3 Things for MSPs to Consider About Google’s Orbitera Acquisition

If you are a Managed Service Provider (MSP) using Orbitera to manage your customer data with Amazon Web Services (AWS), you’re probably wondering about the implications of Google’s recent Orbitera acquisition. While it’s impossible to predict the future with 100 percent certainty, we’ve considered some likely scenarios that may play out for Orbitera users on AWS. While AWS will most likely continue to support Orbitera, Google may not continue to support AWS.

1. Google will support AWS…for now.

Orbitera and Google say that for the time being, they plan to continue supporting Orbitera on multiple cloud platforms. Google’s announcement on August 8th explains, “Looking to the future, we’re committed to maintaining Orbitera’s neutrality as a platform supporting multi-cloud commerce.” Orbitera’s announcement simply notes, “At this time, there is no change to the services we are providing and we will continue to support existing cloud platforms.”

Both statements leave the potential for Google to modify its position on supporting non-Google cloud platforms—namely, AWS—in the future. Clearly Google’s interest lies in shifting Orbitera users on multiple cloud platforms to the Google Cloud. Google’s support (or lack thereof) down the road could certainly present challenges for Orbitera users. As highlighted in this recent TechCrunch article about the Orbitera acquisition, Google has made similar commitments in the past to customers of acquired companies, only to change direction after the dust settles.

2. New features and improvements for AWS may take a back seat.

Even if Google does continue to support multi-cloud users, you can anticipate a gradual erosion of its support for AWS in Orbitera. Any new features and improvements will likely be developed first and foremost for their own cloud, ranking feature requests and support issues from AWS users as lower priority than those from Google Cloud users. And as AWS cloud offerings evolve,  Orbitera may be slow to reflect those new features and improvements.

The experience you’ve grown accustomed to may diminish in other ways as Orbitera transitions from supporting many cloud commodities to one, primarily focusing on support for Google.  This shift in status means that Orbitera in general may not get the resources and attention the product once received. As a user, you’ll probably feel it as a lack of responsiveness to your support issues.

3. Google gains access to MSP customers’ usage and billing data.

Equally concerning for MSPs is Google’s ability to now access the invoicing and usage data of your clients. Will Google mine that data to form and carry out strategic decisions for its own cloud offering? What other ways might Google use this proprietary information about your customers to gain a competitive advantage? And how will your customers feel about all this?

In light of these very real concerns, MSPs using Orbitera for AWS should consider exploring other cost management solutions. CloudCheckr may be an ideal alternative for consolidating your customer billing and invoicing, proactively optimizing AWS costs, and improving security across your cloud environment—all while mitigating these potential risks associated with the Google acquisition.

A purpose-built AWS partner solution

CloudCheckr is not only a cloud service commodity for consolidated billing and invoicing; it’s a next-generation unified cost and security management platform built specifically for AWS, with MSPs in mind. CloudCheckr unites all your native AWS data, from CloudWatch, Detailed Billing Reports, CloudTrail, Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Flow Logs, AWS Config, API calls, custom metrics, and more. It transforms all of your “machine exhaust” into actionable insights that can be used for automating tasks like balancing your Reserved Instance purchases.

In addition, CloudCheckr has the proven technical ability and customer success that the AWS Competency Program requires to certify it as an independent AWS Advanced Technology Partner with DevOps, Security and Government competencies.

Although Orbitera takes a step in the right direction with cost management, CloudCheckr provides a far more comprehensive solution. Using historical data and usage trends, CloudCheckr proactively configures your cloud resources for efficient use and optimized purchase recommendations of AWS reserved instances. It’s a data-driven approach to cost management that has saved our customers, on average, 30 percent from their monthly AWS bill.

Start a free trial today to see how CloudCheckr can optimize AWS cost and security for your business.