Brocade Workflow Composer

At the beginning of summer of 2016 of Brocadepredstavila Brocade Workflow Composer, the server platform for automation of networks allowing suppliers of cloud services and to other companies to optimize IT processes. In the solution Brocade Workflow Composer the automation equipment in DevOps style for preparation, check, troubleshooting and maintenance of multiplatform networks — is used at simultaneous integration with workflows in different IT domains for ensuring complex automation.

To go to digital technologies the companies need the corresponding network architecture, including the automation equipment providing dynamism of business. The architecture of New IP will transform network to the innovation platform for development, delivery and security of new applications. During the global poll of CIOs of 75% of respondents said that the possibility of achievement by the organization of the delivered business objectives depends on network. Insufficient level of automation and integration of network with other IT processes and instrumental chains is the only serious obstacle on the way to capitalization as a result of transition to digital technologies.

Automation equipment was always distinctive feature of solutions of Brocade, since the storage area networks which appeared in 1995. In 2009 the Brocade company provided the switching structure of Ethernet based on the Brocade VDX switches with support of Brocade VCS Fabric technology. At the beginning of 2016 the Brocade company expanded the portfolio of infrastructures of data processing centers, having provided Brocade IP Fabrics, the open scheme on the basis of standards in which architecture based on the BGP protocol and the automation equipment of the new Brocade Workflow Composer platform are used. Brocade purchased the StackStorm company which developed the software for automation with management on events to implement the automation equipment in DevOps style in network infrastructures. The StackStorm technology is a crucial element of the Brocade Workflow Composer platform now.

To provide interdomain automation, the organizations should think in categories of workflows. Workflows became a basis of scalable IT infrastructures of suppliers of cloud services as proved the efficiency in respect of conversion of business rules in practice and the politician in scalable IT services. As workflow represents a set of the tasks which are carried out often manually and in a planned order, it forms a reliable basis for automation.

Workflows can be as one-domain (an example: initialization of the network device), and interdomain (example: detection of problems with the network device with automatic feed of the request in technical support service and appointment of the operator for elimination of a malfunction). Automation of interdomain workflows allows to exclude such manual transactions as detection of a problem, determination of its probable cause, accomplishment of actions for maintenance and even application in technical support service or a call of the senior engineer. As a result it is possible to minimize the errors connected with a human factor, to increase operational efficiency and to considerably reduce troubleshooting time. According to ZK Research, the errors connected with a human factor become the reason of idle times of networks in 35% of cases. Automation of networks allows to exclude similar situations completely.

Main opportunities of Brocade Workflow Composer

Unlike other solutions for automation of networks which often are monolithic, closed and focused only on networks, Brocade Workflow Composer provides the following advantages:

• Program control lifecycle. Brocade Workflow Composer covers all lifecycle of network, since initial check and initialization and finishing with troubleshooting and automatic recovery of working capacity.
• Interdomain integration. In the solution Brocade Workflow Composer the configured integration points for recognition of events from any network device, the interdomain platform or the application with the subsequent call of external means and applications for accomplishment of the automated workflow are used. Brocade Workflow Composer supports more than 1900 configured integration points for such widespread platforms and applications as Linux, Windows, vSphere, AWS, Azure, CloudFoundry, OpenStack, Docker, Kubernetes, CoreOS, FireEye, New Relic, Sensu, Splunk, ChatOps, PagerDuty and VictorOps.
• Flexible automation of workflows for multiplatform networks. Brocade Workflow Composer gives to IT specialists flexible opportunities and freedom of choice thanks to support of the ready, configured and independently developed automation equipment of workflows — and all this in multiplatform network environments.
• Methodologies based on DevOps. Workflows are executed in the opened and expanded Brocade Workflow Composer environment constructed based on microservices. Advantage of this environment is use of StackStorm technology and a number of other popular DevOps technologies open source and also the growing professional community for joint work and implementation of innovations.