Key Criteria for Evaluating Cloud Resource Optimization Solutionsv1.0

An Evaluation Guide for Technology Decision Makers

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Cloud Resource Optimization Primer
  3. Report Methodology
  4. Decision Criteria Analysis
  5. Evaluation Metrics
  6. Key Criteria: Impact Analysis
  7. Analyst’s Take

1. Summary

With today’s IT environments composed of automated components that can deploy in minutes across private and public cloud infrastructures, the need to gain control of these components continues to challenge organizations. Solutions that focus on the creation and management of cloud assets can largely be broken down into three focus areas (see Figure 1): cloud management platforms (CMPs), financial operations (FinOps) solutions, and cloud resource optimization. Cloud management and FinOps are covered in previous GigaOm reports (links below); this report focuses on cloud resource optimization.

While each of these focus areas may provide limited features that cross into an adjacent area, it’s more common to see solutions concentrating on one area and providing integrations with its neighbors.


Figure 1: Three Focus Areas of Cloud Management

Cloud resource optimization deals with the measurement, optimization, and reconfiguration of cloud assets that have already been deployed and are incurring costs to the organization. These solutions should address “how much do we need?” and identify where resources could be better balanced for cost or performance (or both). Solutions in this space should also play an active role within the IT planning phase (to better forecast resource needs) and in the overall capacity management conversation of an IT operations team within an organization.

This Gigaom Key Criteria report details the key issues and trends to consider around cloud resource optimization solutions. We’ll identify key criteria and evaluation metrics for selecting a cloud resource optimization platform and give you an overview of the key enabling technology available today. The companion Radar report will identify vendors and products that excel. The two reports will help decision-makers evaluate existing platforms and decide where to invest.

How to Read this Report

This GigaOm report is one of a series of documents that helps IT organizations assess competing solutions in the context of well-defined features and criteria. For a fuller understanding, consider reviewing the following reports:
Key Criteria report: A detailed market sector analysis that assesses the impact that key product features and criteria have on top-line solution characteristics—such as scalability, performance, and TCO—that drive purchase decisions.
GigaOm Radar report: A forward-looking analysis that plots the relative value and progression of vendor solutions along multiple axes based on strategy and execution. The Radar report includes a breakdown of each vendor’s offering in the sector.
Solution Profile: An in-depth vendor analysis that builds on the framework developed in the Key Criteria and Radar reports to assess a company’s engagement within a technology sector. This analysis includes forward-looking guidance around both strategy and product.

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