More and more businesses, small and large alike, are joining what has become the inevitable future of computing technology: the Cloud. What was once deemed to be the domain of companies with vast amounts of data or catered to visitors that were numbered in the hundreds of thousands, is now affordable and accessible to the smaller players.

Adopting Cloud technology means discarding the old management tools and implementing the latest ones that are specifically designed for the more complicated tasks that come with it. As the limits that the older generations of tools can handle are reached, newer ones are already taking over. This means businesses now need to make careful choices when selecting their new Cloud tools.

Below are some of the 7 most popular tools for use with Cloud computing environments:

1. Qualys

Moving to the Cloud means the amount of exposure a business’ hardware and software get is increased immensely. This means the threat that it is all exposed to also increases proportionally.

Qualys serves as an overall blanket security cover which protects devices and web applications without affecting their performance and compliance. Being a Cloud application itself, it doesn’t require any additional hardware or software.

Apart from identifying and exposing malware threats using regular scans, Qualys provides administrators with detailed instructions on how to get rid of them. Once done, it goes on to confirm that the threat has indeed been removed.

2. CrowdDirector

One advantage of Cloud computing is the rise in traffic that can be expected due to the greater exposure of data and content. But sometimes the traffic can become a disadvantage if it overloads the available resources. CrowdDirector makes sure that doesn’t happen.

The tool tracks and manages the traffic that goes to and from a business’ Cloud servers and services. It optimizes the availability and use of resources by allowing administrators to configure and manage various network resources all at once and then reports on their performance in real time. In other words, CrowdDirector acts as a load balance across the internet.

3. Puppet Enterprise

Ask any system administrator what they hate about their job and they will almost always tearfully say it is the routines that come with an otherwise interesting career. Having to do jobs over and over again (whether in a single or over multiple days) can kill enthusiasm and result in mistakes caused by utter boredom.

Puppet Enterprise acts like a puppet master that automates and monitors repetitive tasks so administrators can be relieved of tedious duties. Apart from that, it also allows for the deployment of critical applications without human intervention as well as practically managing a business’ infrastructure as a whole.

Other interesting applications of Puppet Enterprise include discovering and keeping track of Cloud nodes, managing and re-using configuration modules as well as patching server farms on-the-go.

Simply put, it is an indispensible tool which brings peace of mind to administrators.

4. Chef

Any network or server administrator that has tried to configure hardware on a network can vouch for the pain it ensues and the frustration that comes with testing variations and combinations to come up with a working and feasible solution. With the Cloud it becomes even more difficult.

Chef is a Cloud configuration management tool that gives administrators the ability to test and configure virtual representation of systems. The tool can be used to provision, configure and integrate resources that are in the Cloud using a single laptop.

5. Informatica

Another advanced security tool to be used with the Cloud, Informatica comes with plenty of bells and whistles which will help administrators with their data security and protection issues. It also makes it easier to integrate data between devices on a hybrid Cloud deployment.

Informatica’s job starts when an application is being developed and tested. It can even be used for the creation of feasible business processes. The tool can be used to support large Cloud integrations and to roll out, implement and monitor IT management and control using credentials (logins, passwords, tokens etc.) auditing whenever and wherever it is required.

6. AtomSphere

Businesses that want to integrate multiple and dissimilar Cloud-based applications can use AtomSphere, a software Platform as a Service (PaaS). The applications can either be in the Cloud or on-premise – it doesn’t matter; the tool can bridge the gap.

The latest version of AtomSphere allows for the access and retrieval of data from multiple sources as well as reservation of Cloud resources for data transfer when integration is required. Any doubts about how effective this tool is can be set aside with the realization that, at present, it is used to handle over a million integration processes per day.

7. Cloudability

In a time when cost saving has become an integral part of running a business it makes sense to implement a tool that keeps track of costs and expenses that are incurred by implementing a Cloud computing environment.

Cloudability is one such tool. It is a financial management tool that is used to keep track of and analyze all such expenses. Its reports can help businesses identify cost saving ways. The tool can be configured to give advice on budget alerts and recommendations via messaging services (email, SMS for example).

With this tool businesses can identify opportunities for making money by saving money. Cloudability has been implemented by businesses all over the world and currently oversees over $250 million in Cloud costs.

And there you have it; any business can implement one, a combination or all of these tools and see its Cloud environment operate economically, smoothly and safely.