F5 Networks unveils BIG-IQ with Cisco APIC integration
F5 has launched the company's new intelligent management framework that provides a single point of integration for administering and orchestrating security and application delivery services.
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F5 BIG-IQ and Cisco APIC offer customers the ability to deploy and deliver applications with the speed, reliability and security
With this update, BIG-IQ enables deeper collaboration between the network operations centre and DevOps teams by centrally managing application delivery and by employing role based access control (RBAC).
The resulting workflow simplifies operations -- boosting efficiency and freeing the network team from having to set individual application delivery policies while maintaining a flexible approval process.
F5 director, field system engineering A/NZ told ARN the most exciting thing about the announcement was the true integration with Cisco.
The exciting thing about this is the true integration with Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure controller (APIC).
"It is the integration that we are extremely excited about," he said.
"Ultimately, it's really about driving efficiencies for our customers.
He said partners trialling SDN (software-defined networking) innovations could now start talking to their customers about how they deal with the applications as well.
"Our management platform allows them to take on the application side of the datacentre," he said.
"They can have a far more end to end conversation with their customers."
Partners include Telstra, Dimension Data, O2, Bridgepoint.
Miller said SDN opened up opportunities for all sorts of partners.
"The SDN revolution is really turning the industry on its head," he said.
"The application is the prized asset of any datacentre.
"From a channel perspective these types of announcments and market trends present a great opportunity for channel partners to start having different conversation with their customers."
IG-IQ offers both an innovative UI and RESTful APIs to centrally manage F5 BIG-IP devices and to control F5's Local Traffic Manager, Advanced Firewall Manager and Application Security Manager solutions.
BIG-IQ's use of iApps templates orchestrates Software Defined Application Services both locally and in public and private clouds to increase business agility while eliminating many of the risks associated with managing point solutions individually.
BIG-IQ provides a single point of integration between solutions from F5 and technologies from Cisco, VMware, and OpenStack.
F5 senior vice president APAC, Emmanuel Bonnassie, said BIG-IQ was a critical pillar of F5 Synthesis architecture, and continued to deliver the company's vision in automating processes and redeeming the time spent on manual operational tasks performed week after week.
"As companies take steps to ensure that they have the appropriate levels of service in a hybrid infrastructure environment, we are proud that BIG-IQ is the only solution of its kind to integrate both RBAC and a system for staging and scheduling configuration changes," he said.