Apache Maven vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apache Maven
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Apache Maven is an open source build automation tool.N/A
Ansible
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
The Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform (acquired by Red Hat in 2015) is a foundation for building and operating automation across an organization. The platform includes tools needed to implement enterprise-wide automation, and can automate resource provisioning, and IT environments and configuration of systems and devices. It can be used in a CI/CD process to provision the target environment and to then deploy the application on it.
$5,000
per year
Pricing
Apache MavenRed Hat Ansible Automation Platform
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic Tower
5,000
per year
Enterprise Tower
10,000
per year
Premium Tower
14,000
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apache MavenAnsible
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Best Alternatives
Apache MavenRed Hat Ansible Automation Platform
Small Businesses
GitLab
GitLab
Score 8.9 out of 10
HashiCorp Vagrant
HashiCorp Vagrant
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
GitLab
GitLab
Score 8.9 out of 10
AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
GitLab
GitLab
Score 8.9 out of 10
AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apache MavenRed Hat Ansible Automation Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(14 ratings)
8.9
(63 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
5.1
(3 ratings)
7.3
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apache MavenRed Hat Ansible Automation Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
Apache
Maven is great if you have an application with a lot of third-party dependencies and don’t want each developer to keep track of where the dependency can be downloaded. It’s also a great way to make it easy for a new developer to be able to build the application. It’s less suitable for simple projects without any third-party dependencies.
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Red Hat
The thing I mentioned earlier where we're constantly dealing with federal regulations or new agents that they want us to install and deploy and just getting those out in a consistent manner in a canned installation via Playbook is ideal
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Pros
Apache
  • If you are building in the Java ecosystem, then Maven definitely has the biggest repository of artifacts needed for such projects.
  • It has a very simple to use extendable architecture. Everything is configurable through the Pom.xml file which is very simple to follow.
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Red Hat
  • Makes it easy to create and share automation in one central hub.
  • Ansible content collections give me the ability to reuse code, making it rapid to carry out complex IT processes.
  • Event-driven automation allows me to reduce manual tasks: it is rapid to know which action to take and respond automatically by receiving events from external apps automatically.
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Cons
Apache
  • Maven provides a very rigid model that makes customization tedious and sometimes impossible. While this can make it easier to understand any given Maven build, as long as you don’t have any special requirements, it also makes it unsuitable for many automation problems.
  • Maven has few, built-in dependency scopes, which forces awkward module architectures in common scenarios like using test fixtures or code generation. There is no separation between unit and integration tests
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Red Hat
  • Workflows should have more flexible paths than just success or failure.
  • The upgrade process can be challenging with differences in security and environment.
  • There is an opportunity to add CICD functionality into the tool.
  • For development, it would be nice to have the option of editing a repo directly from AAP to allow quick tests/reruns. Then, allow it to push the updates back or create a new branch/PR in GitHub.
  • The RBAC is good but could use improvements. One example would be an option that allows admins to assume the access of another user to validate it works as expected.
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Likelihood to Renew
Apache
No answers on this topic
Red Hat
We are deploying Ansible at all levels of the organization
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Usability
Apache
The overall usability of Apache Maven is very good to us. We were able to incorporate it into our company's build process pretty quickly. We deployed it to multiple teams throughout the entire enterprise. We got good feedback from our developers stating that Apache Maven has simplified their build process. It also allowed to to standardize the build process for the entire enterprise, thus ensure that each development team is using the same, consistent process to build code.
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Red Hat
the yaml is easy to write and most people can be taught to write basic playbooks in a few weeks
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Performance
Apache
No answers on this topic
Red Hat
Great in almost every way compared to any other configuration management software. The only thing I wish for is python3 support. Other than that, YAML is much improved compared to the Ruby of Chef. The agentless nature is incredibly convenient for managing systems quickly, and if a member of your term has no terminal experience whatsoever they can still use the UI.
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Support Rating
Apache
I can't speak to the support, as I've never had issues. Apache Maven "just works," and errors were user errors or local nexus errors. Apache Maven is a great build/dependency management tool. I give it a 9/10 because occasionally the error message don't immediately indicate a solution...but again, those errors were always user or configuration errors, and the Maven documentation is extensive, so I don't find fault in Maven, but in its users.
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Red Hat
There is a lot of good documentation that Ansible and Red Hat provide which should help get someone started with making Ansible useful. But once you get to more complicated scenarios, you will benefit from learning from others. I have not used Red Hat support for work with Ansible, but many of the online resources are helpful.
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Implementation Rating
Apache
No answers on this topic
Red Hat
I spoke on this topic today!
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Alternatives Considered
Apache
Ant, Maven's opposing framework, is often a point of comparison. Although Ant does not require formal conventions, it is procedural in the sense that you must tell Ant exactly what to do and when. It also lacks a lifecycle, along with goal definition and dependencies. Maven, on the other hand, requires less work as it knows exactly where your source code is as long as the pom.xml file is generated.
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Red Hat
AAP doesn't truly stack up against any of the products mentioned except for Aria Automation. But, it is extensible and open and has a lower cost to entry.
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Return on Investment
Apache
  • Apache Maven is an open source product from the Apache Software Foundation. Being free to use without any licensing constraints, we've been very happy with this product thus far.
  • The software build and packaging times for our applications have improved greatly since our use of this tool.
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Red Hat
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers automation and ML tools that allow me to automate complex IT tasks.
  • Through automation analytics, it is seamless to gain full visibility into automation performance allowing me to make informed decisions.
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform allows me to move rapidly from insights to action.
  • Creating and sharing automation content in one place unify a team in one place hence enhancing real-time collaboration.
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