* [Topics](/en/topics "Topics") * [Automation and management](/en/topics/automation "Automation and management") * What is business optimization? What is business optimization? ============================== Published July 15, 2020•*3*-minute read Copy URL Jump to section --------------- OverviewConstraints and solutionsExamples of use casesWhy Red Hat? Overview -------- Business optimization software helps organizations make the best use of available resources —people, equipment, time, etc.—by determining optimal solutions to planning problems. Common organizational tasks like scheduling, rostering, vehicle routing, and packing can be complex. They need to be solved quickly under circumstances when time, money and other resources are limited. Business optimization software can algorithmically resolve business planning problems with precision and speed. Because these problems are rarely static, solutions can change on the fly. When resource counts change and gaps appear, business optimization software adjusts to make the optimal decision, fast. [Start automating your business decisions](/en/engage/decision-automating-strategy-s-202110190544 "SOLP : Modernizing Your Decision Automation Strategy") About constraints and solutions ------------------------------- Business optimization tackles problems by weighing various constraints and comparing the relative strengths of each possible solution. A constraint is a restriction on the use of a resource (people, equipment, etc.) that a solution to a planning problem must or should satisfy. Some real-world constraints might include deadlines to be met, regulatory limits on working hours, availability of needed equipment or venues, safety requirements, and so on). Constraints can be positive or negative, and hard or soft. A positive constraint is something that must or should happen, while a negative constraint is something that must not or should not happen. A hard constraint cannot be broken. For example, a truck can’t be in two places at the same time. A soft constraint is desirable, but not strictly required. A desire to make deliveries as fast as possible would be a soft constraint. Based on the constraints, a business optimization system calculates a numerical score for each solution and compares a set of possible solutions to determine which one is the best. Each solution can fall into one of three categories: Possible, feasible, and optimal. A possible solution is any solution, even one that breaks constraints. There can be an incredibly large number of possible solutions. A feasible solution is one that doesn’t break any negative hard constraints. Sometimes there aren’t any feasible solutions. Finally, the optimal solution is a solution or solutions with the highest score. (It’s possible to have an optimal solution that isn’t feasible.) Red Hat resources ----------------- [Keep reading](/en/resources "Keep reading") Examples of business optimization use cases ------------------------------------------- **Scheduling:** As the size of a workforce grows, so do the challenges in scheduling. A hospital, assembly plant, or call center can employ thousands of people with different skills. Business optimization systems can help determine who should work when, optimized for skill requirements, the number of employees required at a time, the number of hours in a day each employee can work, time off schedules, desired time slots, and fairness. **Vehicle routing:** From package delivery to public transportation to repair companies, vehicle routing can come with a long list of constraints. Time windows, job locations, employee skills, and employee locations are a few of them. Business optimization can take these inputs and produce an optimal vehicle routing plan in seconds or minutes. **Agenda scheduling:** Planning schedules can encompass many constraints, often coordinating both people and physical locations with limited availability. Business optimization can help find the optimal times for meetings, maintenance jobs, sports events, or school classes. **Any complex constrained problem:** Organizations put business optimization to use for balancing investment portfolios, packing containers, minimizing waste while cutting materials and more. Why automate your business with Red Hat --------------------------------------- The focus of IT has shifted from serving internal needs, like efficiency and cost control, to engaging with external customers and creating new business opportunities. That’s why Red Hat believes the traditional business automation model needs to evolve. Instead of focusing solely on streamlining processes, businesses need to develop new strategies to automate the business itself. Red Hat works with the greater open source community on automation technologies. Our engineers help improve features, reliability, and security to make sure your business performs, with IT that remains stable and secure. Our solutions, services, and training give you the control you need to automate your business and free up the resources you need to build an innovative future. Hub The official Red Hat blog ------------------------- Get the latest information about our ecosystem of customers, partners, and communities. [Keep reading](/en/blog "The official Red Hat blog") All Red Hat product trials -------------------------- Our no-cost product trials help you gain hands-on experience, prepare for a certification, or assess if a product is right for your organization. [Keep reading](/en/products/trials "All Red Hat product trials") Keep reading ------------ ### What is IT service management (ITSM)? IT service management (ITSM) refers to the activities IT teams perform to ensure that IT services meet customer needs and contribute to business goals. [Read the article](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-service-management-itsm "article | what is IT service management (ITSM)?") ### What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)? Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the managing and provisioning of infrastructure through code instead of through manual processes. [Read the article](/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-as-code-iac "article | What is Infrastructure as Code?") ### What is a configuration management database (CMDB)? A configuration management database (CMDB) is used to manage information about IT components, including their attributes and relationships between them. [Read the article](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-configuration-management-database-cmdb "article | what is a configuration management database (CMDB)?") Automation and management resources ----------------------------------- ### Related content * Blog post [Bring your own knowledge to OpenShift Lightspeed](/en/blog/bring-your-own-knowledge-openshift-lightspeed) * Blog post [Why you should be using portable zero-touch provisioning on the edge](/en/blog/why-you-should-be-using-portable-zero-touch-provisioning-edge) * Blog post [Simplify Linux management across your systems’ lifecycles with Red Hat Insights](/en/blog/simplify-linux-management-across-your-systems-lifecycles-red-hat-insights) * Case study [Ensono transforms operations with Red Hat](/en/resources/ensono-customer-q-and-a) ### Related articles * [What is DevOps automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-devops-automation) * [What is IT service management (ITSM)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-service-management-itsm) * [What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-as-code-iac) * [Ansible vs. Kubernetes: how they work together](/en/topics/automation/Ansible-vs-Kubernetes) * [What is a configuration management database (CMDB)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-configuration-management-database-cmdb) * [What is cloud migration? And how can automation help?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-migration) * [What is a software-defined data center (SDDC)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-sddc) * [What is IT automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-automation) * [Why choose Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform as your AI foundation?](/en/topics/automation/automation-and-ai) * [How to build an IT automation strategy](/en/topics/automation/build-an-automation-strategy) * [What is virtual infrastructure management? And how can automation help?](/en/topics/automation/virtual-infrastructure-management) * [What is IT migration?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-migration) * [How to automate migrations with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/automate-migrations-with-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform) * [Why use Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with Red Hat OpenShift?](/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/ansible-on-openshift) * [What is CloudOps?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloudops) * [Red Hat Satellite on Red Hat Enterprise Linux](/en/technologies/management/satellite/satellite-for-rhel) * [What is role-based access control (RBAC)?](/en/topics/security/what-is-role-based-access-control) * [Which Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform deployment option is right for you?](/en/technologies/management/ansible/ansible-deployment-options) * [What is an Ansible module—and how does it work?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-module) * [How to manage and automate applications at the edge](/en/topics/edge-computing/how-to-manage-automate-applications-edge) * [How to build an automation Center of Excellence](/en/topics/automation/how-to-build-automation-center-of-excellence) * [What is orchestration?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-orchestration) * [How to adopt Automation as Code: Extending Infrastructure as Code into Policy as Code](/en/topics/automation/how-to-adopt-automation-as-code) * [What is a webhook?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-webhook) * [Learning Ansible basics](/en/topics/automation/learning-ansible-tutorial) * [Red Hat Insights data and application security](/en/technologies/management/insights/data-application-security) * [What is an Ansible Role—and how is it used?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-role) * [What is data management?](/en/topics/data-services/what-is-data-management) * [Gain security with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/gain-security-with-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform) * [What is NetOps?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-netops) * [What is an Ansible Rulebook?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-rulebook) * [What is an Ansible Playbook?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-playbook) * [What is configuration management](/en/topics/automation/what-is-configuration-management) * [What is event-driven automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-event-driven-automation) * [Zero-Touch Provisioning and telco automation with Red Hat](/en/topics/telecommunications/zero-touch-provisioning-and-telco-automation-at-red-hat) * [What is infrastructure automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-automation) * [What is provisioning?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-provisioning) * [What is YAML?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-yaml) * [What is compliance management?](/en/topics/management/what-is-compliance-management) * [Understanding Ansible, Terraform, Puppet, Chef, and Salt](/en/topics/automation/understanding-ansible-vs-terraform-puppet-chef-and-salt) * [What is cloud orchestration?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-orchestration) * [Ansible vs. Chef: What you need to know](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-chef) * [What is security automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-security-automation) * [Ansible vs. Salt: What you need to know](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-salt) * [What is a configuration file?](/en/topics/linux/what-configuration-file) * [Ansible vs. Puppet: What you need to know](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-puppet) * [Ansible vs. Terraform, clarified](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-terraform) * [Why choose Red Hat for automation?](/en/topics/automation/why-choose-red-hat-for-automation) * [Ansible vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/ansible-vs-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform) * [What is cloud automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-automation) * [What is network automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-network-automation) * [What are managed IT services?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-managed-it-services) * [What is business process management?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-business-process-management) * [What is patch management (and automation)?](/en/topics/management/what-patch-management-and-automation) * [What is the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation controller?](/en/technologies/management/ansible/automation-controller-product-feature) * [What is SOAR?](/en/topics/security/what-is-soar) * [What is business process automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-business-process-automation) * [Automating Microsoft Windows with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/automate-microsoft-windows-with-ansible) * [What is deployment automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-deployment-automation) * [What is Kubernetes cluster management?](/en/topics/containers/what-is-kubernetes-cluster-management) * [What is SRE?](/en/topics/devops/what-is-sre) * [What is risk management?](/en/topics/management/what-is-risk-management) * [What is IT system life-cycle management?](/en/topics/management/it-system-life-cycle-management) * [What is an SOE?](/en/topics/management/what-is-an-soe) * [What is network management?](/en/topics/management/what-is-network-management) * [What is robotic process automation (RPA?)](/en/topics/automation/what-is-robotic-process-automation) * [What is cloud management?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-cloud-management) * [What's business automation?](/en/topics/automation/whats-business-automation) [More about this topic](/en/topics/automation "More about this topic")