Sorting Through Cloud Computing's Complex Layers

Although cloud use is widespread, most IT organizations still don't have much visibility into, much less control over, cloud deployments, according to a study conducted by Dimensional Insight on behalf of Cloud Cruiser, a vendor of financial management software for tracking hybrid cloud use. As IT environments become more distributed in the hybrid cloud age, an opportunity is emerging for solution providers to help their clients manage the complexity—resulting from various forms of private, public and hybrid clouds running any number of types of cloud apps. However, first, IT organizations need more financial visibility to better understand those clouds' true costs. It's no longer so much an argument about whether IT organizations will employ cloud computing, but rather how they will do so. Armed with the right financial tools, solution providers can make the case for different cloud scenarios and provide a service around a financial management task that most internal IT organizations are challenged to figure out on their own. Here's a look at key findings from the research, which is based on a survey of 279 IT professionals who attended the recent Microsoft Ignite 2015 conference.