Top 10 Cloud Management platforms

Important news about Cloud Management platforms

2023. IBM acquires Apptio to double down on hybrid cloud services



IBM paid $4.6 billion for Apptio, a platform that monitors how and where data resides in hybrid environments and how it’s being utilized, particularly how that adds up in terms of financial and resource costs. The strategy is to have Apptio integrate with IBM’s current IT automation software and its AI platform to create and sell solutions to businesses to manage and optimize expenses within their IT stacks. Apptio’s products today cover several distinct areas. ApptioOne focuses on spend management and planning within hybrid cloud environments. Apptio Cloudability specifically focuses on managing expenses around public cloud deployments. Apptio Targetprocess, meanwhile, helps model larger projects to determine which resources might need to be assigned and to assist in managing those projects.


2022. Zesty lands $75M for tech that adjusts cloud usage to save money



Zesty, which automatically adjusts cloud resources to match app demands in real time, has secured $75 million in a Series B funding round. Central to Zesty is an AI model trained on both real-world and “synthetic” cloud resource usage data, designed to estimate the number of cloud resources (e.g., CPU cores, hard drives, etc.) an app requires at any given moment. The platform acts based on the model’s forecasts, such as automatically reducing, expanding and modifying storage volume types and buying and selling public cloud instances.

2022. Sync Computing rakes in $15.5M to automatically optimize cloud resources



Sync Computing, a startup that asserts it uniquely connects business goals such as cost and runtime reduction directly to low-level cloud infrastructure configurations, has secured $12 million. Sync doesn’t need extensive historical data to start optimizing data pipelines and provisioning low-level cloud resources. For instance, with just the data from a single previous run, some customers have boosted their Apache Spark jobs by up to 80%—Apache Spark being the popular analytics engine for data processing. Sync has recently launched an API and “autotuner” for Spark on AWS EMR, Amazon’s cloud big data platform and Databricks on AWS. Self-service support for Databricks on Azure is also in development.


2021. Upbound nabs $60M to grow its open source Crossplane multi-cloud management project



In a universe teeming with clouds—both fluffy and digital—Crossplane emerges as the interstellar hitchhiker’s guide to multi-cloud management. With $60 million Series B funding tucked into its galactic towel, this fully cloud-native marvel, lovingly nurtured under the watchful eye of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)—the same cosmic entity that babysits Kubernetes—offers users the tantalizing freedom to cherry-pick their favorite celestial vendors. Be it the sprawling empires of AWS, Microsoft, and Google or the artisanal tools like Elastic, Confluent, Databricks, and Snowflake, Crossplane unifies the chaos into a single, harmonious API, as if to say, "Don’t panic; we’ve got your cloud covered."


2021. IBM is acquiring cloud app and network management firm Turbonomic for up to $2B



IBM is acquiring Turbonomic, a company that offers tools to manage application performance (specifically resource optimization), along with Kubernetes and network performance — part of its broader strategy to integrate more AI into IT operations, or as it calls it, AIOps. Turbonomic’s tools are especially valuable in hybrid cloud architectures, which involve not only on-premise and cloud workloads but also workloads typically spread across multiple cloud environments. While this architecture is often chosen for increased resilience, cost efficiency, location, or other practical reasons, it can be difficult to manage. Turbonomic’s tools automate management, evaluate performance and recommend adjustments for network operations engineers to implement in order to meet usage demands.


2021. Cloud automation startup Spacelift raises $6M



In the unfathomable, swirling chaos that is the modern cloudscape, where servers hum and fail with all the predictability of a Vogon poetry recital, Spacelift has materialized, improbably, with a $6 million Series A funding round tucked under its metaphorical towel. This Polish and U.S.-based startup cheerily proclaims to have untangled the cosmic spaghetti of cloud infrastructure using what they’ve whimsically termed “infrastructure-as-code (IaC)” and “policy-as-code.” With these cunningly named contrivances, they aim to shepherd teams through the tumult, automating tasks with the grace of a hyper-intelligent shade of blue and without the faintest whiff of downtime-related disasters.


2021. Cloud infrastructure startup CloudNatix gets $4.5M



In a universe not entirely unlike our own, where DevOps teams often find themselves juggling the ineffable chaos of CloudNatix and the yawning infinity of on-premise infrastructure, a bright spark of innovation has managed to secure $4.5 million in seed funding. This scrappy startup, built atop the sturdy shoulders of open-source titans like Kubernetes and Prometheus, boldly unites all major cloud providers and on-premise networks in harmonious orchestration. For DevOps heroes, CloudNatix is less a tool and more a cosmic hitchhiker’s guide to managing both legacy sprawl and sleek cloud-native marvels, making that daunting leap from on-premise to cloud as effortless as reprogramming a Babel fish.


2021. Stacklet raises $18M for its cloud governance platform



In a corner of the digital galaxy where clouds govern the realm, the ever-so-cleverly named Stacklet—a startup that’s giving the Cloud Custodian open-source project a snazzy commercial outfit—has triumphantly declared an $18 million Series A funding round. Like a particularly organized galactic hitchhiker with a penchant for governance, Stacklet merrily wrangles enterprises’ sprawling clouds, accounts, and policies across regions, ensuring no data governance mishap goes unnoticed. It’s armed with pre-packaged policy packs that are, frankly, better than any intergalactic hitchhiking guide, offering best practices for security, cost control, and compliance. Of course, you can scribble your own rules if you’re feeling particularly inventive. And just when you thought that was all, Stacklet winks knowingly and reveals its analytics prowess, keeping a sharp eye on policy health, resource audits, and even offering real-time inventories and change logs for those with a healthy obsession for cloud tidiness.


2020. Cloudbolt announces $35M to help manage hybrid clouds



In a universe of infinite complexity—where cloud computing was initially sold as the intergalactic answer to life, the universe, and everything—things, of course, became infinitely more complex. CloudBolt, a plucky little startup with big ambitions and a new $35 million Series B in its pocket, has taken it upon itself to untangle this cosmic mess. Founded in 2012 and currently boasting a loyal following of around 200 customers, CloudBolt promises not to add to the chaos but rather to tame it, providing tools that magically automate, secure, and optimize workloads, no matter what arcane configurations your hybrid cloud and DevOps may be. In the end, they’re here to help companies tackle complexity without adding yet another layer of inscrutable tech to decipher.


2020. Stacklet launches cloud governance platform with $4.4M seed investment



Cloud governance Stacklet has emerged from stealth mode with a $4 million seed funding. While cloud administrators can download and navigate the raw open source, Stacklet aims to simplify this by offering an administrative layer to oversee usage across numerous cloud accounts, along with pre-configured sets of typical compliance requirements from the start. The platform includes analytics to gauge performance and identify issues and a resources database to track all cloud resources under management. The company currently has three employees, including the two founders and plans to expand by adding a few more soon, with a goal of reaching a team of 10 by the end of the year. The open-source project boasts 270 contributors from around the globe.