Cloudability wants to manage cloud usage to reduce costs

Cloudability introduced themselves recently.  The company believes it can help customers reduce their overall cloud computing costs, regardless of whether the customers are using Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings. How are they going to do that, one might ask.

Cloudability has developed tools that actively monitor cloud usage, compare that usage to the customers stated objectives and inform IT administrators when cloud computing services are being used enough to exceed the stated budget. This may be because they are being used more than expected or someone forgot to turn off a service even though it is no longer needed.

Customers merely have to select what type of cloud services they are using, who are the service suppliers, their budgetary information and provide the management tools with credentials allowing them to monitor cloud usage.  Cloudability then starts monitoring use.

The company promises to do the following things:

• Detect waste and overspending
• Regain control over costs
• Reduce staff-related costs of manually tracking expenses
• Make it far easier for customers to assert business rules, make their staff comply with those rules and keep staff accountable.

Snapshot analysis

Cloudability speaks about their idea as if it is something new. While it appears that Cloudability's product is easy to use and understand, other suppliers of cloud management software have taken the base idea and run further with it.

BMC, IBM, CA, and a whole host of start ups are tackling the same problem. Some have built sophisticated analytical engines so that they can track usage, assure compliance, reduce staff-related costs and even, in some cases, suggest using a different, lower cost service.

It is still quite early in this market. Cloudability's ideas are interesting and worth following. We'll all have to see if the company has what it takes to best the competition.