Cisco Launches Cloud Monitoring Software

Cisco has declared war on shadow IT by launching a platform that discovers and monitors public cloud services that are being used by employees.

Calling shadow IT a “rampant” problem, Cisco’s ‘Cloud Consumption as a Service’ tool will discover and continually monitor public cloud use across an organisation, with Cisco hoping the platform will bolster its cloud credentials.

Security

According to the firm, when combined with detailed analytics, the insight the SaaS product brings will help businesses reduce security risks and better understand and manage costs.

One customer of Cisco’s tool said that he now has a transparent view into his company’s cloud usage.

“Now that we have full visibility into our cloud usage we can make educated decisions about the services that are right for the business and get a better idea of what risks we may face,” said Robert Florescu, vice president of IT at CityMD.

“Our company was founded by ER doctors, so they want cloud services fast. With this information at our fingertips we can partner more effectively with our business groups. We can also proactively ensure we have the appropriate security and compliance measures in place.”

Use of public cloud storage services such as Dropbox or Google Drive is rife within companies, as employees find using the services is much faster than what their own employer traditionally offers. But this, of course, is a major security issue. There are significant business risks associated with the uncontrolled use of public cloud services. These can range from regulatory compliance and data protection, to business continuity, cost and service performance.

Cisco’s own study found that an average large enterprise now uses 1,220 individual public cloud services.

Cisco’s Cloud Consumption as a Service is now available globally, and is priced at approximately $1 to $2 dollars per employee per month.

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