Why IT, Ops, and QA Need Visibility Into Cloud Configurations

Maintaining visibility into your company’s cloud-based systems is more important than ever. As you integrate new cloud services into every part of your product and operations, it’s easy for the benefits of improved efficiency to come at the cost of potentially overwhelming system complexity. To keep that complexity from spiraling out of control, modern cloud customers are turning to third-party configuration management tools that provide the intelligence they need to stay on top of their cloud infrastructure and application configurations. And that visibility is vital at every level and in every function. Below, we discuss some of the ways in which IT, Operations, QA, and Security teams will benefit from consistent visibility and control over these new systems as you build out your cloud-based tech stack.

Cloud Visibility for IT

When it comes to your IT department, visibility into your cloud systems will help your developers stay on track and avoid unnecessary distractions, while ensuring senior leadership can focus on the most pressing issues. An effective cloud visibility tool will help your team to isolate critical configuration changes from the noise of day-to-day development, making it possible to stay more focused on primary tasks. And when something does go wrong, more visibility means less time will be diverted to forensics. With full visibility into your integrated cloud systems, senior engineers and other valuable personnel will be able to quickly identify and resolve problems as soon as they occur, instead of wasting time and effort in a lengthy troubleshooting process. 

In addition, when all of your configuration information is available in a single, easy-to-access platform, your IT teams can maintain visibility without needing to invest in multiple expensive GitHub licenses or other tools. This means that limited IT resources can be focused on the people and tools that are core to your business.

Cloud Visibility for Operations

Although your IT department may have the most direct interaction with your cloud systems, the benefits of cloud visibility extend far beyond your technical teams. Insight into the current status and past changes made to configurations makes it possible for operations teams to determine the root causes of ongoing issues. Armed with this understanding of what has caused issues historically, teams can be ready when similar changes are made in the future. Instead of constantly putting out fires and reinventing the wheel every time a new system is launched or a setting adjusted, operations teams can stay a step ahead, ready to resolve problems before they even occur. This all adds up to greater efficiency and smoother operations across the business.

Cloud Visibility for QA and Security

Finally, one of the most important benefits of greater cloud visibility is improved Quality Assurance (QA) and security. With frictionless monitoring and configuration of all of your systems, security teams can track config files relevant to key risk areas, and easily check the status of these systems whenever high-risk events occur. This monitoring capability is also essential when security considerations change or priorities are updated since it enables QA and security teams to easily access whatever information is necessary to prepare for the new situation. 

Specifically, this visibility is vital to support your organization’s change management system. Insight into configuration settings makes it possible to specify audit trails and track impacted systems when organizational change occurs, ensuring a smooth transition for key tools and processes. 

In addition, both QA and security personnel can leverage configuration file changelogs to track changes and ensure any potential reliability or security issues are discovered and resolved as quickly as possible. Instead of wading through disparate systems and poorly maintained logs, these teams can rely on a single source of information that’s easy to access and always up to date. That all adds up to less downtime, fewer security issues, and faster resolution when problems do come up.

While cloud configuration may seem like a fairly technical, niche area, it is in fact a vital component of every part of your business, from IT to operations to QA and security. Cloud systems have the potential to benefit every department, but if left unchecked, they also have the potential to create a lot of unnecessary complexity and confusion. That’s why every part of your organization needs consistent, reliable visibility into the configuration and status of these tools and services. To learn more about how CloudTruth can bring a new level of visibility and control to your team, visit our website at www.cloudtruth.com.