The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the state of the UK cloud market, and for good reason. While the submissions and commentary already submitted to the CMA point to various concerning practices, one issue stands out as the single biggest threat to a healthy, competitive landscape: excessive free cloud credits. This tactic, employed by the dominant hyperscalers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform), is akin to a drug dealer offering free samples.

Manchester has come a long way - from pioneering the world’s first stored program digital computer, to becoming the top tech city in the UK outside of London. The MCC 2021-2026 Digital Strategy now guides a £5bn digital economy, with more than 10,000 businesses employing over 96,000 people. It has seen the development of five unicorns and is still home to three, billion-pound businesses. So, the city of bees is buzzing.

In this blog, we will discuss the five important metrics that'll help you fine-tune your Azure App Service environment effectively.

Many often wonder, “Is there a difference between observability and monitoring?” The thing is as IT environments have become more complex, monitoring alone has become increasingly less effective. That’s because while monitoring is crucial, it isn’t particularly suited to tracking unforeseen or unexpected turns of events. That’s what observability is meant for. This guide will clarify what observability and monitoring are – and how they differ.

Your business could be spending tens of thousands on SaaS applications—but are you really using them to your full advantage? Research says probably not. Today, the average business uses 130 SaaS apps for day-to-day operations, a number that has steadily climbed over the past decade. Of those, 65% fall under the veil of shadow IT, meaning the IT team is unaware they were ever adopted.

Research firm, IDC, published a study in early February 2024 predicting that Google Cloud Platform (GCP) customers break even after just 10 months. Moreover, the study, The Business Value of Google Cloud IaaS, reported that after migrating to GCP, the participants were on track to achieve a 318% ROI in five years. Here’s the thing. Achieving these milestones requires a robust GCP cost monitoring and optimization plan.

Proper backups are universally acknowledged as essential, yet they grow increasingly tedious and prone to error as DevOps complexity escalates. While some managed database services offer automated backup solutions, the scope of your backup requirements is likely to expand as the business and products scale. There's a considerable chance you'll find yourself hosting your own databases or stateful services, a task that can seem daunting in its demand for precision and reliability.

Azure provides a wide array of services, each with its own pricing model. Conducting detailed cost analysis helps organizations understand where their money is being spent within Azure. It allows them to identify areas of overspending or underutilization and optimize their resources accordingly. By analysing costs, organizations can identify unused or underutilized resources and either scale them down or decommission them altogether.

Sysdig has been awarded Google Cloud’s 2024 Technology Partner of the Year for Security, excelling in the “Configuration, Vulnerability Management, and GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance)” segment. This award acknowledges Sysdig’s innovation and commitment to customer success.

The first installment of our FinOps Automation Tips and Best Practices series focused on what FinOps is and why automating it can be a game-changer for your business. Now we’re back for part two, which will guide you on how to choose your optimal outcome and select the best automation options to suit your needs. Enjoy the full video for an in-depth explanation, or see the brief summary below if you’re just here for the highlights.