needed to learn new tooling, automation & DevOps methodology
HighVail Solution:
- Specific knowledge gaps were identified within the organization and custom content was developed to enable innovation inside IT Ops practices
- By taking a holistic approach we adopted new technology and agile processes for IT Ops
Outcomes:
- Learn Git, Yaml, Ansible Core, Ansible Tower.
- Encourage innovation is historically conservative IT segment.
- Build DevOps driven OPS practice where team share and collaborate
Ansible and Automation at Scale for IT Operations
A LARGE CANADIAN INSURANCE INSTITUTION
Issues They Faced:
- The existing Ansible automation processes were only built to address the needs at the time
- Parameterization of static facts using YAML files is cumbersome and demanding process that is prone to errors.
- Maintenance of static sources of truth is time consuming (a whole new job to maintain files)
HighVail Solution:
- Using our new practice for Data Modelling we have extended Ansible functionality with Python code
- Ansible Automation data model now creates successful predictable pattern for pluggable Ansible automation
- We use existing source of truth to dynamically create static Yaml sources that feed into Configuration management processes
Outcomes:
- Ansible playbook now needs only few parameters to run while simplifying continuous integration and deployment model
- No more need to statically maintain Yaml facts as DB is used for sourcing any automation process
- Scale IT Ops automation without performance hits and make sure facts used in automation are guaranteed, normalized, standardized and validated before job runs which brings dramatic improvements in CI/CD process
Planning Your Automation
DevOps-as-a-Service (DaaS)
For enterprises looking for rapid delivery using microservices architecture in place of a monolithic application stack, we are the partner you need to help you transition to your new model.
Click below to learn about our brand new flexible DevOps-as-a-Service offering.
Click below to learn about our brand new flexible DevOps-as-a-Service offering.
Containers & Platform
For those not so far along the path, we can get you started. Legacy applications, public cloud vendor lock-in, and escalating licensing costs are constant considerations in every organization. Containerizing applications is a great option.
Looking to get started but not sure when to begin? We can help with the Application Containerization Quick-Start.
Looking to get started but not sure when to begin? We can help with the Application Containerization Quick-Start.