IT Infrastructure

The Top 7 Cloud Management Platforms

Discover the top Cloud Management Platforms. Explore features such as cost management, resource provisioning, and security compliance.

The Top 7 Cloud Management Platforms Include:
  • 1. AWS Management And Governance
  • 2. Cisco Nexus Cloud
  • 3. Google Cloud Management Tools
  • 4. IBM Cloud Management Console
  • 5. Microsoft Azure Portal
  • 6. Oracle Cloud Observability and Management Platform
  • 7. VMWare Aria

Cloud management platforms enable organizations to monitor, manage and control their cloud environments. This can include multiple varieties of cloud deployments, including public, private and hybrid cloud environments. Cloud management platforms are like a centralized never centers for cloud environments, enabling teams to navigate and govern their cloud deployments more effectively. 

Cloud management platforms are a broad category of solutions, and specific features vary from provider-to-provider. Core functionality includes a unified management dashboard, including policy management, performance monitoring, reporting and analytics, governance and security capabilities, metering and billing, automation and orchestration, and configuration for cloud storage and network resources. They solutions can be deployed in the cloud, or on-premises. 

As organizations increasingly leverage cloud platforms to run their platforms and services, cloud management capabilities become critical. These solutions ensure cloud environments are running effectively, efficiently, securely and in compliance with data protection regulations, which can differ from region-to-region, and industry-to-industry. These tools enable teams to monitor their infrastructure and apps, configure resources, manage cloud updates, automate key processes and more.

Given the critical role of the cloud in modern digital infrastructures, there are many cloud management platforms available, each suited to specific use-cases.  In this guide, we’ve crafted our list of the top Cloud Management Platforms, comparing key offerings, ease of integration, and user experience, based on our own market analysis.

AWS Logo

AWS Management and Governance is a suite of services designed to allow teams to control cost, compliance, and security in AWS cloud environments. AWS enables rapid innovation and stringent control over cloud apps. With AWS, teams can manage dynamic cloud resources, even on a vast scale, while simplifying the user experience with a unified control plane for both AWS and on-premises resources. In addition to in-house features, AWS boasts a wide partner ecosystem, allowing users to expand and enhance their management and governance systems.

This suite provides a range of features for diverse use cases. AWS Control Tower aids in establishing and governing secure multi-account AWS environments. AWS Organizations offers centralized governance across AWS accounts, and AWS CloudTrail tracks user activity and API utilization. AWS Cost Explorerprovides visuals to understand and manage costs over time, and AWS X-Ray assists in analyzing and debugging distributed applications. These tools, among others in the suite, collectively work to provide a comprehensive governance mechanism while promoting operational speed and agility.

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Cisco Logo

Cisco Nexus Cloud provides configuration, operation, and analysis of both cloud-native and hybrid-cloud data center environments. Based-on a subscription-based consumption model, it streamlines deployment by removing the need for hardware installations. Instead, users can quickly activate its features with just a few clicks. The platform can auto-update software, ensuring users have the latest features, and by its resource provisioning that scales according to the growth of the network.

By ingesting network telemetry, Cisco Nexus Cloud uses smart correlation algorithms to discern relationships between pieces of telemetry data. The service’s continuous assurance checks that network configurations align with user-set policies, while its AI/ML-assisted modules pinpoint anomalies for swift troubleshooting. The system is proactive; it provides early warnings for potential issues and forecasts to facilitate future infrastructure planning. Some distinct features encompass a detailed capacity utilization view, a dynamic topology viewer, assurance analyses, and advisories on issues like PSIRT or defect exposure.

By marrying predictive analytics with automated features, Cisco Nexus Cloud reduces operational complexities. It not only offers granular insights into network behavior but also aids in infrastructure conformance, risk mitigation, and overall productivity improvements in managing hybrid-cloud network infrastructure.

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Google Cloud Logo

Google Cloud offer a comprehensive suite designed to simplify tasks related to cloud, API, and application management, incorporating multiple tools and solutions. Google Cloud Endpoints uses an NGINX-based proxy and a distributed architecture, supporting every stage of API development and delivering insights. Google Cloud’s cost management tools focus on offering transparency and control over cloud expenditures, catering to businesses of all sizes. Additionally, Active Assist, a distinctive suite by Google Cloud, harnesses data, intelligence, and machine learning to streamline cloud operations.

Google’s Carbon Footprint feature provides granular insights into the carbon emissions from Google Cloud services usage. Google Terraform facilitates resource provisioning through infrastructure-as-code, aligning with DevOps methodologies. Collectively, these tools aim to provide a cohesive management experience across all cloud application components.

Users can access a plethora of Google APIs, including Google Cloud’s Billing API, along with solutions from Google’s cloud marketplace. With the Google Cloud app for both iOS and Android devices, users can seamlessly monitor and manage a range of Google Cloud resources, encompassing projects, App Engine apps, and Compute Engine VMs.

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IBM Logo

IBM Cloud Management Console is a service hosted on IBM’s cloud, designed for monitoring infrastructure without the need for organizations to maintain additional software. This console provides dynamic views of performance, inventory, and logging for IBM servers, irrespective of whether they are on or off-premises. It centralizes this information, facilitating clients’ ability to interpret and act upon it.

The IBM Cloud Management Console offers consolidated data and analytics, which can be instrumental for efficient infrastructure operations. The platform is designed for optimal user experience and efficiency. Users gain access to extensive data about aggregated IBM Power Systems servers, highlighting performance metrics, inventory, and logging specifics.

The admin console offers intuitive overview displays, revealing crucial insights into system health, energy use, and operating system analytics. The platform offers flexible payment scheme, characterized by a monthly pay-as-you-go subscription model.

IBM Logo
Azure Logo

Microsoft Azure Portal is a comprehensive cloud management platform designed for managing web and complex cloud applications. Users can manage applications, databases, virtual machines, networks, storage, and other projects through a singular hub. The Azure portal provides both a graphical interface and a command-line experience via Cloud Shell. It offers visibility into Azure services and allows users to personalize their dashboard for optimal use. The portal is also accessible on iOS and Android devices.

The platform prioritizes customization and control. Users can tailor the portal according to their work preferences, and share insights across various resources. Security is emphasized with role-based access control. This ensures both flexibility and safeguarding of resources.

Azure Portal is notable for its vast array of available services. Users can select from over 3,000 services provided by Microsoft and its partners, including open-source applications, frameworks, templates, and virtual machine images. The platform auto-calculates existing charges and predicts monthly costs, offering users a transparent view of their expenses and preventing unexpected charges. For support, Microsoft offers a multitude of resources, community forums, and direct assistance from Azure support representatives.

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Oracle Logo

Oracle Cloud Observability and Management Platform is a comprehensive solution for monitoring, analyzing, and managing multi-cloud applications and infrastructure environments. This platform provides full-stack visibility enriched with prebuilt analytics and automation capabilities.

Key features of the platform include stack monitoring, synthetic monitoring, and distributed tracing. The platform offers both logging analytics and troubleshooting capabilities with intuitive dashboards for analyzing data from across sources. The solution provides unified monitoring, capacity planning, and database administration for both on-premises and cloud databases. Additionally, the platform aids in the deployment and management of Oracle Cloud resources with automated workflows.

An aspect that differentiates Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is its consistent and transparent global pricing. Customers benefit from uniform cloud pricing across all regions and services, ensuring predictable expenses. Oracle does not impose charges for data egress related to observability operations.

Oracle Logo
VMWare Logo

VMware Aria, previously known as vRealize Cloud Management and CloudHealth by VMware Suite, is a unified cloud management solution tailored for cloud-native applications across multi-cloud environments. The platform offers a unified interface for cost, performance, configuration, and delivery automation.

VMWare Aria provides multi-cloud visibility across private, hybrid, and public clouds from a single platform, harnessing a common control plane and data model. It allows users to understand costs, with tools for viewing and analyzing spending, rightsizing capacity across cloud models, and optimizing costs. The platform emphasizes performance enhancement with features such as AI-powered continuous optimization, app-aware intelligent remediation, and Kubernetes operations consistency. For security and compliance, VMware Aria promotes configuration best practices, offers comprehensive compliance management tools, and supports an API-first platform for streamlined cloud security operations.

VMware Aria stands out for its flexibility in deployment, with options for Software as a Service (SaaS) or on-premises setups, and the liberty to transition between these options, all under a single license. This adaptability is devised to support businesses in their cloud transition, fostering agility, scalability, and efficiency.

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Top 7 Cloud Management Platforms