It’s exciting to see that cloud is being embraced by so many. From small businesses to the largest, cloud computing solutions are eagerly being rolled out for CRM, telephony, UC, accounting, storage and anything else you can think of. While the benefits of the tech are clear, what we need to worry about now is management of these cloud solutions.
In fact, we should be aware of the trend we see in cloud as it follows similar ones in telecom. There was a time when companies lost track of their telecom expenses. They had many users, many lines and typically overpaid for services because they didn’t know how much of a discount they could achieve. Moreover, they paid for many lines which were never in use.
Over time, telecom expense management (TEM) companies came in to fill the management vacuum. MDM companies helped here as well. Eventually, the problem was minimized.
Consider, however, that telecom, in comparison, was a tame issue, as there were few providers of wireless coverage and fixed solutions. By comparison, the cloud is the Wild West.
This is where Tangoe (News - Alert) steps in with its MatrixCloud solution, which helps enterprises understand, control and manage their cloud services and expenses – much as its traditional TEM solutions do with telecom.
The publicly traded company cut its teeth in the TEM space and founder Al Subbloie has been in the telecom and software spaces since the 1980s and is a successful veteran of the market. TMC and I have covered all the companies he has been involved with since that time.
The company’s latest initiative is designed to find things like contracts that have never been read or negotiated or rates that may not be in accordance with purchase volumes or industry best practices.
Its key features and benefits include:
- Centrally managing cloud assets and expenses,
- Gaining visibility into hidden charges,
- Providing data to negotiate existing and future cloud contracts, and
- Accurately allocating cloud assets and expenses.
Analysts say enterprise spending on cloud services will exceed $235 billion by 2017, meaning that, even if a fraction of this amount is wasted, we are talking serious dollars. Tangoe says it has found customers using the cloud where existing licenses often aren’t reassigned and companies can have multiple contracts with the same provider with different start and end dates. Moreover, there is waste in situations when multiple cloud vendors offer potentially overlapping services.
Sounds like the time is right for cloud expense management – better yet, just cloud management.
MatrixCloud can help consolidate vendors, accounts, contracts and invoices and thus make it easier to see what the cloud ROI really is. Moreover, the company wants to be intimately involved with all facets of cloud deployment – from planning and activation to tracking, security, compliance, expense management, support and finally the retiring of cloud services.
The old saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” never was truer and MatrixCloud from Tangoe is a solid solution designed to help companies bring their cloud spending down and to ensure the ROI is more accurately understood.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
