What’s a Cloud Management Platform? (And Why Do You Need One?) Part 1 of 2
Our official tagline at Sunshower.io is “beautifully simple cloud management and optimization.” But why do you need a Cloud Management Platform like Sunshower.io? When you work with a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) like AWS or Azure, doesn’t the CSP do the cloud optimization for you? Isn’t it the CSP’s job to make sure what you’re running in the cloud is rightsized, your applications are easy to view and manage, and that you’re getting the best possible value for your money? That’s what you’re paying them for, right?
In a word? Nope. That’s all on you, bub.
How Do You Build a Cloud Management Strategy on Your Own?
Once upon a time, the biggest problem on anyone’s plate when it came to cloud technology was “How do I migrate to the cloud?” As time and technology progressed (and with so many different CSP options available), the bigger question became “How do I choose the right cloud for my business?”
Even with the question of “which cloud?” answered, managing applications running in the cloud is a real drain on resources. This is especially true in large environments. There are a lot of repetitive tasks when it comes to managing cloud applications– The kind of tasks that drain your creativity, lead to serious burnout, and generally zap you of your will to live. On top of that, there’s the nearly impossible task of manually choosing instance sizes, a frustrating lack of visibility between clouds, and a natural tendency to over-provision (and over pay).
That’s where a Cloud Management Platform comes in. A good CMP will automate all of the cloud management tasks that drain your time and resources. It’s an essential tool that helps users more effectively monitor and control cloud computing resources, providing optimization, visibility, and ease of use that you cant get from your Cloud Service Provider alone.
What’s Life Like Without a Cloud Management Platform?
Let’s put it in the simplest terms possible:
Look in your bathroom cabinet. Reach waay back. How many expired boxes of cold medicine are in there? How many things are in your pantry that you haven’t touched for six months? Are there shirts with the tags still on hanging in your closet that you put away and forgot totally about?
That’s me. That’s you. That’s ALL of us.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the cloud, this kind of “set it and forget it” strategy is seriously problematic.
Sunshower.io is the Marie Kondo of Cloud Computing
For those of you who jumped on the Marie Kondo and minimalism bandwagon, you know the more stuff you have, the more difficult it is to keep track of it; the more difficult to keep track of it, the easier it is to waste money on duplicates.
When you’re talking about cloud-hosted virtual machines (server space, also called cloud compute), this problem multiplies. At least in your house, the amount of stuff you can stash away and forget about is finite. In the cloud, though, companies can buy virtual machines all over the world through Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which they then use to launch applications.
So, What Does That Mean in Terms of Cost?
Imagine that you had to pay hourly for everything in your house, even the items you forgot you had. Then, imagine you get charged more to keep them in certain parts of the house. That’s how AWS instances (the AWS parlance for “virtual machines”) work: They have different prices based on which server in which region you use. However, all your active instances aren’t listed in one location, making it easy to forget what instances you have.
This has led to Julie, the Sunshower.io intern, getting charged for a forgotten instance in South America. It’s also led to our CEO getting a $200 charge for an unused and unloved instance in Seoul. When a company that specializes in cloud efficiency and optimization is getting dinged for unused online resources, it highlights how easy it is for companies that aren’t self-proclaimed “cloud experts” to accidentally spend thousands upon thousands on unused and unoptimized instances.
Of course, that’s nothing a good Cloud Management Platform can’t fix. Enter Sunshower.io!
Sunshower.io is a Cloud Management Platform that makes working with cloud compute technology simpler, more efficient, and a better overall value for your money. Our cloud management technology helps users minimize wasted resources, maximize savings, improve ease of use, and reduce monthly cloud compute bills by as much as 80%.
But stay tuned…. There’s lots more to say about the benefits of using a CMP like Sunshower.io.
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