SoftBank has deployed Red Hat Ansible Tower to automate its network infrastructure and reduce operations dependent on manual efforts.
SoftBank, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, has reduced the time required for updating SSL certificates from two hours to 20 seconds. The deployment of Red Hat Ansible Tower has also enabled SoftBank to reduce work hours for updating by 99 percent.

Takayori Maeda, section manager, Technology Unit, IT & Network Unit, SoftBank, said:
“We plan to expand our use of Red Hat Ansible Tower to provide a higher-quality and more reliable infrastructure.”

SoftBank, as part of the Smart & Fun initiative, aims to reduce manual efforts by automating the process of updating SSL certificates on load balancers used for server access of back-end of websites for the general public, in addition to in-house systems.

SoftBank for the update of SSL certificates needed to prepare a manual for each operation with each update taking 30 minutes to two hours to perform and dependent on individual skills. Changes to industry rules now required more frequent updates to SSL certificates — requiring SoftBank to make updates about 800 times per year.

Additionally, SoftBank employees can use Ansible Playbooks to share automation across the company, and perform updates more accurately and quickly. Red Hat, a part of IBM, said SoftBank reports that the company employees who conducted the updates at night also reduced burdens.