Stop managing, start orchestrating: Streamlining catalyst operations with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Modern enterprise networks demand speed, consistency, and absolute resilience. Relying on manual, time-consuming network management tasks is no longer a viable strategy for organizations seeking true operational efficiency. To overcome these bottlenecks, IT leaders are turning to Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Cisco Catalyst Center and the solution this partnership provides.

By taking advantage of ready-to-use, Red Hat Ansible Certified Content, organizations can embrace NetOps-as-Code to manage network infrastructure as version-controlled, repeatable code, scaling modern network operations with confidence. 

Let’s dive into how this powerful collaboration transforms everyday network operations into a true competitive advantage for your business.

Establishing a security-focused and trusted foundation 

For any enterprise, security and access control must be built-in from the very beginning, with only authorized personnel and trusted devices interacting with the network.

Before a single network switch passes production traffic, businesses can use Ansible Automation Platform to establish a consistent zero trust baseline. 

Key automated use cases include:

• Role-based access control (RBAC): Automate user management to strictly govern who can make network changes and view infrastructure.
• Identity services integration: Programmatically integrate Catalyst Center with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) servers to provide network-wide security policies from the start.

Accelerating design, discovery, and provisioning 

A major bottleneck for enterprise growth is the time it takes to bring new branches and campus locations online. Automating Day 0 and Day 1 operations speeds productivity by eliminating manual site assignments and hardware setup.

Key automated use cases include:

• Standardized network design: Automate the creation of site hierarchies, floor maps, and the reservation of global and site-specific IP address pools. Opening a new branch goes from a 2-day ticket to a 5-minute playbook run.
• Consistent network settings: Programmatically apply critical, standardized network settings uniformly across the enterprise, including telemetry, SNMP, logging, and wireless  profiles.
• Zero touch onboarding: Use Plug and Play (PnP) workflows for rapid device discovery, onboarding, and provisioning—completely removing the need for error-prone manual setups and costly on-site IT visits. Ship a switch to a remote office, have someone plug it in, and automation handles the rest.

Scaling agile network operations and Software Defined Access 

Software-Defined Access (SDA) fabrics provide immense power and segmentation capabilities, but managing these highly complex environments manually can slow down IT operations. Automation simplifies this management to support agility and consistent policy enforcement.

Key automated use cases include:

• Underlay and fabric management: Automate underlay management (LAN automation) and effortlessly scaling SDA fabric sites, zones, and transits.
• Streamlined onboarding: Simplify the onboarding of SDA fabric devices and hosts, alongside the automated management of Layer 2 (L2) and Layer 3 (L3) virtual networks and anycast gateways.
• Centralized policy enforcement: Manage application policies and SDA extranet policies as code so that business-critical applications receive the exact network resources they require.

Enabling continuous compliance, resilience, and assurance 

The operational work doesn't stop once the network is deployed. Day 2 operations are about protecting the business from outages and security vulnerabilities by continuously auditing the network and automating manual maintenance tasks.

Key automated use cases include:

• Software image management (SWIM): Automate the full operating system (OS) upgrade lifecycle across thousands of devices to rapidly patch vulnerabilities and maintain standardized, approved software versions.
• Proactive compliance and backups: Run automated compliance checks, remediate configuration drift, and execute scheduled configuration backups to maintain a security-focused configuration.
• Automated response and reporting: Use automated workflows to manage network health score KPIs, execute path traces, and respond to issue events. This allows your team to proactively troubleshoot degradation before it impacts business services.

Hardware migrations 

Eventually, network infrastructure needs to be refreshed. Automation extends the lifecycle of your network while minimizing service disruption during complex hardware migrations or network rebuilding.

Key automated use cases include:

• SDA port migrations: Automate the complex process of SDA port assignment migrations to minimize downtime.
• Security-focused hardware retirement: Automate device removal and unprovisioning workflows as legacy hardware is retired from the network safely.

Next steps

It’s time to transition away from manual processes and begin standardizing and simplifying your network management. Implementing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with Cisco Catalyst Center helps remove configuration inconsistencies, supports your engineering staff, and establishes the resilient, automated infrastructure essential for today's enterprises.

Discover further resources:

• Red Hat Ansible + Cisco solution overview
• Cisco Marketplace page
• Begin your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform trial today