By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
When executed successfully, cloud orchestration can allow IT teams to automate time-and resource-intensive tasks across an organization’s public and private clouds, such as provisioning servers, managing network and storage devices, creating virtual machines, and overseeing application life cycles. For companies wrestling with multi-cloud deployments, or issues around provisioning and policy enforcement, cloud orchestration can make it easier to manage the cloud at scale while automating rules and resource allocation.
Unlike cloud automation, which generally refers to the automation of specific cloud-based tasks, cloud orchestration involves several automated tasks working in concert to serve a particular function. In addition, many cloud-orchestration tools can automatically respond to changing situations and allow teams to self-provision cloud resources within limits, freeing up time and bandwidth for IT teams to focus on other issues.
Cloud orchestration also boosts transparency. For example, IT teams can add audit trails and controls to their automated cloud workflows, keeping them compliant with their industry’s regulations. If a healthcare company uses orchestration to automate the monitoring and scaling of a cloud-based data pipeline filled with patient information, they can also integrate the guardrails and checks necessary to keep that information safe. Cloud orchestration dashboards, if set up correctly, also provide insights into how a company’s cloud deployments are functioning.
