Cloud Cruiser Tracks Service Usage to Simplify Chargebacks

Cloud Cruiser announced a platform on Mar. 1 that collects machine use data about what storage, networking and cloud applications are being accessed, Dave Zabrowski, CEO and founder of Cloud Cruiser, told eWEEK. The information is correlated with user information obtained from LDAP and other user-management systems, he said.

The software can collect

The software can collect and correlate cloud use based on IP addresses, which would allow the IT manager to calculate costs per data center, Zabrowski said. The dashboard interface allows managers to define groups based on type of device, business unit, geographic location or data center. Clients have to enter resource information manually and set up the hierarchical tree of the organization to track the data by group.

IT managers can as well use the detailed use data to look for ways to cut costs, understand who is using which services and find instances of usage abuse. The IT administrator can view a variety of reports that slice and dice the data across multiple metrics, just as a chart of the Top 10 users of resources by business division. The reports allow the administrator to drill down in each division to see what individual employees are using, he said.

The information is available to all levels of the company, according to Zabrowski. A CIO of an organization could log in and see the information of the entire cloud, with use information for all services and users. Opposite, a department director would see use information for only users associated with the business unit. The dashboard can as well provide individual employees with a view of their personal use.