Cloud Cruiser Gives CIOs Look Into Cloud Costs
In the not so distant past, it was impossible to gauge how much an onsite server actually cost an organization. CIOs were unable to predict the future costs of operating servers because it is difficult to predict the man hours associated with server issues, licensing fees and hardware replacements. While the cloud infrastructure has largely solved many of these problems, there is still one burning question for corporate bean counters. Is there a way to break down the costs associated with using public, private and hybrid cloud servers on a more granular level for reporting purposes?
The answer to this question is Cloud Cruiser. This application looks to provide data on actual cloud usage and break that number down into a number that compares to private cloud usage. This data can also be compiled in a manner which allows it to be viewed alongside traditional onsite server costs using some basic metrics gathered from the bare metal equipment. These stats will tell an organization how efficiently a cloud is operating from a cost perspective and allow an organization to shift computing workloads based on price.
Cloud Cruiser is designed for Microsoft platforms. Organizations that have workloads in Azure can use this tool to compare costs in the public cloud versus costs associated with running your private onsite cloud. Cloud Cruiser goes a step further and compares your actual costs to what it costs to host your computing load at Amazon or Rackspace. Dave Zabrowski is the founder of Cloud Cruiser and he was recently quoted in regards to his product by saying, “This makes it possible for people to actually see what the costs are. There is no other tool that captures these costs.” Cloud Cruiser turns a profit by earning a fee when organizations save money.
Cloud Cruiser seems to be making waves in the venture capital community. ONSET and WavePoint Ventures are both investors in Cloud Cruiser.
