NAB, SA Power Networks, Spark NZ win Red Hat Innovation Awards
National Australia Bank (NAB), SA Power Networks, and Spark New Zealand have been recognised by Red Hat as winners of the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards 2024 for their innovative use of open source technologies.
The awards celebrate companies that demonstrate significant achievements in using Red Hat solutions to drive transformation and innovation within their operations, particularly in the categories of Digital Transformation, Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure, and Automation.
National Australia Bank received the award for its efforts in Digital Transformation and Automation. As one of Australia's largest financial institutions, NAB sought to overcome resource constraints and improve operations by utilising the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system and the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. These solutions enabled NAB to manage thousands of devices efficiently without increasing staff levels and allowed for the consolidation of various systems under a unified automation framework. Jason Cooper, Manager of Network Application, Network Security, and Automation at NAB, commented, "NAB has leveraged Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to simplify our environment through automation, allowing us to reduce manual operational tasks and improving our compliance and security remediation timeframes."
Spark New Zealand, which secured the award for Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure and Automation, stands as the country’s largest telecommunications and digital services provider. The organisation utilised several Red Hat solutions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat OpenStack Platform, and Red Hat OpenShift, to centralise and modernise its operations while catering to existing and next-generation network functions. Nilay Rathod, Technology Automation and Services Lead at Spark New Zealand, said, "The team embarked on this project with one aim—to automate everything without compromises and create a platform of the future."
SA Power Networks, the sole electricity distributor in South Australia, received recognition for its Digital Transformation and Automation initiatives. Facing increased operational and project delivery demands, the company adopted the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with the assistance of Advent One. This allowed SA Power Networks to streamline repetitive tasks and standardise infrastructure and delivery builds, significantly reducing manual patching and human error. Phil Manning, Infrastructure Design Manager at SA Power Networks, noted, "Using open-source solutions, as opposed to bespoke or proprietary solutions, has also encouraged a culture of open sharing among our teams."
Marjet Andriesse, Senior Vice President and General Manager for APJC at Red Hat, expressed pride in the achievements of these organisations, stating, "Despite the uncertain economic conditions in 2024, we have seen the remarkable milestones achieved by our customers. This year, we want to highlight the innovative strides of these organisations at the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards 2024 as they leverage advanced technologies to drive business initiatives."
The Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards 2024 underscore the importance of strategic deployment of open source solutions in enabling organisations to address business challenges, enhance productivity, and drive innovation. The winners exemplify how enterprises can overcome the dual challenge of managing escalating infrastructure costs and evolving business demands while fortifying resilience through technology adoption.
