Spiceworks Launches Cloud Services Detector

Spiceworks, a social network and toolset for IT professionals, has launched a free cloud services discovery feature as part of the platform version 6.0. The program can automatically detect more than 40 popular cloud services running on a network, such as Amazon or Dropbox.

The presentation took place at the SpiceWorld conference, an annual event traditionally held in Austin,Texas, but coming to London this week for the first time.

Looking for clouds

Sometimes referred to as the ‘Facebook of IT’, Spiceworks is used by over two million IT professionals, representing 25 percent of small and medium-sized businesses worldwide. It is completely free, and integrates network management applications with an online community.

As the number of various cloud services grows, keeping track of what employees use across the network can get really complicated. Spiceworks says this chaos could lead to accidental security breaches, unintended data sharing, and increased application costs.

The new cloud services discovery feature was designed to help IT professionals to improve network security and aggregate cloud licences in order to acquire better volume discounts. With Spiceworks 6.0, a simple automatic scan can provide information on which cloud services are in use and by whom.

“Knowing which cloud services are running on my network is essential to maintaining security and helping save money,” said Andy Phelps, IT Manager at HPS Group. “The new free cloud service discovery features offered by Spiceworks make it simple for me to monitor cloud services usage and to find out more about the various offerings available for my business.”

Additionally, many cloud services providers are represented on Spiceworks through branded Vendor Pages. Through these, IT professionals can interact directly with cloud providers and learn about the ideal cloud solutions for their businesses.

Spiceworks regularly improves its platform with new features. Some of the previous upgrades allowed users to track the power consumption of their networked computers, manage virtualised machines and buy printer ink directly through the Spiceworks interface.

Are you an expert on social networks? Take our quiz!