Cloud computing services are powerful, capable of delivering computing processing, data analytics, and storage power in large quantities. However, the power required to run server estates in Cloud Service Provider (CSP) datacenters and the data throughput in and out of the cloud results in high costs. To control and manage these costs, the practice of FinOps has emerged, focusing on financial analytics of cloud services. CloudBolt Software, known as the cloud ROI company, has partnered with StormForge, a provider of Kubernetes resource optimization technologies, to bring Kubernetes cost visibility and optimization into the FinOps ecosystem.
Kubernetes, an open-source orchestration system used to streamline the deployment and management of containerized software applications, has almost become a standard in cloud engineering. A survey by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) found that Kubernetes is used in 96% of global businesses. Public cloud adoption is accelerating, and there is a shift towards modernization rather than ‘lift and shift’ for cloud migrations. However, many organizations do not monitor Kubernetes spending or rely on monthly estimates, leading to spiraling costs for medium to large enterprises.
While FinOps has been successful in providing cost visibility and optimization recommendations at the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) layer, it has not been as effective in Kubernetes ecosystems. Without monitoring, organizations are unaware of actual spend and over-allocated cloud resources, leading to cost inefficiencies. Manual methods of calculating Kubernetes costs are time-consuming and inaccurate, resulting in a lack of insights for meaningful action. Integrating StormForge’s machine learning capabilities with CloudBolt’s Augmented FinOps offerings aims to provide full Kubernetes cost visibility and automated optimization.
CloudBolt’s chief technology and product officer, Kyle Campos, acknowledges the challenges in managing Kubernetes expenditure due to the lack of foundational FinOps capabilities. The strategic partnership with StormForge aims to empower Kubernetes users with Machine Learning (ML)-based FinOps capabilities, delivering cost visibility, allocation, rightsizing recommendations, and automation of execution against Kubernetes clusters. The joint technology offering enables shared cost distribution, accurate cost allocation based on container-level performance data, continuous rightsizing, and integration of Kubernetes clusters into cost visibility and optimization workflows.
The integration of financial management considerations into Kubernetes will provide cloud practitioners with the ability to reduce lead time through continuous optimization and improve cloud ROI. Automation solutions in cloud computing aim to simplify operations, but the increasing complexity and convoluted configurations remain a challenge. With the focus shifting towards managing Kubernetes costs, the partnership between CloudBolt and StormForge seeks to address the need for cost optimization in Kubernetes ecosystems. As organizations strive to control cloud costs and optimize performance, the collaboration between these two companies offers a promising solution to tackle the challenges associated with managing Kubernetes expenditure.
