Simplify multi-cloud operations: Learn how to optimize AWS, Azure, and GCP workloads with IWO
That is the ultimate weblog in a collection on cloud optimization. Additionally see “Reduce Public Cloud Spend with Intersight Workload Optimizer” and “Getting to the cloud: How IWO can help you plan cloud migration.”
On this interview I discuss with Mike Isaia, technical options architect, concerning the development towards the usage of a number of public cloud suppliers and the way Cisco Intersight Workload Optimizer simplifies efficiency and price optimization throughout AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Q: Right now, organizations are sometimes utilizing a couple of public cloud supplier. What’s driving multi-cloud operations?
A: As the usage of the general public cloud continues to rise, IT leaders are realizing that it may be clever to diversify their public cloud suppliers. Two principal causes are to stop vendor lock-in and to reap the benefits of the large three public cloud suppliers’ particular person strengths (AWS, Azure, and GCP). For instance, AWS is the largest participant available on the market with the best breadth of options and capabilities. Microsoft Azure is, in fact, best-of-breed for Microsoft merchandise, and GCP emphasizes information analytics.
Q: Why is working workloads throughout a multi-cloud surroundings difficult?
A: There are a few principal causes. First, AWS, Azure, and GCP are utterly totally different distributors who present cloud companies in numerous methods. From a computing perspective, every has its personal full computing structure. They every have distinctive service catalogues, households, situations, and billing, and each features in a different way. For instance, whereas GCP makes use of sustained-use discounting, AWS makes use of reserved situations. Each has particular methods to handle workloads and deal with useful resource and efficiency points, however you must understand how every cloud supplier works and use every distributors’ proprietary instruments.
This requires skillsets to know the main points of successfully managing every cloud supplier together with the time to be taught and use a number of cloud operations instruments.
Second, software useful resource calls for and public cloud assets are all the time altering. Because of this somebody all the time has to regulate assets throughout every of your cloud environments to make sure functions are getting the assets they want, no more and never much less. Your group additionally has to remain on prime of the hundreds of companies supplied by public cloud suppliers and their repeatedly fluctuating prices. You’ve gotten to have the ability to know which companies you want and easy methods to regulate workloads to be sure to’re supplying the appropriate assets on the lowest potential value.
In different phrases, the operational complexity of working a multi-cloud surroundings is big. It’s not humanly potential to maintain up with all of the repeatedly altering workload and cloud supplier info, which may end up in degraded software efficiency and larger spend.
Q: How can cloud ops and IT groups simplify cloud operations throughout a number of suppliers?
A: The soar that should happen to get the good thing about multi-cloud should come by orchestration and automation throughout your complete cloud infrastructure, regardless of what number of suppliers you utilize.
However I like to return to a fundamental cloud fallacy. Lots of people say the promise of the general public cloud is that you just pay just for what you utilize. This isn’t true. You pay for what you ask to make use of, so it’s good to guarantee that what you’re asking for throughout every supplier is what you want. In case you don’t, value turns into a problem.
With this stated, how have you learnt what workload assets to ask for throughout a number of cloud suppliers? And the way do you do that with out including extra instruments or making it tougher on your group? The reply is to consolidate cloud useful resource administration right into a single software useful resource administration answer that provides you the visibility and data to make selections relative to fluctuating workload necessities and operational inputs throughout every cloud supplier.
Cisco Intersight Workload Optimizer, or IWO, is Cisco’s SaaS-based software useful resource administration answer that gives these capabilities.
Q: How does IWO simplify multi-cloud operations?
A: Intersight Workload Optimizer solves a number of crucial, multi-cloud operations challenges:
- IWO is cloud-agnostic. It integrates with AWS, Azure and GCP, consolidating public cloud operations right into a single dashboard so that you solely want to make use of one software.
- IWO eliminates the necessity to observe companies, prices, and so on., from every cloud supplier (no extra spreadsheets!). It ingests detailed info from every cloud supplier and gives the intelligence to floor suggestions based mostly in your contractual agreements (resembling licensing and pricing), and it makes proactive suggestions to assist be sure to’re repeatedly optimizing each your workloads and prices.
- IWO enables you to automate workload and price optimization based mostly on IT-approved actions to repeatedly guarantee efficiency on the lowest value.
- And at last, IWO helps greater than two dozen third-party functions—from software efficiency administration, compute and container platform administration to instruments for storage arrays and hyperconverged infrastructure administration. This helps you construct a bridge out of your present instruments to a consolidated view into your software useful resource provide chain.
Q: What are some examples of how IWO optimizes workloads and prices within the public cloud?
A: Listed here are a number of examples of how cloud ops groups can handle workloads and price in AWS, Azure, and GCP utilizing IWO:
- World cloud footprint: You possibly can see your complete public cloud presence globally (determine 1). IWO will determine if putting a workload in a single geography is dearer than one other and suggest easy methods to regulate workload placement—whereas conforming to your compliance insurance policies—to scale back prices with out compromising software efficiency.

- Storage optimization: Storage is an space the place public prices can usually be larger than anticipated. Keep in mind, you pay for what you ask to make use of. Be sure you’re asking to make use of solely what you want. IWO exhibits you what your present storage prices seem like, resembling how a lot strong state disk capability you’re paying for versus what you’re really utilizing. It recommends actions, resembling utilizing customary disk storage on this instance (determine 2), to deliver the cloud assets you’re asking for in alignment with what your utilization necessities really are.

- Notices for brand new occasion households: Cloud prices lower with the discharge of every new occasion household. In case your group doesn’t know when a brand new occasion household is obtainable, and if they will’t take the required motion to undertake it, you lose the chance to scale back prices. IWO mechanically notifies you when a brand new occasion household is obtainable. It exhibits you what your prices shall be in case you proceed utilizing the present household versus transferring to the brand new one, together with estimated value financial savings.
- Custom-made Suggestions: IWO customizes suggestions to your contractual agreements with every cloud supplier. If in case you have reductions, it makes efficiency and price suggestions based mostly on them somewhat than customary public pricing.
- Potential financial savings over time: IWO exhibits you the price saving you possibly can obtain over time in case you take beneficial optimization actions (determine 3).

- Lower downtime: IWO additionally integrates with software efficiency administration instruments like Cisco AppDynamics, Dynatrace, and others. This lets your group see the real-time well being standing of the whole stack. You possibly can see if wait time for a web page to load is sluggish, for instance, and instantly determine if the foundation trigger is said to software assets in any of your cloud environments (determine 4). In that case, IWO identifies the problem and makes a suggestion on easy methods to resolve it.

Q: What last ideas do you may have about simplifying multi-cloud operations? How can somebody get began?
A: Organizations are gaining maturity with the general public cloud to run functions with a couple of cloud supplier based mostly on suppliers’ strengths and their very own wants. IWO simplifies cloud operations throughout AWS, Azure, and GPS by visibility, insights, and motion to assist optimize efficiency and price wherever your workloads run.
Ask your self, “How way more may we accomplish if we didn’t must spend 40% of our time determining easy methods to dimension a workload or save 10%?” With IWO, you possibly can engineer waste out of multi-cloud operations to reap the benefits of a multi-cloud technique.
or begin a 45-day free trial to see what IWO can do for you.
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