Nimsoft is launching a benchmarking service today for enterprise customers that will help them define and measure the actual costs of cloud computing and monitor the performance of IT infrastructure.
The benchmarking service monitors the multiple systems of an enterprise and pulls them into a unified view. These include internal systems, managed service providers, and cloud-based and Software-as-a-Service investments.
Cloud computing is getting so much hype these days that chief executive officers are starting to ask a lot of questions. They want to know about using Google for email and other enterprise functions. The CIO does not always have an answer. That creates a shift in the relationship, forcing some answers about budgets and an examination of the actual costs of cloud-based services to internal systems.
Nimsoft is offering benchmarking services for visibility into: Google Apps for Business, Rackspace Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and EC2, Salesforce.com, and other services.
Nimsoft also provides similar services for visibility into virtualization environments.
The service is offered in two packages. Customers can purchase a software package that is installed behind the corporate firewall. Alternatively, customers can work with one of Nimsoft's partners that work on a SaaS model.
Nimsoft does the benchmarks by running direct tests, such as sending batches of email to measure how long it takes the email to get to its destination. What the benchmark does is help define the service equation. The costs are pretty clear to understand, but the value of the service is another matter. If there are three outages in the span of the month, then the email system may not be worth the drop in cost.
That's some good information to have when making a decision about a SaaS provider.