Overview

“In the cloud, every event is logged, and can be reported on”

To use cloud effectively and efficiently, it is important to have wide insights into the usage of cloud technology. This will help to be in control of obvious areas such as costs, security, and compliance with legislation. On the other hand, we also want to continuously improve everything we are doing in and with cloud.​

Cloud service analysis and reporting addresses the need for thorough insights. “Full range observability” is the goal. The challenge is the abundance of data available to report on. To leverage this data, the Cloud Analyst unlocks the full potential of available logging data and turns the data into information through useful, customised, dashboards and reports. These dashboards and reports are made available to stakeholders.​

Stakeholders can be DevOps teams, the CISO, financial control, management or anyone else with an interest in optimising or controlling cloud usage. We should not forget SaaS applications in this context. ​

In general, applicable reporting areas are:​

• Financial reports​
• Security & compliance reports​
• Migration & transformation KPIs/CSFs reports​
• CI/CD efficiency reports

Activities checklist

Initial:

• Determining the method of analysis and reporting (including SaaS)​
• Gathering requirements regarding information needs from DevOps teams and other stakeholders (e.g. cadence, and method of reporting)​
• Setting up standard cloud dashboard(s) and reports

Recurring:

• Continuously expanding and improving the required dashboards and reports​
• Discussing and explaining the reported data to teams and stakeholders ​
• Identifying potential optimisations for teams and stakeholders

RASCI