Alkira launches free tool to tame cloud bloat

Cloud networking specialist Alkira has launched Cloud Insights, a free tool to improve the networking and security of enterprise cloud deployments.

Nearly a third (32%) of cloud spending is wasted, according to Flexera’s State of the Cloud Report 2022, which identifies optimisation of existing cloud resources as the top priority for enterprises.

Cloud spending and network complexity accelerated during the pandemic, putting further pressure on businesses to optimise their cloud deployments. Growth shows no sign of slowing this year, as IDC forecasts a 21.7% increase in cloud infrastructure spending for the rest of 2022.

Alkira Cloud Insights helps cloud architects and networking admins regain control of their cloud infrastructure. The tool provides tailored recommendations on how to improve security, optimise spend and boost cloud networking performance in Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure environments. It can help uncover duplicate IP addresses, unsanctioned internet access, unused networks and security resources, misconfigured security group settings, and unaccounted for shadow IT resources, among other things.

“Many organisations dramatically increased their cloud deployments at the beginning of Covid to support remote work and digital transformation,” said Amir Khan, CEO and founder of Alkira. “Because the shift was so sudden, many organisations’ initial focus was on just making things work; the deployments were far from optimised. Alkira Cloud Insights allows businesses to do what equates to a bit of ‘spring cleaning’ for their environments. The tool helps to streamline cloud deployments, improve security posture and eliminate costly waste.”

Cloud Insights performs a rapid discovery of an organisation’s AWS and Azure cloud networking environments. Companies will get a complete and automated inventory of their networking and security resources. They’ll also receive actionable data, including recommendations to improve cloud usage, security and spend. The insights and findings are delivered in an easy to use, centralised dashboard. There is also the ability to configure automated reporting to keep up to date on dynamic changes made to the cloud network environment.

Brad Casemore, Research Vice President, Datacenter and Multicloud Networks, IDC, said: “Networks that enable and support hybrid and multicloud should be sufficiently intelligent to perform optimally across an increasingly distributed landscape of cloud workloads and end points. But it all starts with meaningful audit and discovery, determining and understanding what workloads are running in which clouds, and providing insight into the networks and security postures associated with those workloads.

“Only with that foreknowledge can enterprises gain actionable insights that yield valuable business benefits and outcomes. With Cloud Insights, Alkira offers customers a free tool that helps to provide a foundational understanding of their cloud environments, setting the stage for informed enhancements that improve the agility, efficiency, performance, resiliency, and security of cloud networking.”

Existing customers get immediate access to Cloud Insights through the Alkira portal. The company is also making it freely available at https://www.alkira.com/cloud-insights to other enterprise teams looking for a quicker and easier way to audit their cloud estate.

Tags: Alkira