The last newsletter discussed the growing importance of managing cloud based services and applications. This newsletter will discuss the growing trend to use cloud-based applications for managing applications and services, whether or not they are cloud based.
In the last newsletter, the phrase cloud management referred to the management of the services and applications that are provided by a cloud computing service provider (CCSP). In this newsletter, the phrase cloud management refers to the management functionality that can currently be acquired, and in the near future will increasingly be acquired, from a CCSP.
As described in the last newsletter, the initial wave of cloud-based services and applications came with little, if any, management capabilities. This minimalist approach to the management of cloud-based services is changing in part because IT organizations are demanding that it change. They are demanding change in part because in order to meet the expectations that a company’s business unit managers have for application performance, IT organizations must be able to monitor and manage the end-to-end performance of these applications, whether they are provided by the IT organization or by a CCSP.
Another factor that is driving the initial minimalist approach to the management of CCSP services to change is the fact that many CCSPs are scrambling to find ways to differentiate themselves in the market. One clear way that CCSPs can differentiate themselves is by offering a performance-based SLA and by making it easier for their customers to monitor the end-to-end performance of the services that they provide.
AppNeta is an example of a company that is driving the movement to cloud-based management. The company was recently launched by the team, technology and assets of Apparent Networks. AppNeta delivers on the promise of cloud management in part by not requiring an initial capital outlay and in part because it delivers nearly instantaneous time to value. It also provides insight into the end-to-end performance of a CCSP provided service that was not previously available and because it is delivered as a SaaS solution, it frees the IT organization from having to maintain the servers and databases that are required to support the functionality.
More information on this topic can be found here.
