Making Cloud Simpler: How Tangoe's AI and Patents Streamline FinOps

As cloud usage continues its meteoric rise, spurred further by advances like generative AI, the complexity and costs of cloud management are skyrocketing. Infrastructure and architecture leaders need better ways to optimize cloud spending that don't require manual analysis of endless line items across disconnected consoles. 

Tangoe aims to solve this problem through exclusive patented capabilities that apply AI and automation to streamline the entire FinOps process. With 70 patents and counting, they are continuous innovators in using technology to simplify technology management.

Classifying and Optimizing Cloud Data

At the heart of Tangoe's approach are patented methods for ingesting, normalizing, and classifying multi-cloud usage data, extracting key details, categories, and cost drivers. Their AI models then analyze this structured data to find optimization opportunities and predict future workload needs.

As Chris Ortbals, Tangoe's CPO, explains: "When cloud application performance is critical, Tangoe has a patented tool to show you which IaaS provider will give you the best bang for your buck based on your usage today and tomorrow. This is an unparalleled advantage."

Such capabilities reduce the burden on architects and engineers to choose the right cloud offerings. The AI handles the continuous analysis so developers can focus on building.

Automating FinOps Actions

But recommendations alone don't simplify FinOps if acting on them still requires extensive manual processes. Here too Tangoe says its solutions stand out—their automation engine can trigger optimized provisioning, right-sizing, reservations, and other actions through APIs.

"With the click of an approval button, automated response features make changes to IaaS configurations, so clients can quickly turn identified opportunities into real dollars back in the IT budget," Ortbals explains. "This is where speed-to-savings becomes a very tangible benefit."

Removing manual tasks accelerates FinOps cycles, so optimizations happen continually, not just during quarterly reviews. Developers can rely on resources matching workloads.

Built for IT and Finance

What also differentiates Tangoe is supporting the unique needs of both technology and finance leaders in one unified platform. Features like customizable reporting, allocation rules, discounted SKU tracking and invoice processing simplify collaboration. 

As Ortbals puts it: "Many competitor platforms offer data analytics and cost-saving recommendations but fail at the much-needed financial management tools like cost allocations, chargebacks, and invoice processing, which can be a nightmare with IaaS services — hundreds and thousands of line items to sort through." 

With built-in integrations across AWS, Azure, GCP, and other major providers, Tangoe consolidates all cloud usage and billing data into a single source of truth, eliminating the need for manual reconciliations across portals.

Powerful Data Management Under the Hood

Supporting Tangoe's AI-enabled FinOps solutions is a robust cloud-native data management architecture designed to handle massive volumes of financial and usage data from across technologies.

"Tangoe is built on a scalable microservices framework optimized for ingesting, processing, and analyzing large, streaming data sets in real-time," explains Ortbals. "That's how we can detect optimization opportunities and trigger actions swiftly."

The platform provides a range of integrated data services, including storage, backup, governance, and analytics. Advanced security protocols like encryption and access controls ensure data integrity and compliance.

For engineers managing multiple data pipelines across clouds, Tangoe consolidates everything into a single, governed data lake. Open APIs and data integration tools provide flexibility to connect new sources.

"With pre-built connectors for most major cloud platforms and on-premise data sources, setup is simple. And for legacy systems, we offer migration utilities to get that data quickly into Tangoe for better management," says Ortbals.

Unified data underpins maximizing the value organizations derive from AI applications. With its identity-centric design, Tangoe aims to be an engine helping drive that AI potential.

Innovating Across Categories

Even with 70 patents awarded, Tangoe sees plenty of remaining challenges to solve around optimal cloud and technology management. Expanding into hybrid cloud optimization, SaaS management, and enhancing AI explainability and ease of use are top priorities in their roadmap.

They also aim to simplify the adoption of FinOps across organizations. Tangoe shares its patented inventions with clients during beta testing cycles and offers bundled SaaS solutions requiring no infrastructure or integration work. 

Ortbals wants companies to see Tangoe as a long-term partner in navigating cloud complexities, not just a software vendor. "It's becoming harder for DevOps teams to stay on top of all the SaaS apps, IaaS discounts, and purchasing plans available. Tangoe uses AI to pinpoint the best pricing model for cloud resources—we're here to help you make smarter purchasing decisions."

By continuously expanding its AI-powered FinOps patents and portfolio, Tangoe seeks to automate the busy work holding back developers, engineers, architects, and finance leaders from unleashing the full business value of the cloud.