CloudPhysics Introduces Data-Driven IT Monitoring Software Geared For Partners

CloudPhysics channel partners have been using the company's platform for years to manage and assess their customers' virtualized IT environments, but that wasn't the intended use case of the analytics platform.

After recognizing that partners were doing more with its product than reselling it to end users, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup introduced Tuesday a Partner Edition of its software that's actually geared for channel use.

The new edition is designed to not only help consultants and managed service providers optimize and oversee virtualized customer data centers, but also to nurture their relationships with those customers, Jeff Hausman, CEO of CloudPhysics, told CRN.

[Related: The 10 Coolest Virtualization Startups Of 2015]

CloudPhysics focuses on making IT work better through data-driven insights, he said. The software anonymously samples customers and uses their operational data to identify working hazards or performance problems in virtual server, storage and networking environments.

Early partners who started using the product themselves encouraged CloudPhysics to develop the latest edition, Hausman said.

"We went from being channel-friendly, to realizing, 'Wait a minute, channel partners are a whole different model and a whole different opportunity,' " Hausman told CRN.

While CloudPhysics has always been focused on the channel, said Hausman, Partner Edition adds functionality unique to that model.

"It's bringing the same concept of big data and analytics insights to help drive a relationship between the partners and the customers they serve," Hausman said. "We're allowing partners to take those data-driven insights to make better decisions on behalf of and in conjunction with their customers."

The company, founded in 2011 by former VMware employees, and partially funded by VMware co-founders Diane Greene and Mendel Rosenblum, has been growing dramatically, Hausman said, tripling its sales over the past year.

The Software-as-a-Service offering allows partners to address challenges around cloud migration, new hardware, performance analysis, re-architecting, and avoiding operational hazards. They can use the platform as an end-to-end solution to make periodic assessments or run continual managed service offerings.

Partner Edition is also designed to foster transparency, encouraging accountability and mutual problem-solving by sharing data between partners, customers and vendors. Through the CloudPhysics partner portal, partners can invite customers to participate in various programs and assessments, and track their progress.

CloudPhysics collects several forms of metadata about a customer's virtualized environment: I/O of applications and the hypervisor; configuration of servers, storage and networks; as well as CPU, memory and other resource usage.

Channel and technology partners including CDW, Lenovo and Intel are already using the new software, Hausman said.

Kelly Kennon, director of solutions at Ahead, told CRN that Partner Edition will help the Chicago-based IT services provide realize greater value from the data-driven technology offered by CloudPhysics.

Ahead has partnered with CloudPhysics for two years, using the current end-user platform to power its own Ahead Optimization Service, which delivers real-time analytics and quarterly business reviews to clients looking to continuously optimize their VMware vSphere environments, Kennon said.

"Partner Edition provides enhanced insights for partners and improves our experience within the CloudPhysics platform," Kennon told CRN via email.

Billing is also different from editions that implemented an end-user model, Hausman told CRN, with a setup fee and per-user license that comes with a volume discount.

To support the Partner Edition, CloudPhysics will start making available to partners Success Managers who work with them on training and on-boarding, Hausman said.