Industry use case of OpenShift

OpenShift offers automated installation, upgrades, and lifecycle management throughout the container stack (the operating system, Kubernetes and cluster services, and applications on any cloud).

It gives organizations the ability to build, deploy, and scale applications faster, all while supporting Kubernetes for cloud-native applications with enterprise security. As organizations look to transform and modernize, OpenShift allows you to scale to grow your business through cloud-native development. OpenShift and Kubernetes simplify access to underlying infrastructure and help manage the application lifecycle and development workflows.

Features and benefits

Manage with simplicity.
In the cloud or anywhere.

Red Hat OpenShift offers automated installation, upgrades, and lifecycle management throughout the container stack on any cloud.

Build fast. Ship first.
Deploy everywhere.

It helps teams build with speed, agility, confidence, and choice. Code in production mode anywhere you choose to build. Get back to doing work that matters.

Build with Kubernetes.
Trust with Red Hat.

It is focused on security at every level of the container stack and throughout the application lifecycle. It includes long-term, enterprise support from one of the leading Kubernetes contributors and open source software companies.

Case Study: CISCO

“Prior to OpenShift, we limited ourselves to a small number of technologies, and it took a long time to add new ones. OpenShift lets us provide the technologies developers want, quickly and automatically … so we can best serve the business, customers, and partners”.

MICHAEL WHITE, I.T. ARCHITECT, Cisco

OVERVIEW

To keep pace with customer demand, Cisco, a leading provider of networking solutions, must quickly deliver new IT products and solutions. The challenge is to keep its IT team engaged and productive to fuel innovation. With help from Red Hat, Cisco built its Lightweight Application Environment (LAE), which runs on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) technology formerly known as OpenShift Enterprise by Red Hat. Now provisioning times have gone from months to minutes, and the Cisco IT team can focus on strategic initiatives.

THE PATH TO SUCCESS

Challenge: Improve productivity and speed to market

Cisco’s success depends on its ability to quickly deliver innovative IT products and solutions to customers. Delays can cost the company business. To encourage speed to market and improve satisfaction, Cisco needed to keep its 1,000+ developers fully engaged in designing and building applications and guard against high employee turnover, low productivity, and slow response times.

Solution: Build a 1-stop shopping catalog

Cisco turned to Red Hat to design and build its LAE, a PaaS deployment that supports hundreds of apps that power a variety of business functions. The solution gives developers a self-service portal they can use to order the IT resources they need to develop apps, eliminating manual provisioning. “It’s a 1-stop shopping catalog … making the ordering process seamless and easier for developers to use,” said Sudha Agrahara, IT manager at Cisco.

Results: Move from months to minutes for faster innovation

Cisco developers used to wait as long as 3 months for projects to be provisioned. “Now the developers push a button and the service is delivered within a matter of … minutes,” said Agrahara. More productivity means customers get innovative products and services faster. The solution reduces demands on limited IT resources and gives developers more time to focus on creative projects, increasing employee satisfaction.

“Having a strategic, forward-thinking partner like Red Hat that aligns with all of our priorities is a key part of Cisco’s success,” said Michael White, IT architect at Cisco. “We’re thankful to have Red Hat as our partner.”