NetApp Closes CloudCheckr Deal at Opportune Time: Cloud Costs Soaring

NetApp has closed its purchase of CloudCheckr just as one report shows that 90% of global organizations polled use cloud computing. And that increased adoption puts the onus on channel partners to help customers control their cloud costs.

Early last month, longtime storage and data management vendor NetApp said it would buy cloud-native CloudCheckr. CloudCheckr, founded in 2011, delivers an optimization platform for public cloud. It lets users monitor and adjust consumption, and maintain security. That way, they can make sure they pay only what they need to for public cloud computing. Spending can easily get out of hand when organizations (or their channel partners) don’t turn off test buckets, for example, or run platforms around the clock, even when staff are off work. Contrary to the messaging hyped in cloud computing’s early years, organizations likely will not save money by switching to subscription technologies. Yes, they get to take the load off the capital expenditures budget, keeping some pricey investments from going obsolete, but they will not, on the whole, find themselves flush with cash. (They will, however, gain immeasurable flexibility and scalability.)

For NetApp, then, adding CloudCheckr to its FinOps and SecOps capabilities made sense. NetApp says CloudCheckr’s platform, combined with Spot by NetApp, will give customers the insight they need to reduce cloud costs, make the most of their cloud resources, and oversee security and compliance.

Ideal Timing

NetApp’s timing probably could not be better. A new report from tech learning firm O’Reilly Media shows that most organizations – 90% – already lean on cloud computing. “The Cloud in 2021: Adoption Continues” also indicates that almost half (48%) of respondents said they plan to migrate half or more of their applications to the cloud in the coming year. Another one in five (20%) plans to migrate all of their applications. (O’Reilly Media surveyed more than 2,800 people to reach its conclusions.) Throughout all of that activity, cloud costs will rank high among executive concerns.

“It’s a common misconception that cloud computing is inexpensive, which is simply not a reality at corporate scale,” said Mike Loukides, vice president of content at O’Reilly.

Anthony Lye, executive vice president and general manager of NetApp, agreed.

NetApp’s Anthony Lye

“To say that cloud adoption has accelerated over the past almost two years is as good an example of understatement as I can imagine,” Lye wrote in a Nov. 8 blog.

Solidifying his point, Lye cited a recent McKinsey study. It tracked five years’ worth of digital transformation crammed into just eight weeks in 2020.

“And that growth rate is predicted to continue, with Gartner forecasting that public cloud spending will increase by 23% this year alone,” he added. “With these sharp increases in adoption combined with ever faster release cycles there come concerns around efficiency, cost and security. Enterprises must optimize their cloud costs and secure their cloud configurations.”

That’s exactly what NetApp is enabling with the acquisition of CloudCheckr.

“[W]e now combine run time optimizations with comprehensive billing and usage analytics,” Lye said. “Our recent announcement of Spot Security gets a huge boost with the CloudCheckr compliance and security services. I am confident that this acquisition will enable us to invent new ways to help customers accelerate their cloud adoption, continuously optimize costs, maintain security and compliance, to create the efficiencies they need to maintain competitive advantage in the digital world.”

CloudCheckr and Partners

CloudCheckr will lead NetApp’s partner strategy for cloud, Lye said.

“[W]e will use the CloudCheckr platform to build and extend distributor and partner businesses in both the private and public sectors.”

Plus, NetApp will keep working with the “major cloud providers” to co-engineer more solutions, Lye said. They will embed them into each vendor’s services, Lye said.

NetApp has not disclosed what it paid for CloudCheckr. Even though NetApp is publicly traded, CloudCheckr was privately held, so NetApp did not have to share financial details.