IBM’s new Cost and Asset Management application, unveiled Thursday, aims to provide organizations with a better understanding of the of their hybrid cloud environments. The tool looks at financial trends and total cost, while also improving governance as well, according to a press release.

The Cost and Asset Management application is part of IBM’s Cloud Brokerage Services, and will be the first of “a new generation of applications” that IBM is planning, the release said. In addition to providing cost and policy data for cloud deployments, the app will also offer recommendations and actions for the organization to take regarding its environment.

“Companies often struggle with managing and tracking the cost of their multiple cloud environments,” IBM general manager of infrastructure services, Richard Patterson, said in the release. “IBM Cloud Brokerage Services Cost and Asset Management is the first of a new generation of applications which provide cognitive functionality across cloud and on-prem assets.”

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The application will provide dashboards for a company’s IT and finance teams that provide information on cost trends, budget tracking, asset type and location, as well as compliance, the release said. For example, companies will be able to see differences between certain assets and their costs relative to suppliers, and remedy any problems that may occur, the release said.

The tool is part of IBM’s approach to “cognitive IT governance,” the release said. As such, it utilizes predictive analytics to power the insights provided through the dashboard, and gives an organization a look at the next steps necessary for hybrid cloud transformation.

Information provided in what IBM called “cognitive recommendations” will also help customers set policies for their cloud environments and manage cloud usage to improve cost. Customers will also have the ability to simulate inventory changes and financial goals and see how they would affect their hybrid cloud strategy.

Technical and policy templates are also provided as part of the application with IBM’s best practices built-in, the release noted.

Hybrid cloud deployments often involve a variety of vendors, and IBM’s tool is geared toward removing some of the complexity involved with managing multiple providers. By aligning one’s governance, operations, and consumption goals across multiple vendors and service providers, IBM said it believes that the Cost and Asset Management application can ease a company’s journey to the hybrid cloud.

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

  1. IBM’s new Cost and Asset Management application, part of its Cloud Brokerage Services, provides information on cloud consumption, asset tracking, policy compliance and more.
  2. The new application helps companies manage their hybrid cloud goals across multiple providers, and aims to centralize the management of cloud assets.
  3. The application’s dashboard will provide recommendations for next steps, as well as policy and technical templates for businesses.