CloudCheckr Monitors Amazon GovCloud

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

Last November a small startup called CloudCheckr launched the beta of its performance-monitoring system for Amazon Web Services. Now, it’s bringing out a specialized version, CloudCheckr Gov, suitable for monitoring performance on AWS GovCloud, no mean trick because security requirements keep most independent monitors out. CloudCheckr is part of a small but thriving third-party market consisting of companies that shed more light on what’s going on inside the AWS cloud. Cloudability, Cloudyn, Cloud Cruiser, Newvem, ExtraHop Networks and Uptime Software occupy this space and compete for AWS users.

CloudCheckr is an online service that provides basic AWS monitoring for free, and advanced, CloudCheckr Pro for $179 a month. CloudCheckr Gov is also priced at $179 a month. It’s more than a passive monitor. It checks for up to 150 best practices in cloud workload configurations and security alignments. It can advise what should be done when it spots an exposure or shortcoming. With evident foreign interest in hacking U.S. government agencies, expertise in security and the ability to monitor GovCloud help set CloudCheckr apart…

CloudCheckr, based in Rochester, N.Y., must provide built-in controls that assure GovCloud is being accessed by U.S. citizens. It can do so in part through its partnership with JHC Consulting, a veteran-owned business that specializes in, among other things, reselling AWS infrastructure to government agencies…

Read more from the source @ http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/infrastructure/cloudcheckr-monitors-amazon-govcloud/240155417