# Ansible **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/ansible **Vertical:** API/Integration Platforms **Subcategory:** Integration Tools **Tier:** Emerging **Website:** ansible.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Q4 2024 automation revenue up 15-16% YoY; 2025 H1 automation grew 15%; Red Hat contributed 3.5 percentage points of organic software growth; Red Hat annual run rate $6.5B (doubled since IBM acquisition); CAGR mid-teens over 5 years ## Company Overview Ansible is an open-source IT automation framework originally created by Michael DeHaan in 2012 and acquired by Red Hat in 2015, which was itself acquired by IBM in 2019. Ansible was built to solve a fundamental problem in IT operations: configuration management and infrastructure provisioning required specialized scripting knowledge, complex agent installations, and brittle, hard-to-audit procedural scripts. Ansible introduced an agentless, YAML-based declarative approach — Playbooks — that allowed IT teams to describe the desired state of their infrastructure in human-readable files, executable from any control node over SSH without requiring software installed on managed hosts.\n\nAnsible's automation framework handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, network automation, and security compliance enforcement. The platform integrates with major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP), virtualization platforms, networking vendors (Cisco, Juniper, Arista), and hundreds of enterprise applications through a library of community and certified Ansible Collections. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform extends the open-source core with enterprise features including a web-based UI (Automation Controller, formerly Ansible Tower), automation analytics, content management, and enterprise support — the commercial layer IBM monetizes alongside the free open-source offering.\n\nAnsible has over 1 million deployments globally and is the infrastructure-as-code standard across enterprise IT, networking, and cloud operations teams. Red Hat reported automation revenue growth of 15 to 16% year over year in Q4 2024, driven by expanding Ansible Automation Platform adoption as enterprises accelerate infrastructure standardization and cloud migration. Its agentless architecture, vast integration library, and position as a trusted Red Hat/IBM enterprise product give Ansible a durable position in the IT automation market against competitors including Puppet, Chef, and Terraform. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Ansible? Ansible is an open-source automation platform designed to simplify IT operations through configuration management, application deployment, and infrastructure orchestration. It enables IT teams to automate repetitive tasks, manage complex infrastructure, and deploy applications efficiently across multiple servers and cloud environments. ### Who founded Ansible and when was it created? Ansible was founded by Michael DeHaan in 2012 in Durham, North Carolina. DeHaan created the platform with a vision to provide simple yet powerful agentless automation for IT teams, laying the foundation for what would become an industry-standard configuration management tool. ### What is the history of Ansible's ownership? Ansible was acquired by Red Hat in 2015 for $150 million, marking a significant milestone in the platform's growth and adoption. When IBM acquired Red Hat in 2019, Ansible became part of the IBM ecosystem, further expanding its reach and integration capabilities within enterprise IT environments. ### What are the main products offered by Ansible? The main Ansible products include Ansible Core (the open-source automation engine), Ansible Tower (an enterprise control plane for managing automation at scale), and AWX (the open-source upstream project for Tower). These solutions provide different levels of automation capabilities for organizations of all sizes. ### What makes Ansible different from other automation tools? Ansible stands out because of its agentless architecture, which means it doesn't require software agents to be installed on managed systems. It uses SSH for communication and YAML-based playbooks that are human-readable, making automation more accessible and easier to implement compared to traditional configuration management tools that require agents. ### What is a YAML playbook and how does it work? A YAML playbook is an Ansible configuration file written in simple YAML format that describes automation tasks and workflows. Playbooks define what actions should be performed on which systems, making complex automation logic easy to read, understand, and maintain. This human-readable approach significantly reduces the learning curve for IT teams. ### What does agentless automation mean? Agentless automation means Ansible doesn't require you to install software agents on managed systems. Instead, it communicates over standard SSH connections to execute commands and configurations, reducing complexity, security surface area, and operational overhead compared to tools that depend on agents. ### What is idempotency in Ansible? Idempotency is a core principle in Ansible that ensures running the same playbook multiple times produces the same result without unintended side effects. This means you can safely run automations repeatedly without worrying about configurations being changed multiple times or creating duplicate resources. ### Who uses Ansible and what industries benefit from it? Ansible is used by IT teams, DevOps engineers, and system administrators across diverse industries including technology, finance, healthcare, government, and manufacturing. Any organization managing multiple servers, cloud infrastructure, or complex application deployments can benefit from Ansible's automation capabilities to reduce manual work and improve consistency. ### How can I get started with Ansible? Getting started with Ansible is straightforward: install Ansible Core on a control machine, set up SSH access to your target systems, and create your first YAML playbook. The extensive documentation and large community provide numerous tutorials, examples, and best practices to help you quickly become productive with automation. ### What are the licensing and pricing options for Ansible? Ansible Core is open-source and completely free to use. For enterprise features, Red Hat offers Ansible Automation Platform with various subscription tiers that include Ansible Tower, advanced support, and integration with Red Hat ecosystems. Pricing depends on the number of managed nodes and the support level you require. ### How does Ansible integrate with enterprise environments? As part of Red Hat and IBM, Ansible integrates seamlessly with enterprise solutions including Red Hat OpenStack, IBM Cloud, Kubernetes, and various public cloud platforms. Ansible can orchestrate complex multi-cloud and hybrid infrastructure, making it an ideal choice for organizations with diverse technology stacks. ### Is Ansible secure for managing production systems? Yes, Ansible is widely trusted for managing production systems in enterprises worldwide. It uses industry-standard SSH encryption for communication, provides granular access controls through role-based permissions, and supports secure credential management through vault encryption for sensitive data like passwords and API keys. ## Tags api-first, automation, b2b, developer-tools, open-source, platform, saas --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*