Cloud computing is now a popular and very active area of IT. It is not surprising that there is a multitude of tools and services that provide cloud management platform (CMP) capabilities. According to Gartner, the CMP space is a fragmented and largely changing market. There is no clear-cut vendor with established market dominance.
While cloud management platforms typically perform the same core functions, they do not have the same roots. Every vendor has a different design philosophy. It has also developed its solution with either a private or public cloud environment in mind. It has evolved to its current state with the growth of the CMP market, and the market is still changing.
For this reason, there is no perfect solution in the market. But enterprises can select tools from vendors whose strategies align with the goals and directions they are pursuing. This way, the enterprise will reap maximum benefits as the CMP matures.
Gartner Inc. recently released the 2019 Critical Capabilities for Cloud Management Platforms. This is a report that accompanies the Gartner Magic Quadrant report. This report is probably the only one that has analyzed the CMP market landscape to help enterprises make informed decisions.
CloudBolt Featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant
In the Gartner Magic Quadrant report, CloudBolt appeared in the Challengers category for its provisioning and orchestration handling capabilities. Some of the areas where it shone were:
- How it leverages its extensible architecture to handle brownfield environments. It is one of the best in this category.
- The nimbleness and focus of the solution are some of the things customers love about CloudBolt.
- CloudBolt is a stable and mature solution that has worked in environments that are large and complex.
The Critical Capabilities Report
The Critical Capabilities Report complements the Magic Quadrant Report. These reports can help cloud management platform (CMP) buyers find products that will best suit their organizations. According to Gartner, critical capabilities are attributes that help differentiate services and products in terms of their performance and quality. CMPs, on the other hand, are tools that enable enterprises to manage multi-cloud resources and services.
The Critical Capabilities Report features nine CMP vendors. This included CloudBolt. These are the vendors Gartner considers the most significant in the sector. The evaluation of these vendors hinges on seven critical capabilities and four use cases. These include:
- Strategic DevOps integration
- Lift-and-shift data center
- Reliable applications
- Agile applications
We took the time to review the report, and here are our key takeaways.
There’s a Divide Between Startups and Longtime Vendors
Gartner discovered that there is a gap in functionality between newer and older CMP solutions providers. This was from the assessment of the nine CMPs. According to the analyst house, some of the popular cloud vendors do not offer some core functionalities needed in the CMP market. It also noted that some startups are providing full-featured solutions but have received little to no attention in the market.
The rationale for this trend could be that the cloud is still a relatively new concept. Businesses are just starting to realize they need to move to the cloud. And the complexity of managing cloud deployments has brought about the need for CMPs. The market for CMPs is still in its nascent stages. Consequently, startups are more inclined to provide full-featured CMP tools than the more established players.
Long-standing companies are not in a position to understand what enterprises need in cloud management. This is only the first time Gartner has scrutinized cloud management platforms. So, going forward, we can expect the market to change drastically. For example, we can expect established names to add some much-needed functionality into their CMP solutions. Startups, on the other hand, will lead the way in coming up with innovations in the space.
Backup and Disaster Recovery Have Taken a Backseat
One of the areas many CMPs have not addressed is backup, disaster recovery, and cloud migration. It is crucial to have backup and disaster recovery in a cloud management platform. However, there are very few vendors that are offering this feature, which is troubling. CloudBolt is one of the vendors that provides a backup strategy for clients.
Artificial Intelligence is the Future, but We’re Not There Yet
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are changing almost every facet of life. It is no different in the CMP market. Some vendors have incorporated AI into their CMPs, but they have not yet fully embraced AI. Gartner pointed out that several CMP providers are investing heavily in ML and AI to optimize cloud management. AI will play a huge role in CMPs in the future. This may not happen in one or two years, but AI and ML will be a core part of the CMP industry.