The same simplicity and ease of use that make cloud-based IT Infrastructure solutions so attractive in the first place can also create problems when too many are adopted without adequate oversight, according to a recent report from TechTarget.
In the absence of sufficiently robust monitoring and management technology, it's difficult for IT departments to effectively track usage and provisioning of services, which sometimes results in so-called cloud sprawl, the publication said.
The ability to scale IT Infrastructure services up or down depending on current demand is one of the biggest advantages of the outsourced hosting model, and a strong, central dashboard for making those changes can help companies ensure that they're getting the most efficiency out of their infrastructure, according to the news source.
The president of Neovise, a cloud consulting firm, told TechTarget that, although some current-generation providers lack these management capabilities, the industry is quickly realizing the importance of these considerations.
"Cost calculators, monitoring tools and rigid spending controls fall short when it comes to balancing spending and performance," Paul Burns said in an interview. However, he also noted that more and more companies are factoring these concerns into their products as time goes by.
A greater degree of standardization, other sources added, could make all the difference. With a common method of measuring usage and tracking, clients would be able to identify services that are performing well. When management features are added to such an industry standard, allowing users to act on the information provided, the potential for flexibility and efficient provisioning grows.
At the moment, however, it's undeniable that businesses sometimes overprovision themselves and adopt additional cloud services that they might not actually need thanks to a lack of visibility. That said, according to experts, part of the problem could actually be insufficient attention to detail in the planning process.
Careful identification of the exact manner in which a new IT Infrastructure service will be used is a critical step in the process of adopting third-party solutions. With a measured, common-sense approach, the technology can easily offer an attractive, headache-free way to provide needed infrastructure solutions, doing away with the need to maintain in-house systems and freeing up IT staff to work on projects that more directly drive profitability.
