Back in December, VMblog talked about the launch of a new ‘crowdsourced consultancy' community platform called WhatMatrix.  If you didn't check the comparison site out back then, maybe you waited until we told you about the news of their Disaster Recovery for Virtual Infrastructures comparison launched only two weeks ago.  Definitely a hot market, and the comparison already has a number of the leading vendors and products in the mix.

Well, these guys aren't showing signs of slowing down.  They are back again with a new comparison addition -- this time launching a Cloud Management Platforms comparison.

They describe the new addition by writing:

One of the key steps in most enterprises' implementation of cloud is moving from a single cloud deployment to a multi-cloud strategy.  The primary benefit of a multi-cloud approach is the ability to choose the best cloud for each workload.  But as organizations work with multiple clouds, they are confronted with a confusing array of tools and management interfaces.

This is where cloud management platforms (CMPs) come in.  They serve as a common interface across multiple providers and technology stacks.  The CMP market has been around since around 2006 but have remained a niche market until recently.  As cloud consumption has taken off in the past 3 - 4 years, though, users have gained a clearer understanding of the benefits and challenges with each cloud service type and provider.  Recent expansion of the CMP market has mirrored this growth.  There are now many CMP providers, each with different specializations and approaches to multi-cloud management.  This is why WhatMatrix is adding a CMP category to aid in the evaluation and selection process.  You can find it at www.whatmatrix.com/comparison/Cloud-Management-Platforms.

The criteria for the new comparison was sorted into the following categories:

• General: How the product is structured, procured, installed, and managed
• Multi-Cloud Support: The ability to manage a variety of clouds and technologies, from virtualization and private cloud to public cloud providers
• IT Automation: Features that allow IT processes to be partially or completely automated
• User Self-Service: Enablement of end-users to provision systems, environments, and/or application stacks themselves in near real-time based on templates set up and managed by IT
• Chargeback/Cost Transparency: Increased visibility into what systems cost and how those cost can be actively managed
• Governance & Security: Capabilities to ensure compliance and to safeguard information and operations
• DevOps: Features that bridge the divide between developers and IT operations
  

What they have created here in this new category is a great start.  If your company plays in this market and your product isn't yet listed, do yourself a favor and contact these guys to get added, and make sure to help out with the information needed to fill out the chart.  This is a great tool and I suspect that it will be used by many as the word continues to get out.  The value is in the data and being able to easily compare things side-by-side, so let's make sure missing companies get added and their product information is accurate. 

Thanks again to the WhatMatrix community.

To get started, check out WhatMatrix Cloud Management Platforms Comparison.