What questions enter your mind when you hear that a vendor supplying a key component of your software stack is being acquired by a behemoth? Who? Why? What will be the fate of the product? If the strategic fit within the new organization isn’t immediately apparent, doubt creeps in, understandably. You start thinking about the what-ifs and subconsciously preparing for change, even if it’s business-as-usual for now.
CloudHealth has been around since 2012 and was already acquired once, by VMware. Now, VMware is being acquired by Broadcom, a $28B semiconductor manufacturer buying its way into the infrastructure software market. While there may be no need to worry, CloudHealth users are facing an uncertain future and bracing for change. But perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe business-as-usual isn’t what the business needs anymore.
You have options
Yotascale gets compared to CloudHealth a lot. When organizations start looking for a cloud cost management solution, we are both, often, on the short list of vendors. But what prospective customers need to know—right up front—is that our approaches to the problem are fundamentally different.
One approach enables a very centralized, command-and-control style of cloud cost management by a few power users; the other is rooted in the democratization of cloud cost data to the very edges of the organization. One centers around reports and dashboards for finance and budget owners, the other around timely action by engineers. One intentionally introduces chokepoints, while the other puts the pedal to the metal.
Put another way, it’s top-down versus bottom-up. Both approaches are valid. But which will stand the test of time—and patience?
Why change?
Many DevOps teams have already adopted the notion of “shift-left”—moving testing, quality, and performance evaluations earlier in the software development process to get a better product out the door faster. (Granted, it’s a Western notion that things start on the left, like reading a sentence or a book from left to right.) But the idea that cloud costs also be considered earlier in the release chain is quickly gaining momentum, and with good reason.
Engineering organizations building SaaS products today—using cloud as the backbone of their customer experience—are increasingly being held accountable for their cloud costs. Taking a top-down approach is like nagging engineers to clean up a mess they can’t see until it’s doubled in size. How frustrating is that? Not only will you have an engineering morale problem, but you’ll have wasted resources in more ways than one.
In a bottom-up scenario, engineers can see that the wine bottle is about to tip over and steady the bottle… and then immediately get to work building a more stable wine bottle that costs even less. Talk about empowered engineering. That’s the future of cloud cost management. The sooner you embrace it, the more resources—time, money, energy—you’ll save, in both the short- and long-term.
Action, not arguments
At Yotascale, we’re all about action, not arguments between finance and engineering. Our product was built for engineers by engineers as a modern alternative to the top-down approach taken by the first generation of cloud cost management products. We get the right information to right engineers at the right time to maximize every opportunity and prevent wasted spend. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes to make that happen in the context of your business, but that’s our secret sauce. The success of our customers is proof that this approach not only works but delivers benefits far beyond cost optimization.
If you’re a CloudHealth customer, I encourage you to take this opportunity to shift your thinking. Engineering teams – demand better. Contact us for a quick demo to explore your options.
