Boston, May 2025 – One of the most valuable aspects of Red Hat Summit 2025 was experiencing it together with one of our clients. This post highlights Sky New Zealand’s takeaways, shared through the lens of Ivo Köhler, System Architect Infrastructure & Cloud, on what matters most as enterprise IT evolves.
A Considered Alternative to VMware with Red Hat OpenShift Virtualisation
With many organisations re-evaluating their virtualisation strategy post-VMware acquisition, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualisation (OCP+V) stands out as a viable and open-source based solution.
For Sky NZ, the platform shows strong potential to future-proof their infrastructure while reducing complexity
What we learned:
- OCP+V enables organisations to run virtual machines and containers on a single, scalable platform
- Seamless integration with Red Hat’s wider ecosystem (Ansible, OpenShift+AI, and more)
- Flexibility for hybrid environments without the complexity of layering separate tools
“This gave us confidence that flexibility doesn’t have to come at the cost of control,” Ivo Köhler noted.
OCP+V could be considered a valid virtualisation and Kubernetes platform to support long-term architecture planning, especially in scenarios where vendor flexibility and cost management are priorities.
Automation with Purpose: Combining Ansible and Terraform
Automation remains foundational to efficient IT operations, and Red Hat continues to position Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) as a key enabler of consistency and orchestration across environments. The Summit placed emphasis on the growing integration between Ansible and HashiCorp Terraform, particularly under IBM’s strategic alignment.
Sky NZ’s key takeaway:
- Terraform excels at provisioning infrastructure
- Ansible Automation Platform streamlines configuration management and deployment
- The two are most effective when used together
“Seeing how these tools interlink gave us a clearer picture of how to evolve our automation model without disrupting what works,” Ivo Köhler said.
This combined approach offers a pathway for Sky NZ to mature its automation strategy across both on-premises and cloud environments.
Advancements in Intelligent Operations
A significant theme at this year’s Summit was Red Hat’s progression in AI-enabled operations, specifically in the form of agentic software, programmes designed to carry out defined tasks and improve responsiveness within systems.
While the term ‘Agentic AI’ was used throughout, what stood out for Sky NZ were the practical applications:
- Automatically identifying and resolving performance issues
- Predictive resource allocation to scale efficiently
- Improving incident response through automation
“We appreciated that these weren’t just theoretical concepts but practical tools we could evaluate in the near term,” Ivo Köhler shared.
Sky NZ is taking a pragmatic approach to exploring how these capabilities could be integrated into its operating model in a low-risk, testable way.
Key Takeaways from the Red Hat Summit 2025
For Sky NZ, the Summit reinforced four important trends:
- Virtualisation can move beyond legacy vendors with credible open alternatives.
- Automation workflows are evolving to include complementary tools, not compete with them.
- AI should remain practical and incremental in its application.
- Open-source ecosystems are vital for future-ready, vendor-agnostic infrastructure.
“The Summit helped us clarify what’s relevant, what’s ready, and what’s worth revisiting,” Ivo Köhler said.
At Systemethix, we see our role not just in implementing solutions, but in walking alongside our clients as they explore what’s next. We’re grateful to Ivo Köhler and the Sky NZ team for sharing their reflections from the Red Hat Summit and look forward to supporting their ongoing journey.
Get in touch if you’d like to explore how these developments may apply to your environment.
