Automation mesh explained: Scalability and reliability for the hybrid cloud and the edge

Scaling automation across different platforms, teams and locations can be challenging. Each region, environment and technologist can have specific, niche automation requirements, making it even harder to deliver a single solution for every use case. So how can IT teams execute their automation more consistently, while still managing a platform centrally? And how can they automate endpoints in remote areas with limited connectivity? 

Just like edge computing requires bringing various compute resources closer to the endpoints, automation at scale has similar requirements: Organizations must deliver and run automation closer to the devices that need it.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform’s recent rearchitecture introduced major features that allow customers to manage more consistent and reliable automation at massive scale across the globe, and across the entirety of the hybrid cloud, including the edge. 

Of these capabilities, automation mesh unites the power of open source innovation with the strategic visions of our customers, helping to reimagine how enterprises automate. Now, IT teams can more flexibly scale automation as edge environments grow and demands evolve, wherever needed. What IT teams can accomplish on-premise with localized automation execution, they can now apply at the edge across geographically dispersed endpoints with automation mesh. Delivering automation closer to the target endpoints, automation mesh brings greater reliability and improved resilience to network latency and connection disruptions, helping customers apply automation to a broader set of use cases. 

Uniting IT departments by reducing operational overhead

Automation mesh aims to simplify operations by reducing the overhead associated with managing multi-site deployments. While scaling technology comes with its own inherent challenges, there are other considerations beyond just the technology to keep in mind. Expanding up and out demands additional headcount, which comes with varying knowledge and experience, to accommodate greater workloads. Automation mesh provides a simple way for operations to standardize and normalize automation across the entire IT estate, making it easier to onboard new team members and support organizations no matter where they are in their automation journeys.  

Managing capacity, with less downtime

As resource consumption needs vary throughout the year, automation mesh enables organizations to scale and manage capacity more quickly where businesses need it, with little or no downtime. But to put it simply: Downtime is unavoidable in complex systems. Automation mesh continually monitors execution health and capacity to optimally route and run automation traffic. This capability, coupled with its flexible, redundant design options, makes automation more resilient to outages, such as network downtime or misconfigurations improving service delivery to the enterprise and customer.  

Automation as a business-driver

The new platform architecture makes Ansible Automation Platform a truly cloud-native, hybrid cloud automation solution. Automation mesh enables global, enterprise-wide automation, meeting customers where they want to be, whether in cloud marketplaces, managed service providers or their own datacenters. Most importantly, enterprises can rely on the continued innovations of Ansible Automation Platform to not only deliver the automation framework that customers need with greater security for today, but also complement their strategic directions and focus on what’s next.

Learn more

• Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide

• Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform