Analyst Reports

N E W YO R K • B O S T O N • S A N F R A N C I S C O • WA S H I N G T O N D C • LO N D O N R E P O R T R E P R I N T Introduction CloudBolt is going deep into cloud cost, security and compliance after its second acquisition of the year – that of Kumolus. The cloud management platform (CMP) supplier is positioning itself for a broader role in supporting hybrid clouds. 451 TAKE The opportunity for the remaining independent cloud management platform vendors is all about adjacency: expertise in generic cloud management tasks are table stakes. CloudBolt's latest acquisition of Kumolus provides a SaaS offering that brings continuous cloud optimization around cost, security and governance – in addition to the integration and additional VMware vRealize Automation expertise that its recent SovLabs acquisition brought. This also raises the target buying persona for CloudBolt within organizations to the CIO/CTO/CFO/CISO level. Its investor Insight Partners is sure to be putting additional opportunities in front of it, whether for sectoral or regional expansion, or functional enhancement. Clearly, the ambition is for CloudBolt to mature organically and via M&A to become more than a CMP provider, and target the broader hybrid cloud opportunity. Context CloudBolt recently acquired Melbourne, Australia-based Kumolus Holdings for an undisclosed amount, which provides 'day 2' operations and continuous optimization as a SaaS service for AWS and Azure environments. Governance, in the shape of automated compliance and security, has become as important to CloudBolt customers as its VMware vRealize capability and other cloud management features. Having looked, via Insight Partners, for an acquisition in the space for some time, CloudBolt considered a number of options before settling on Kumulos, which not only brings the technology but also an APAC operation and a fast-track route to growth in that market. Technology The SaaS-based Kumolus cloud management platform includes discovery and visualization of cloud environments, automated cost management, and the ability to continuously enforce security posture and compliance. Chief benefits claimed are reducing cloud spend by up to 60% while meeting regulatory compliance standards such as CIS and PCI-DSS. The key capability – and the first point of integration between CloudBolt and Kumolus – is the latter's visualization layer, which enables users to see security issues and vulnerabilities, such as red/orange/green reports on PCI parts. It also provides continuous optimization and remediation, suggesting rightsizing resource usage. Together, these support NoOps and FinOps personas, the company believes. Kumolus has customers in Australia, India and Singapore – partners include NEC Australia, Advent One, and many others. It has AWS Cloud Management Tools Competency status, and is an APN partner. Server management vendor Avigna Capital (Singapore) made an undisclosed investment in Kumolus in January 2020.

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