Companies accessing the cloud need better ways to assimilate cloud usage data and decipher bills, according to technology distributor Avnet.
The value added distributor based in Tempe, Az., with its Canadian subsidiary in Mississauga, Ont., unveiled a new solution dubbed the Avnet Cloud Toolset or “ACT”.
ACT enables channel partners to track usage charges across multiple services, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM SoftLayer.
“It’s very common that an end customer will deploy certain workloads in their data centre and other workloads in cloud computing providers,” said Tim FitzGerald, vice-president of cloud solutions, Americas at Avnet. “We’re seeing some unique capabilities from cloud providers which increase the propensity for multiple cloud providers to be used.”
He said that even among Avnet’s partners, more and more are relying on multiple providers, and that current solutions don’t lend themselves well to both granular analysis and the big overall picture.
“Quite often, cloud is originally consumed at a departmental level, and many departments want to retain the management and control of that particular account,” said FitzGerald. “ACT provides management and control at a departmental level but also a broad view for the enterprise.”
While ACT currently works with six cloud providers including AWS and SoftLayer, FitzGerald promised that more are on their way.
“When you’re in a multi-tiered model, where a cloud provider is working through a company like Avnet and then through our partners down to their customers and in some cases multiple departments, the ability to segment that information in a meaningful way becomes a critical business challenge,” he said.