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How to Improve Cloud Computing with Visibility

Keith Bromley

One of the current challenges for IT teams is the movement of the network to the cloud, and the lack of visibility that comes with that shift. While there has been a lot of hype around the benefits of cloud computing, very little is being said about the inherent drawbacks.

For instance, once you give up control of the network infrastructure, you lose the ability to capture important packet data from tap and span ports. This data is necessary for troubleshooting and performance analysis. Monitoring and forensic tools still need to perform deep packet inspection to perform application performance monitoring (APM) analysis and troubleshooting activities.

In addition, while many of the cloud vendors will tell you that they offer security and visibility capabilities, this is in regards to their portion of the cloud (the infrastructure), not your workspace. Their touted “security solution” is often just an access list. If you’ve operated a data center before, are access lists the only thing you did to secure your network? I think not.

However, there is a remedy. You can deploy a virtual tap into a container within your cloud environment. This allows you to capture the specific types of packet data that you are looking for within your portion of the cloud environment. Once the tap captures the data, it can be copied and sent on to either your cloud-based, or on-premises based, tools for further analysis.

One important note. Make sure that the virtual tap you deploy can scale continuously. Otherwise, you will encounter significant problems as you spin up new apps and services. One of the problems will be lost monitoring data. If a virtual tap is overloaded, it simply cannot collect the requisite data and the data is lost. At that point, another virtual tap (or set of licenses for the tap) needs to be installed to capture the additional monitoring data. This human intervention requirement will throttle your ability to be effective. If the tap can scale continuously, then this limitation is removed and the monitoring solution can scale as you spin up more apps and services.

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In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

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How to Improve Cloud Computing with Visibility

Keith Bromley

One of the current challenges for IT teams is the movement of the network to the cloud, and the lack of visibility that comes with that shift. While there has been a lot of hype around the benefits of cloud computing, very little is being said about the inherent drawbacks.

For instance, once you give up control of the network infrastructure, you lose the ability to capture important packet data from tap and span ports. This data is necessary for troubleshooting and performance analysis. Monitoring and forensic tools still need to perform deep packet inspection to perform application performance monitoring (APM) analysis and troubleshooting activities.

In addition, while many of the cloud vendors will tell you that they offer security and visibility capabilities, this is in regards to their portion of the cloud (the infrastructure), not your workspace. Their touted “security solution” is often just an access list. If you’ve operated a data center before, are access lists the only thing you did to secure your network? I think not.

However, there is a remedy. You can deploy a virtual tap into a container within your cloud environment. This allows you to capture the specific types of packet data that you are looking for within your portion of the cloud environment. Once the tap captures the data, it can be copied and sent on to either your cloud-based, or on-premises based, tools for further analysis.

One important note. Make sure that the virtual tap you deploy can scale continuously. Otherwise, you will encounter significant problems as you spin up new apps and services. One of the problems will be lost monitoring data. If a virtual tap is overloaded, it simply cannot collect the requisite data and the data is lost. At that point, another virtual tap (or set of licenses for the tap) needs to be installed to capture the additional monitoring data. This human intervention requirement will throttle your ability to be effective. If the tap can scale continuously, then this limitation is removed and the monitoring solution can scale as you spin up more apps and services.

Hot Topics

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...