VMware Aria Automation is a cloud management tool that allows companies to simplify their cloud experience through a modern automation platform. The solution is designed to deliver self-service clouds, multi-cloud automation with governance, and DevOps-based security and infrastructure management. It helps organizations improve IT agility, efficiency, and productivity through its various features.
VMware Aria Automation's most valuable features are its versatile automation and deployment capabilities, as well as its extensibility through the ability to write ABX actions in various programming languages. The solution also allows for pausing and resuming build processes, customization of the user frontend experience, and the ability to define super metrics. The multimachine blueprint and advanced designer configuration are also highly valued. Users appreciate the flexibility to deploy tenants with customized blueprints and version consolidation into a single Linux appliance. The preset policies and templates are helpful, and the automation capabilities are extensive. Aria Automation's automation abilities have saved time and provided greater flexibility in development and deployment processes.
Users suggest improving the customization and reporting of policies, simplifying the licensing models, and expanding support for Kubernetes platforms and DevOps tools. Users also find the orchestration workflow and documentation difficult to navigate, and suggest simplifying automation and scripting for non-expert administrators. Additionally, users suggest extending the use of vRealize Orchestrator Automation for organizations with multiple tenants. Users also find the solution to be resource-heavy and suggest making it lighter.
The use of VMware Aria Automation has resulted in varying degrees of ROI for different organizations. Some have seen an increase in productivity and efficiency, leading to a positive ROI, while others view it as a tool to speed up server and infrastructure deployment for better quality service to internal clients. The automated processes have reduced infrastructure provisioning time and provided more visibility, allowing teams to manage more with fewer people.
VMware Aria Automation is considered to be an expensive solution. However, it provides good workload management and catches oversized or undersized workloads, giving auto-scaling suggestions that save a lot of money. The solution even automates some work to keep performance and resources optimal, saving the cost of expanding infrastructure. There are various licensing models that can be confusing, but the solution is beneficial if you can afford it.
VMware Aria Automation is primarily used for automation purposes, such as automating the server build process, CICD pipelines, workload automation, and deployment. It allows for better insights into on-premises infrastructure and dynamic decision-making while working on workflows. It is also used for deploying servers and maintaining consistency across cloud and data center environments. The solution is used by a range of developers and engineers, and is often used to provide in-house cloud capabilities to enterprises. The system is typically operated by internal administration teams and is used by internal customers and entities.
Customers have varying opinions on the customer service and support of VMware Aria Automation. Some rate the support as good, with ratings ranging from six to nine out of ten. The technical support team in Ireland is particularly praised for resolving issues on the same day. However, some customers have experienced dropped support requests and longer resolution times if their ticket is sent to another location. There is also some self-work required for customizations beyond out-of-the-box options. VMware support is rated as helpful but may require research for complex implementations. The technical support is spot-on for vRA, but not as effective for other solutions like vROps, which have had issues for a couple of months without any actual fixes
The opinions on the initial setup for VMware Aria Automation varied among the reviewers. Some found it easy and straightforward with a rating of 8-9 out of 10 for an experienced person, but others found it complex and time-consuming, taking up to a month to deploy. The complexity depended on the environment size and infrastructure, as well as the prerequisites that needed to be filled before installation. Daily maintenance was not a significant issue, but upgrading could be a headache and take longer. Deploying and maintaining the solution required a team of network engineers, platform engineers, and storage people.
VMware Aria Automation is a highly scalable solution that is best suited for enterprise companies. It integrates well with leading products in the industry, and there are plugins and adapters available for products that are not already integrated. The solution can be deployed as a single node or an enterprise cluster consisting of three nodes, and it can handle massive deployments with two clusters of 15 ESXI servers each. vRA 8 is particularly scalable, with a lot of integrations that have been much easier compared to vRA 7.
Users have generally found the stability of VMware Aria Automation to be good, with some rating it a ten out of ten. While some have noted that the overall stability may be affected by other factors such as Workspace ONE, there have been no major issues with stability reported. The product is used on a daily basis and has been described as pretty stable, with no significant stability problems experienced. There is some concern about integrations with vSphere, but the initial impression is positive.
VMware Aria Automation has multiple use cases that include the following:
VMware Aria Automation Features
VMware Aria Automation has various features that allow users to easily perform operations. Some of the solution's capacities include:
VMware Aria Automation Benefits
VMware Aria Automation offers its users various benefits. Some of the biggest advantages that the solution brings to companies that utilize it include:
Reviews from Real Users
Awais J., CTO/CEO at a tech services company, likes VMware Aria Automation because it saves a lot of time, provides more visibility, and has extensive automation capabilities.
An IT consultant at a government rates VMware Aria Automation highly because the product gives you flexibility to analyze and consume resources.
VMware Aria Automation was previously known as VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack.
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