Cloud Management Platforms (CMP) provide centralized infrastructure and control of resources through discovery templates-based provisioning, monitoring and automation. They also provide robust cost-optimization and governance features that support multi-cloud strategies and let you identify opportunities to improve.
When choosing a CMP look at the following characteristics:
Identify and fix issues quicker by conducting root cause analysis that identifies critical points of failure to speed up repair. Allow self-service portals to allow IT teams and users to request the resources they require and reduce manual work for IT and enhancing the experience for end users.
A cloud management solution should be scalable and an easy integration with existing IT systems to simplify deployment management, as well as optimization. It should also support hybrid environments and multiple cloud platforms. The ability to manage resources across cloud and on-premises platforms in a seamless manner reduces costs and enhances performance.
Choose a vendor who provides multiple user interfaces, including command-line tools, web and a RESTful API to make it easier to manage your cloud operations. It should also be compatible bare-metal configurations and various hypervisors.
Choose a vendor that provides a trial version for free of their CMP to small teams, so they can try it out before purchasing the paid version. It is vital that your team has access a well-developed knowledge base and documentation that will help them quickly learn how to use this tool. It should include the best practices as well as a troubleshooting guide and FAQs to assist your team in implementing and manage the CMP.