Service Express UK
An image of two engineers shaking hands inside a data center in front of large equipment racks

Register for iAdmin | A virtual conference for the IBM i professional, March 26–27

Register

Blogs • 2 min read

What is a cloud management platform (CMP)?

What is a cloud management platform and why should be using one?

Written by   Darren Smith | March 3, 2025
Lit-up blue clouds surrounded by red lights

As organisations embrace multicloud and hybrid solutions, IT teams face growing cloud management challenges and complexities. A cloud management platform (CMP) serves as a powerful solution, helping teams navigate these complexities with greater control. No matter the cloud strategy (public, private, hybrid, etc.), a CMP provides the essential tools to streamline operations, enhance visibility, control costs and more.  

Cloud management platform (CMP) overview

A cloud management platform is a centralised hub, enabling IT teams to efficiently manage, monitor, automate and optimise public, private or hybrid cloud infrastructures. As cloud strategies become increasingly complex, companies turn to CMPs to bridge the gap between diverse platforms and unify cloud environments into a single, cohesive platform.  

Benefits of using a cloud management platform

A well-implemented CMP offers more than simplified cloud operations — it enhances efficiency, controls cloud costs, strengthens security and improves performance. Key benefits of CMPs include:

Cost optimisation

Reducing costs doesn’t mean cutting corners on performance. Instead, it’s about making data-driven decisions to maximise efficiency without sacrificing performance. A CMP provides actionable insights to decrease wasteful spending by assisting with the following:

  • Identifies unused or underutilised resources to rebalance and consolidate workloads accordingly   
  • Easily forecast and scale up or down as demand changes 

Performance enhancements

Real-time monitoring ensures workloads run efficiently, helping avoid bottlenecks and reduce downtime. 

Automate operations

Routine tasks such as provisioning, scaling and workload balancing can be automated, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives. 

Enhance scalability

CMPs are designed to grow and adapt to business demands, making them a future-proof solution for evolving cloud strategies. 

Strengthen security and compliance

Effective cloud management is pivotal in mitigating security risks and ensuring compliance in today’s threat landscape. CMPs provide built-in governance frameworks and automated policy enforcement to uphold compliance standards and regulations.  

  • Centralises security controls by enforcing consistent policies across all cloud environments
  • Simplifies compliance audits with automated reporting and governance, including GDPR, ISO 27001 or SOC2.  
  • Provides real-time alerts with advanced monitoring tools to detect anomalies or potential breaches before they escalate.

Cloud technologies and infrastructure will continue to evolve, and so will their complexities. A cloud management platform is essential for businesses looking to gain visibility and streamline processes for future agility.  


About the Author

Darren Smith | Service Express Darren Smith

Darren is Head of Product and Innovation at Service Express, lending nearly three decades of IT industry experience to service design and enhancement.

More by Darren Smith

Additional resources