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Highlights
- Multi-cloud environments allow users to select cloud providers based on cost, performance, geographic availability, and compliance requirements.
- Cloud monitoring platforms provide real-time visibility into the performance, availability, and security of cloud resources — enabling proactive issue resolution.
- The integration of metrics and flow data in cloud monitoring platforms expedites troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
- Cloud cost monitoring is no longer a luxury but necessary for businesses leveraging cloud services.
- While cloud-native tools offer deep insights within a single cloud provider's ecosystem, third-party tools provide a broader, more flexible monitoring solution for organizations with diverse and multi-cloud environments.
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Cloud monitoring
Cloud computing is closely intertwined with modern business operations, enabling organizations to scale, transform, and remain competitive in the digital era. However, the cloud’s dynamic nature requires robust monitoring to ensure performance, security, and cost-effectiveness.
Cloud monitoring is a critical practice that empowers businesses to optimize their cloud resources, detect anomalies, and proactively address issues. Organizations can choose the best-suited cloud providers and services for their specific needs. Multi-cloud setups allow organizations to select cloud providers based on cost, performance, geographic availability, and compliance requirements.
Role of MSPs
Managed service providers (MSPs) play a multifaceted role in cloud monitoring, encompassing proactive monitoring, resource optimization, cost management, security, compliance, and more. MSPs bring expertise in proactive monitoring, alert management, resource optimization, cost management, security and compliance, patch management, backup and disaster recovery (DR), scaling and performance optimization, and reporting and analytics. Some of the MSPs have developed specialized tools such as remote monitoring and management software, backup and recovery software, and other tools to help organizations harness the full potential of the cloud while ensuring efficient operations and a secure, well-managed cloud environment.
Third-party tools
While cloud-native tools offer capabilities within a single cloud provider's ecosystem, third-party tools provide a broader and more flexible monitoring solution for organizations with diverse multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments. Third-party monitoring tools are flexible and adaptable. They can monitor cloud-native services and on-premises infrastructure, containers, and other technologies —making them suitable for diverse IT environments.
Monitoring strategy
Unified multi-cloud monitoring is a strategic approach that empowers organizations to efficiently manage and optimize their cloud resources, enhance security and compliance, and make informed decisions across their entire multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud ecosystem. It simplifies the complexities of multi-cloud operations and ensures that organizations can harness the full potential of their investments. Such monitoring platforms consolidate data and metrics from various cloud providers, regions, and services into a single dashboard. This centralized view allows IT teams to monitor cloud resources’ health, performance, and security from one place, reducing complexity and simplifying management.
Cost monitoring
Despite the cloud’s myriad benefits, unmonitored usage can lead to unexpected costs. Cloud cost monitoring and optimization have become strategic imperatives for businesses, especially those with multi-cloud setups. Integrated cost monitoring tools with features such as multi-cloud cost visibility, cost allocation, resource optimization, and the ability to forecast cost help organizations control expenses, allocate resources efficiently, and derive maximum value from their cloud investments.
Data integration
Metrics are measurements or numerical values that represent specific attributes or characteristics of a system, such as CPU utilization, memory usage, disk input or output (I/O), network bandwidth, error rates, and more. Metrics are collected at regular intervals. A snapshot of the system's state at a particular moment is also obtained through metrics. Flow data, often referred to as network flow data, provides information about the interactions between devices, applications, and users within a network. Flow data includes the source and destination of IP addresses, protocols, ports, and the volume of data transferred. It helps understand traffic patterns, identify network anomalies, and monitor the behavior of devices and applications. Combining metrics and flow data can allow organizations to associate the relevant performance metrics with traffic patterns. This helps in understanding how changes in traffic volume impact the performance of applications and services. Security incidents (data breaches or network intrusions) can be detected more effectively when resource utilization metrics and network flow data are considered together.
Benefits
Organizations can derive various benefits if cloud monitoring is done right. Some of the benefits are:
- Keep track of resource availability and consumption, response time, and overall performance.
- Centralized monitoring helps troubleshoot a multi-cloud setup and becomes more efficient.
- Track cloud footprint with different cloud providers while identifying opportunities to save costs.
- Implement industry-established compliance standards and security policies.
In essence, multi-cloud monitoring is not merely a technical function but a strategic imperative for businesses leveraging diverse cloud setups. By defining clear objectives, selecting the right tools, and implementing comprehensive monitoring practices, organizations can optimize their multi-cloud environments for performance, availability, security, and resiliency.
