Cloudability Acquires DataHero to Help Manage IT Costs
Now that most enterprises have been convinced they need a cloud strategy that frequently begins with the embrace of public cloud, a services sector has emerged to help companies manage cloud computing infrastructure and costs. That cloud sector is beginning to see some merger and acquisition activity with a deal this week between a cost management provider and a data visualization startup specializing in cloud-based business intelligence tools.
Cloudability, a cost management specialist based in Portland, Ore., said Wednesday (Jan. 6) it is acquiring San Francisco-based DataHero, which is described as a "self-service" cloud business intelligence provider. Cloudability said it would add DataHero's business cost analysis tools to its portfolio of cloud management capabilities as a way of helping customers manage the scaling of their cloud infrastructure without breaking their IT budget.
As potential customers consider how to ramp up cloud infrastructure while reining in deployments costs, companies like Cloudability are positioning themselves as helping enterprise get a handle on expenses. By monitoring spending and optimizing costs associated with cloud deployments, the company claims it can save organizations as much as 30 percent on cloud costs in the first six months.
Rather than simply gauging how much is spent on IT each month, the partners said the combined company could deliver a more granular picture of costs associated with cloud infrastructure. Those metrics could be used to drill down to details like the cost of serving a single web page. The result would be "greater usability and visibility to the cloud all the way through to company cultures," DataHero CEO Ed Miller noted in a statement.
Miller, a software industry veteran, joined DataHero in May 2015. He previously led several tech start-ups, most recently document manager suite developer Xythos.
DataHero was founded to fill the existing gap in the multi-billion cloud business intelligence market for improving self-service tools needed by typical cloud users. Its drag-and-drop interface is designed so users can import and analyze data from sources such as Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), Google Analytics and Dropbox. DataHero launched its Google Analytics integration in December 2014 in response to customer demand.
Cloudability and DataHero are both backed by the venture firm Foundry Group.
Customers for Cloudability's current cost reporting tools include Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE), General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Uber. The company claims it handles 15 percent of all spending on public cloud infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Cloudability CEO Mat Ellis noted in a blog post announcing the acquisition that DataHero's business intelligence tools will become more important as cloud scaling gathers momentum. He further claimed that these tools would ultimately boost cloud adoption rates.
"The key thing here is to change our thinking and view IT as a driver of profit, and not a destroyer of budgets," Ellis added.
