The Forrester Wave™: Infrastructure Automation, Q1 2023

Infrastructure Automation Vendor Product Comparisons 2023

Key features and pros and cons of top Infrastructure Automation products:

Red Hat - Leaders

Pros:

Leverages strong open source community to power innovation
Strong capabilities in configuration management, integration with CMDB, analytics, and community support
Can handle large-scale deployments - used by global systems integrators for managed services
Sets market pace by addressing operational challenges, skill gaps, and budgetary pressures
Strong server and network capabilities

Cons:

Minimal support for storage compared to server/network capabilities
Lacks multilayered service blueprints, infrastructure templates, and complex orchestration
Reference customers find upgrade path and process troublesome
Customers want more flexibility and better business continuity/disaster recovery capabilities

VMware - Leaders

Pros:

Expanding automation capabilities beyond its own stack
Strong blueprinting capabilities supporting major public cloud infrastructure service types
Strong orchestration, access governance, analytics, and deployment options
Aria Automation Orchestrator includes many out-of-the-box plug-ins for major IT operations software
Massive partner ecosystem and array of supporting products and services
Easy path to move between on-premises and cloud licenses

Cons:

Lags in patch management
Some areas still restricted to VMware's own stack
Reference customers noted upgrading from older versions was a significant challenge
Most recent version's multilanguage support valued but implementation was challenging

BMC Software - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong pedigree with products in the space longer than some competitors have existed
Deep capability across orchestration, CMDB integration, access governance, and regulatory compliance
Modernized product management practices to accelerate enhancements
Good fit for managing myriad systems: mainframe, infrastructure as code, physical servers, and network devices

Cons:

Some interfaces are dated
Integration with cloud platforms is lacking
Weak in infrastructure blueprints and community ecosystem
Requires combination of multiple products for full support across infrastructure and cloud solutions
Declined to participate in full Forrester Wave evaluation process

Micro Focus - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong current offering with support for wide array of infrastructure types and vendors
Strong orchestration, CMDB integration, access governance, analytics, organizational and regulatory compliance, and vulnerability management
Better than most competitors in dashboards and model creation/editing
Stable offering for IT and compliance professionals

Cons:

Cloud-focused capabilities and commercial models lag competitors
Weak in community engagement and areas requiring better public cloud options
Lengthy process to build, configure, and get productive on automation stack
Upgrades are especially cumbersome
Recently acquired by OpenText (early 2023) - strategy is lackluster

Microsoft - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong infrastructure provisioning, blueprinting, access governance, DevOps tool integration, and vulnerability management
Azure Bicep is the wrapper around all Azure service provisioning
Azure Arc extends automation to non-Azure infrastructure
Large partner ecosystem and supporting products/services
Product teams committed to feature parity between Windows and Linux stacks
Reference customers find Bicep easy to use

Cons:

Lags in discovery, application delivery, analytics, orchestration, integration with other automation tools, configuration management, and patch management
Process of defining non-Azure resources lacks maturity
Most challenges relate to lack of parity across Windows and Linux environments
Multiple disparate services challenging to unify in roadmaps, consistencies, and integrations

Puppet - Strong Performers

Pros:

Large community and great engagement
Strong regulatory compliance and configuration management
Native integrations with continuous integration/delivery tools via CD4PE
Strong foundation for task-based automation
Responsive support team and commitment from product leadership
Good training accompanying new product launches

Cons:

Lacks orchestration capability for building blueprints, templates, and automated remediation
Prior to Perforce acquisition (2022), was struggling to execute roadmap
Smaller partner ecosystem compared to competitors
Reference customers reported challenges with UI, reporting, missing disaster recovery capabilities, and limited scalability

Canonical - Contenders

Pros:

Builds and delivers automation capabilities for its own Linux distribution and stack
Strong application package delivery automation
Good for firms with Canonical-based stacks, especially with focus on security and compliance management
Adventurous and willing to try new things

Cons:

Focused only on its own distribution - difficult for large organizations with heterogeneous technologies
Lacks infrastructure blueprints, orchestration, integration with other tools in ecosystem, and analytics
Community engagement needs improvement
Learning curve for Juju is too steep
Struggles with execution and supporting products/services
Declined to participate in full Forrester Wave evaluation process

HCLSoftware - Contenders

Pros:

Solid foundation with lots of operational flexibility
Strong compliance management capability for real-time system compliance
Supports variety of platforms and operating systems
Strong OS patch management capabilities
Can automate inventory and patch management use cases

Cons:

Does not serve use cases like blueprint creation and orchestration
Business model does not include open source community support
Long learning curve causing delayed ramp-up
Had multiple owners with historic innovation pause
Currently undergoing business and technology transformation

Progress - Contenders

Pros:

Particularly strong in configuration management, security, and compliance management
Strong policy framework
Robust product
Good array of supporting products and services
Strong community participation

Cons:

Does not offer native patch management solution
Capabilities for most automation use cases relatively weak
Lackluster vision and roadmap plans
Long time to scale internal adoption and feel comfortable with advanced configuration/maintenance
Documentation isn't straightforward, making it hard to get up to speed quickly

Resolve Systems - Contenders

Pros:

Strong CMDB integration, integration into other automated tools, and deployment options
Strong integrations with network equipment vendors like Nokia and Ericsson
Used for network patch management
Good runbook builder and guided resolution capabilities

Cons:

Lacks native configuration management, compliance, or vulnerability management support
Smaller set of predefined automations and native integrations
Execution, product roadmap, and planned enhancements weaker than other evaluated vendors
Needs to provide more content, clear/accessible documentation, and enable entire process automation to prevent bottlenecks
Relies on customers to build additional solutions as needed

Amelia - Contenders

Pros:

Focuses on building remediation system that orchestrates across systems, task-based, and OEM automation tools
Orchestration engine has portfolio of common functions for tech pros to build custom workflows
Innovates via natural language interface

Cons:

Lacks native provisioning, compliance, or vulnerability management tools
Relatively minimal native integrations and limited infrastructure provisioning options
Noticeably weaker infrastructure blueprints and reporting dashboards
Requires complex customizations
Weaker ability to execute and supporting ecosystem/community
Vision requires lot of work behind the scenes with high stakes
Declined to participate in full Forrester Wave evaluation process

FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2023?

A: Red Hat, VMware

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

A: Leaders in the Forrester Wave for Infrastructure Automation demonstrate strong current offerings with comprehensive infrastructure management capabilities, robust integration and governance features, and strong community support. They also exhibit forward-thinking strategies with clear product visions, solid execution roadmaps, and strong partner ecosystems. Leaders set the pace of the market by addressing operational challenges, skill gaps, and budgetary pressures, while managing heterogeneity across multiple technology stacks.

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

A: https://www.forrester.com/policies/forrester-wave-methodology/

Report:

Top Vendor Products for Infrastructure Automation in 2023

Infrastructure Automation Vendor Product Comparisons 2023

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FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2023?

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

Reference