Ansible is an Information Technology based automation platform that facilitates the easy deployment of systems and applications. Despite its set up simplicity, the software is considerably powerful as it can help manage configurations and automate tasks, in addition to its primary function, application deployment. The software is also used in IT orchestration where tasks are run in a sequence taking place on more than one device or server (Hat). Unlike similar software which depends on custom code or writing scripts to update or deploy an application, Ansible uses a language resembling plain English to achieve these functions on remote systems without the need to install the software.
The brand targets software developers and IT specialists in charge of developing and operating large computer systems for businesses. With the recent adoption of technology in virtually every aspect of daily life, the world is increasingly becoming digital, making information technology an essential part of any business. Organizations, now more than ever, rely on technological innovations to improve the delivery of their products and services. For this reason, businesses are in continuous competition for the best products in the market, in the hopes of edging out the competition through the use of optimized information technology systems. With its simple yet powerful design, Ansible provides the solution to such businesses as it automates the functions within such an organizations system, saving them time and resources while increasing their productivity and overall quality of products and services.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Brand Research and Analysis: Ansible".
Specifically, Ansible helps eliminate the repetitive work involving computer systems, significantly reducing the amount of routine work on the hands of IT administrators in any given organization. As opposed to manually performing the same tasks, the technology allows the administrators to automate the routine tasks and focus on other productive activities that bring value to the company. In doing this, Ansible not only breaks the monotony and boredom traditionally associated with IT work, but also lays the foundation for a successful business culture. That is, the fact that the technology facilitates the speedy delivery of business application with minimum involvement from the organizations IT team means that their time and energy can be dedicated to other activities of benefit to the company (Arachchi). Moreover, the automated functions are less prone to error, ensuring that the delivered applications attain the desired standards of operation. As a result, the business will reap the benefits of a perfectly working computer system, in addition to the other possible innovations as a result of the free time in the hands of its IT team.
The products and services offered by Ansible are therefore beneficial to the IT and business communities across the world. As established, the IT community benefits from the time save which is traditionally wasted on boring and repetitive work, allowing them to use their knowledge and expertise on other more productive work. Additionally, unlike when performed by humans who are prone to make errors, the automated delivery of applications ensure excellent working conditions, significantly reducing the time and effort previously invested, hence its importance to the members of the IT community (Sobeslav & Komarek). Similarly, the business community benefits from its ability to overcome the traditionally complex functions contained within its IT systems, reducing the number of resources dedicated to these efforts. In turn, the resources previously dedicated to these functions can be channeled to other ventures, improving the business’ ability to innovate, giving it a possible edge over its competition.
The overall goal of the company is “to make software deploying fun again”. The continued digitization of the world has led to the increased adoption of cloud computing from the previous internal servers, creating a global network in the process. In addition to this, businesses are shifting from purchasing to developing the software they need, in an effort to customize its application for maximum gains. With software being the engine of any business, businesses are increasingly required to optimize their application delivery if they are to remain competitive in this digital business environment. As a company, Ansible seeks to help businesses achieve this purpose by providing a new way of thinking in regard to managing applications and IT systems in general, as per the digital business environment (Heap 54). When compared to similar programs in the past which were only capable of managing the software on a server, Ansible facilitates the coordination of multilayered applications in different cloud servers.
The company is able to set itself apart from the competition by making its software powerful, agentless and simple to use. Ansible is credited for being the first program to use automation language that resembles English and is readable by the common employee. That is, regardless of the individual’s area of expertise or level of IT knowledge, they can still be able to describe the infrastructure represented in the configuration. Despite its simplicity, the technology packs the ability to coordinate tasks which have traditionally presented challenges to its competitors, emphasizing its power. Its immense power, coupled with its ease of use makes it a favorite among system administrators and developers alike, increasing its adoption when compared to similar technology. Therefore, the technology can be accurately described using the adjectives simple and powerful.
As a company, Ansible is represented by a logo depicting the smooth appearing letter “A” which is white in color in a round, black, background. The simple design of the logo allows it to be used across different platforms, including both digitally and physically on items such as business cards. However, given the fact that the technology is used in computers to manage IT systems, the logo is consequently mostly applied on digital platforms. The application of the logo on this platform is effective as it makes it visible to its target audiences, which are software developers and digital businesses respectively. Despite the success enjoyed by Ansible in its field, the company is faced with stiff competition from brands offering similar products and services, including Puppet, SaltStack, and Chef. Unlike Ansible, Chef arranges the configurations in a server in a series of steps with the help of a subset of Ruby. Similarly, Puppet uses the Ruby-based DSL to achieve its declarative function of ensuring that a system runs in the desired manner (Venezia). On the other hand, SaltStack uses an open-source configuration based on python to create event-driven automation aimed at managing systems and machines.
When considering the visual style of Ansible’s logo, there are a number of factors that make it both appealing and effective in achieving its purpose, while some work against this. For instance, its simple design and use of only black and white as the primary colors make it easy on the eye and straightforward to understand. However, the playful design of the letter “A” almost changes the form of the alphabet, creating complications when trying to decipher it, at first glance. Nonetheless, this is rectified as just below the round background is the actual name of the brand, which is written using the font and design of the alphabet acting as the brand’s symbol in the logo. Despite these efforts to make the logo simple to understand, the word below the design appears to be separate from the upper part of the logo which can be assumed to be the main part. The detachment is, perhaps, a result of having the word below the background. All in all, the logo achieves the intended purpose of communicating the uniqueness and simplicity of the brand, making it extremely effective.
- Arachchi, S. A. I. B. S., and Indika Perera. “Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery Pipeline Automation for Agile Software Project Management.” 2018 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon). IEEE, 2018.
- Hat, Red. “Ansible is simple IT automation.” (2016).
- Heap, Michael. “Ansible Roles.” Ansible. Apress, Berkeley, CA, 2016. 49-62.
- Sobeslav, Vladimir, and Ales Komarek. “Opensource automation in cloud computing.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Engineering and Networks. Springer, Cham, 2015.
- Venezia, Paul. “Review: Puppet vs. chef vs. ansible vs. salt.” InfoWorld 21 (2013).
