Cloud Management | Parallels RAS Discusses Poor Cloud Management

Cloud Management

cloud managementCompanies who plunge head first into cloud computing learn it’s not always as good as promised. Instead of saving, they incur more costs than budgeted, the opposite of what they expected. In most cases, the culprit is poor cloud management, something that can be avoided.

Overspending Due to Virtual Machine Sprawl

One of the most significant advantages of cloud computing is the relative ease of provisioning virtual servers. Through self-service catalogs, IT administrators, developers, and other tech-savvy members of an organization can quickly provision servers whenever they want to.

However, unmitigated provisioning of VMs can lead to server sprawl, an issue that occurs when users spin up an excessive number of VMs or leave VMs running longer than they should. These unnecessary virtual machines still accrue costs.

Security and Compliance Issues

Today, the notion that cloud infrastructures are insecure is considered a myth. Reputable cloud service providers provide a host of security features such as network isolation, identity management, encryption, and other features that protect applications, data, and other cloud assets.

However, many of these security features need to be enabled or configured correctly to get maximum protection. For example, to increase resilience to a DDoS attack, you need to implement redundancy and distribute servers across different geographical locations. Most large CSPs offer this capability but don’t enable it by default.

Lack of Control and Visibility

While the freewheeling nature of cloud environments can pave the way for business agility, it can also lead to some degree of anarchy. When an organization nonchalantly allows users to quickly develop, test, and roll out applications to production, it can be challenging to enforce accountability or trace the root cause of a problem when something goes wrong.

Cloud Management Solutions Can Help

These issues can be mitigated by adhering to cloud management best practices, in conjunction with a robust cloud management solution. A cloud management platform can give you full control over virtual machines, hypervisors, and other elements of your cloud infrastructure. This helps administrators:

For businesses to realize a good return on cloud investments, they need to bring order to their cloud environment, and cloud management practices can help.

Read how Parallels RAS can help you manage your Cloud infrastructure.


References

ZDNet | https://www.zdnet.com/article/overspending-in-the-cloud-lessons-learned/

AWS | https://aws.amazon.com/answers/networking/aws-ddos-attack-mitigation/

RedHat | https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-cloud-management

ServiceNow | https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/resource-center/white-paper/servicenow-cloud-management-accelerating-and-strengthening-cloud-development.pdf

Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_management