NTT DOCOMO Inc. Introduces Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to Automate Over 10,000 Devices in ISP Services

Red Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that NTT DOCOMO Inc. has deployed Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for systems to automate over 10,000 devices used in CiRCUS/MAPS infrastructures, a common service platform that helps improve system flexibility and scalability to support both the diversification of services in the 5G era and the increased traffic. With the help of this solution, NTT DOCOMO enhanced the quality of delivery periods and improve agility and productivity, ultimately aiming to cut infrastructure development and operational costs, along with human hours, in half by 2022.

NTT DOCOMO strives to establish more personal communication through its services with a vision of, “creating a world with new communication culture”. As 5G expands and the market advances, NTT DOCOMO looks to augment its services by introducing next-generation infrastructures and new technologies, without compromising quality or competitive pricing for customers. To accomplish these goals, the organization chose to deploy Ansible Automation Platform, an expansive, enterprise-grade solution for building and operating automation at scale. The company also leveraged Red Hat consultants for their specialized knowledge and direction to individual inquiries for issues arising in actual operations executed in CiRCUS/MAPS, automation from OS install, creation of virtual machine and test of application to deployment.

Through adopting Ansible Automation Platform, NTT DOCOMO intends to reduce its total costs and automate over 10,000 devices using CiRCUS/MAPS. The platform’s excellent scalability, ease of full-scale implementation and compatibility with existing systems like Red Hat OpenStack Platform for cloud infrastructure, along with Red Hat’s support, have been integral for enterprise-level performance. Accordingly, the platform helps free enterprises from the complexity of IT environments and improves productivity by decreasing downtime.

With Ansible Automation Platform, NTT DOCOMO plans to further automate the development of infrastructures in operations, including setup, update and design of storage, server, network and OS. With this in mind, the company estimates a reduced delivery period of 50% or more within a few years using Ansible Automation Platform, the internal systems and processes reviewed. NTT DOCOMO will also try to achieve a life cycle of continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD). The organization estimates that the outcomes achieved by Ansible Automation Platform will exceed its investment in 2021; Red Hat will continue to support NTT DOCOMO for large-scale innovation through open technologies and methods. 

Supporting Quotes

Kazunori Iida, senior manager, Service Design Department, NTT DOCOMO Inc.

“With ongoing changes in our business environment, such as the expansion of cloud services and the provision of 5G, there is a strong demand for shorter response periods, requiring companies to reduce development and maintenance costs for infrastructure systems. This was previously one of the bottleneck processes in a service development schedule. To improve this, we adopted Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to assist with individually optimized automation and improve integrated automation environments to minimize any significant human interventions needed for developmental and operational process responses. To continue improving the environment and providing customers with high quality services quickly, we will leverage our partnership with Red Hat for its products, technology and consultation.”

Hirokazu Mochizuki, president and representative director, Red Hat, Inc.

“With the expansion of cloud services, companies are looking to efficiently and effectively automate IT infrastructures. By implementing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, NTT DOCOMO intends to easily build, share and reuse the automation across the company, all while keeping governance appropriate. Red Hat will continue to support NTT DOCOMO to offer highly competitive services to subscribers.”