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VMware Aria Automation pros and cons

Vendor: Broadcom
4.0 out of 5
Badge Leader

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

VMware Aria Automation enables rapid provision and automation of virtual machines, reducing deployment time dramatically from weeks to minutes.
It seamlessly integrates with various VMware cloud products, AWS, and Azure, enhancing versatility and scalability for enterprise environments.
The platform's automation capabilities streamline repetitive tasks and improve overall infrastructure agility and response times.
The ability to self-provision multiple virtual environments allows IT teams to focus on strategic projects, enhancing productivity across departments.
VMware Aria Automation supports integration with several industry-leading tools, making it a flexible and robust choice for enterprise automation needs.

CONS

VMware Aria Automation struggles with scaling Disaster Recovery solutions, particularly due to complexities with local vCenter environments and SRM scalability.
Integration with public clouds like Google Cloud and Azure is lacking, limiting the ability to provision and manage costs effectively compared to AWS.
The upgrade process from version 6.x to 7.3 is complex, often leading to significant issues and the need for support assistance.
VMware Aria Automation's automation features require improvement for better end-to-end processes, especially regarding VM connectivity to external IPs and improved orchestration support.
Technical support is inadequate in keeping pace with the rapid developments in VMware Aria Automation, making troubleshooting and problem resolution challenging for users.
 

VMware Aria Automation Pros review quotes

it_user438321 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a media company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Aug 4, 2017
We were able to reduce the delivery time of requesting a VM from three weeks to under 10 minutes using the vRealize Automation Suite.
it_user514269 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Architect at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Sep 18, 2016
All were really good at what they do, but SaltStack seemed to be much more feature rich than the competition.
it_user12228 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at a cloud solution provider with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 18, 2016
This product has saved us time in standing up new servers, as well as allowed us to automate the deployment of these servers and the applications that run on them.
Learn what your peers think about VMware Aria Automation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user514326 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Technology Specialist at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Sep 18, 2016
We can now deploy a new (Linux-based) ERP server in 15 minutes; automated, all using the same template and standard.
it_user514338 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Devops Engineer at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 18, 2016
We have been able to integrate with AWS to deploy continuous delivery services with an extremely quick turnaround time.
it_user513414 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Support at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Sep 19, 2016
We have developed a complete, multi-tiered, stable build system for our Internet servers with SaltStack as the base of the build system, and it is stable and easy to modify as we grow and change our needs.
it_user516060 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Architect at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 20, 2016
We have scaled from two servers to about 140 servers in a very short period of time, which would have been a nightmare had it not been for the SaltStack configurations.
it_user516870 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Sep 21, 2016
Salt lets you run commands on hundreds of servers at once; and sync up software, tools, and scripts across your infrastructure.
it_user518751 - PeerSpot reviewer
System and Network Administrator at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 23, 2016
Reactors, because of the automation help they provide (reacting to custom events).
it_user518769 - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration Engineer (DevOps) at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Sep 23, 2016
They make it simple to create Python-based templates and, when necessary, create functions for actions that are not covered by the Jinja engine.
 

VMware Aria Automation Cons review quotes

it_user438321 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a media company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Aug 4, 2017
From my experience, vRA requires a highly skilled team to maintain, version upgrades without downtime are not possible, and overall it doesn’t scale fast.
it_user514269 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Architect at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Sep 18, 2016
The online documentation is lackluster at best.
it_user12228 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at a cloud solution provider with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 18, 2016
Salt Cloud Windows support isn't that mature.
Learn what your peers think about VMware Aria Automation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user514326 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Technology Specialist at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Sep 18, 2016
Having an overview and managing all this is a bit difficult in the beginning.
it_user514338 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Devops Engineer at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 18, 2016
Windows support is advertised as a first-rate supported platform; however, it is ripe with issues that have added countless hours to our roadmap.
it_user513414 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Support at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Sep 19, 2016
I found this module difficult to configure and unreliable, as far as getting and maintaining control of new instances as they were created by the autoscaling group.
it_user516060 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Architect at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 20, 2016
I think debugging can be improved. In case of errors, the devOps team finds it difficult to read the Python stack traces at times.
it_user516870 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Sep 21, 2016
The flexibility can hurt sometimes, as there are so many ways to accomplish the same task.
it_user518751 - PeerSpot reviewer
System and Network Administrator at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 23, 2016
I have encountered stability issues; they are always resolved by new releases of the software.
it_user518769 - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration Engineer (DevOps) at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Sep 23, 2016
Support: It's not bad or poor, but there are some issues. On the one hand, it's about development and progress; on the other, there were some issues that took too long to get fixed by the SaltStack team and forced users to invent workarounds.