VenOps automation platform vendor Cloudify is advancing its technology with the latest update to its namesake platform.
Cloudify 6.4 became generally available on August 18, providing users with new capabilities to continuously update operations across different cloud environments. Also, management tools are integrated with Cloudify to help organizations comply with policies and implement cost controls. In addition, the updated Cloudify platform now boasts a new user interface and improvements for Terraform’s infrastructure-as-code support.
Infrastructure-as-code technologies such as Terraform is not enough to support organizations that want to create a self-service environment for configuring and deploying applications to run in the cloud, according to Cloudify founder and CTO Nati Shalom.
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“Cloudify is a means to an end to enable developer efficiency,” Shalom said ITPro Now. “So instead of developers accessing TerraForm or Kubernetes directly and being exposed to all those details, there’s a more simplified way.”
How Cloudify Brings DevOps Automation to Cloud Operations
Cloudify is now a wrapper that fits on top of infrastructure-as-code and configuration management tools, including Terraform, Helm chart, and Ansible playbooks, Shalom said.
The first step when using Cloudify is to import existing infrastructure-as-code configurations and use them as a building block for a cloud workload. The second stage is the development of the various components in an environment, with an understanding of how the various components relate and work with each other. The environment can consist of any combination of basic elements. The third step in the Cloudify process is ongoing operations and ongoing updates of component services as needed.
“Cloudify is not just a user interface wrapper, it’s an execution engine,” Shalom said.
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Shalom explained that as an execution engine, Cloudify brings together the various building block components and runs them as if they were all on one platform. The execution engine integrates security controls, scalability adjustments, and visibility into the entire workload.
Continuous Updates to Cloudify 6.4 Make CloudOps Workflows Easier
Cloudify 6.4 introduces an intelligent continuous update workflow capability aimed at making it easier for users to update cloud environments.
As things change in a workload and drift from initial parameters, Cloudify reaches back to the appropriate infrastructure-as-code or configuration management tool to make the necessary adjustments.
“We’re taking a lot of the complexity out of updates, making it smarter and basically pushing a lot of responsibility onto Cloudify rather than the user,” Shalom said.
ServiceNow Integration Comes to Cloudify
Rounding out the updates to Cloudify 6.4 is tighter integration with ServiceNow.
With ServiceNow integration, Cloudify users gain management and IT operations management capabilities, according to Shalom. When a user wants to provision a new cloud workload environment, Cloudify can now trigger an approval process in ServiceNow. That process also includes a cost estimate, for management approval.
Additionally, Shalom said the ServiceNow integration allows for collaboration among IT teams and groups using the IT operations platform. For example, once Cloudify has configured an environment for a cloud workload, the ServiceNow system can be used to notify the appropriate users.
“We’re leveraging a lot of the building blocks that are already available in ServiceNow,” he said.
About the author
Sean Michael Kerner is an IT consultant, technology enthusiast and tinkerer. He consults with industry and media organizations on technology issues.