* [Topics](/en/topics "Topics") * What is cloud management? What is cloud management? ========================= Published March 7, 2018•*3*-minute read Copy URL Jump to section --------------- OverviewHow does it work?Difference between cloud computingWhat it should doWhy Red Hat Overview -------- Cloud management is how administrators control—and orchestrate—all the products and services that operate in a cloud: the users and access control, data, applications, and services. It's about giving admins the ability to access the resources they need, automate those processes that they want to, and make adjustments as needed, while also monitoring usage and cost. It's also how admins maintain flexibility and scalability, while being able to adapt quickly when things change.  Cloud management tools help admins oversee all types of clouds (public cloud, private cloud, hybrid and multicloud) and cloud activities, from resource deployment and use tracking to data integration, [Kubernetes](/en/topics/containers/what-is-kubernetes), and disaster recovery. They provide administrative control over the infrastructure, platforms, applications, cloud provider and [cloud service provider](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-cloud-providers) resources, and data that—together—create a cloud. How does cloud management work? ------------------------------- This video can't play due to privacy settings To change your settings, select the "Cookie Preferences" link in the footer and opt in to "Advertising Cookies or try disabling adblockers." Cloud [management](/en/topics/management) software is typically deployed into existing [cloud](/en/topics/cloud-computing) environments as a [virtual machine (VM)](/en/topics/virtualization) that contains a database and a server. The server communicates with [application programming interfaces (APIs)](/en/topics/api) to connect the database and virtual, cloud, or container-based resources holding up—and interacting within—the cloud. The database collects information on how the virtual or cloud infrastructure is performing and sends analyses to a web interface where cloud admins can visualize and analyze cloud performance. Admins can also relay commands back to the cloud, which are carried out by the virtual server. All that interconnectivity relies on perhaps the most overlooked technology of all: the [operating system (OS)](/en/topics/linux). The [operating system](/en/topics/linux/what-is-linux) not only commands all the different technologies that make up clouds, but it also deploys your cloud management tools. That operating system needs to work with [whatever cloud you use](/en/topics/cloud-computing/public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-and-hybrid-cloud)—no matter how unique it is—which is why many cloud-based operating systems are open source, like [Linux](/en/topics/linux/linux-for-cloud-computing)®. Red Hat resources ----------------- [Keep reading](/en/resources "Keep reading") Cloud management is not cloud computing --------------------------------------- Clouds provide the rules and cloud management carries them out. Clouds are pools of virtual resources, [storage](/en/topics/data-storage), applications, and services that are managed by software so the resources can be accessed on demand. Cloud management is a combination of software, [automation](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-automation), policies, [governance](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-governance), and people that determine how those cloud computing services are made available. [Learn more about cloud computing](/en/topics/cloud-computing "topic | understanding cloud computing") What a cloud management platform should do ------------------------------------------ #### Integrate with existing IT A cloud management platform (CMP) must be customized to your needs: it must meet the requirements of the operating system, apps, provisioning, cloud security, storage frameworks, [standard operating environments (SOEs)](/en/topics/management/what-is-an-soe), and whatever else is running in the cloud. They should also be flexible and able to adapt to change quickly. #### Automate manual tasks [Automation](/en/topics/automation) removes manual human interaction from as many everyday tasks and workflows as possible, which has the dual advantage of increasing efficiency and decreasing errors. Automation lifts a huge burden for cloud computing and is vital to any cloud management platform. [Learn more about cloud automation](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-automation)  #### Visualize costs It’s easy to use cloud services, so it’s very easy to use more than you can afford. A cloud management platform should provide accurate cost management, forecasting, and reporting. #### Be accessible through the internet Like the resources, data, and processing power of your cloud, your cloud management tools should be accessible by the admin regardless of where he or she—or the infrastructure—is. #### Support hybrid cloud and multicloud environments By necessity, an enterprise’s future is filled with all types of clouds: [private](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-private-cloud), [public](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-public-cloud), and [hybrid](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-hybrid-cloud). Every cloud management platform should be able to support all types of cloud smoothly and securely across multiple environments. #### Manage everything This may seem like a given, but self-service capabilities are vital to any cloud management platform in order to stay flexible and adaptable in the face of frequent changes and updates. It should maintain control over everything, while policies guide user access to resources, configurations, and capacity. Orchestration of the entire infrastructure—on-premises—virtual, data centers, etc.—throughout the lifecycle is essential. [Learn more about cloud orchestration](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-orchestration "article | what is cloud orchestration") Why Red Hat? ------------ This video can't play due to privacy settings To change your settings, select the "Cookie Preferences" link in the footer and opt in to "Advertising Cookies or try disabling adblockers." The cloud is here to stay and technology is changing all the time (with advances like Kubernetes and [edge computing](/en/topics/edge-computing/what-is-edge-computing)). But as cloud computing needs change, end users will adapt, as should the cloud management tools. Whether you operate across a single or multiple cloud environments, effective management and the flexibility to adapt make all the difference. Our [open source multicloud management platform](/en/technologies/management/satellite) offers a consistent way to track cloud costs, control resource allocation, and ensure compliance. It’s also designed to run the the leading open source IT automation playbooks (with [Red Hat® Ansible® Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/trial)) natively, letting you standardize the cloud experience using a unified automation language. [Learn how to build a Red Hat cloud](/en/topics/cloud-computing/why-choose-red-hat-cloud "article | why build a Red Hat cloud") The official Red Hat blog ------------------------- Get the latest information about our ecosystem of customers, partners, and communities. [Keep reading](/en/blog "The official Red Hat blog") All Red Hat product trials -------------------------- Our no-cost product trials help you gain hands-on experience, prepare for a certification, or assess if a product is right for your organization. [Keep reading](/en/products/trials "All Red Hat product trials") Keep reading ------------ ### The journey from observability to AIOps automation Learn how organizations can rely on observability, AIOps, and IT automation to deliver reliable services and applications efficiently. [Read the article](/en/topics/automation/observability-to-aiops-automation "article | The journey from observability to AIOps automation") ### What is infrastructure automation? Infrastructure automation is the use of technology that performs tasks with reduced human assistance. [Read the article](/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-automation "article | what is infrastructure automation") ### What is patch management? Patch management is the process of identifying, testing, and installing system updates to improve security and performance in operating systems and applications. [Read the article](/en/topics/management/what-patch-management-and-automation "article | what is patch management") Automation and management resources ----------------------------------- ### Related content * Blog post [Strengthening the enterprise foundation: Red Hat and Oracle’s expanding collaboration](/en/blog/strengthening-enterprise-foundation-red-hat-and-oracles-expanding-collaboration) * Blog post [The definitive automation guide to Red Hat Summit 2026: Must-attend Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform sessions, talks, and labs](/en/blog/definitive-automation-guide-red-hat-summit-2026-must-attend-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform-sessions-talks-and-labs) * Overview [From automation to autonomy](/en/resources/automation-to-autonomy-overview) * Overview [From automation to autonomy](/en/engage/automation-to-autonomy-overview) ### Related articles * [The journey from observability to AIOps automation](/en/topics/automation/observability-to-aiops-automation) * [What is infrastructure automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-automation) * [What is patch management?](/en/topics/management/what-patch-management-and-automation) * [What is security automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-security-automation) * [Why choose Red Hat for automation?](/en/topics/automation/why-choose-red-hat-for-automation) * [What is SOAR?](/en/topics/security/what-is-soar) * [What is an Ansible Playbook?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-playbook) * [Learning Ansible basics](/en/topics/automation/learning-ansible-tutorial) * [How to build an IT automation strategy](/en/topics/automation/build-an-automation-strategy) * [Linux for cloud computing](/en/topics/linux/linux-for-cloud-computing) * [Ansible vs. Chef: What you need to know](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-chef) * [Ansible vs. Salt: What you need to know](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-salt) * [Ansible vs. Puppet: What you need to know](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-puppet) * [Ansible vs. Terraform](/en/topics/automation/ansible-vs-terraform) * [What is IT service management (ITSM)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-service-management-itsm) * [Automating Microsoft Windows with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/automate-microsoft-windows-with-ansible) * [What is DevOps automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-devops-automation) * [What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-infrastructure-as-code-iac) * [Ansible vs. Kubernetes: how they work together](/en/topics/automation/Ansible-vs-Kubernetes) * [What is a configuration management database (CMDB)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-configuration-management-database-cmdb) * [What is cloud migration? And how can automation help?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-migration) * [Why run Linux on AWS?](/en/topics/linux/linux-on-aws) * [What is hybrid cloud?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-hybrid-cloud) * [What is a software-defined data center (SDDC)?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-sddc) * [What is serverless?](/en/topics/cloud-native-apps/what-is-serverless) * [What is IT automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-automation) * [Why choose Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform as your AI foundation?](/en/topics/automation/automation-and-ai) * [What is access control?](/en/topics/security/what-is-access-control) * [Why choose Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Azure?](/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux/why-choose-red-hat-enterprise-linux-on-azure) * [What's the difference between cloud and virtualization?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/cloud-vs-virtualization) * [Why choose Red Hat Enterprise Linux on AWS?](/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux/why-choose-red-hat-enterprise-linux-on-aws) * [What is virtual infrastructure management? And how can automation help?](/en/topics/automation/virtual-infrastructure-management) * [What is IT migration?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-migration) * [How to automate migrations with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/automate-migrations-with-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform) * [Why use Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with Red Hat OpenShift?](/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/ansible-on-openshift) * [What is CloudOps?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloudops) * [Linux on Azure](/en/topics/linux/linux-on-azure) * [Why run Linux on Google Cloud?](/en/topics/linux/linux-on-google-cloud) * [Red Hat Satellite on Red Hat Enterprise Linux](/en/technologies/management/satellite/satellite-for-rhel) * [What is role-based access control (RBAC)?](/en/topics/security/what-is-role-based-access-control) * [Which Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform deployment option is right for you?](/en/technologies/management/ansible/ansible-deployment-options) * [What is an Ansible module—and how does it work?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-module) * [How to manage and automate applications at the edge](/en/topics/edge-computing/how-to-manage-automate-applications-edge) * [How to build an automation Center of Excellence](/en/topics/automation/how-to-build-automation-center-of-excellence) * [What is orchestration?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-orchestration) * [Why choose Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Google Cloud?](/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux/why-choose-red-hat-enterprise-linux-google-cloud) * [How to adopt Automation as Code: Extending Infrastructure as Code into Policy as Code](/en/topics/automation/how-to-adopt-automation-as-code) * [What is a webhook?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-a-webhook) * [Red Hat Lightspeed data and application security](/en/topics/management/data-application-security) * [Why are financial services slow to adopt the cloud?](/en/topics/financial-services/why-financial-services-are-slow-to-adopt-cloud) * [What is an Ansible Role—and how is it used?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-role) * [What is data management?](/en/topics/data-services/what-is-data-management) * [Gain security with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/gain-security-with-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform) * [What is NetOps?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-netops) * [What is an Ansible Rulebook?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-an-ansible-rulebook) * [What is configuration management](/en/topics/automation/what-is-configuration-management) * [What is Cloud Foundry?](/en/topics/application-modernization/what-is-cloud-foundry) * [What is event-driven automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-event-driven-automation) * [Zero-Touch Provisioning and telco automation with Red Hat](/en/topics/telecommunications/zero-touch-provisioning-and-telco-automation-at-red-hat) * [What is the role of the cloud in embedded finance?](/en/topics/financial-services/the-role-of-cloud-in-embedded-finance) * [OpenShift vs. OpenStack: What are the differences?](/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/openshift-vs-openstack) * [Cloud services for financial services](/en/topics/financial-services/cloud-services-for-financial-services) * [Kubernetes vs OpenStack](/en/topics/openstack/kubernetes-vs-openstack) * [What is provisioning?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-provisioning) * [What is YAML?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-yaml) * [Understanding Ansible, Terraform, Puppet, Chef, and Salt](/en/topics/automation/understanding-ansible-vs-terraform-puppet-chef-and-salt) * [What is compliance management?](/en/topics/management/what-is-compliance-management) * [What is telco cloud?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-telco-cloud) * [What is cloud orchestration?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-orchestration) * [What is cloud governance?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-governance) * [What is public cloud?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-public-cloud) * [What is a configuration file?](/en/topics/linux/what-configuration-file) * [Cloud vs. edge](/en/topics/cloud-computing/cloud-vs-edge) * [Why build a Red Hat cloud?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/why-choose-red-hat-cloud) * [What is multicloud?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-multicloud) * [What is cloud architecture?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-cloud-architecture) * [Ansible vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible/ansible-vs-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform) * [What is cloud automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-cloud-automation) * [Types of cloud computing](/en/topics/cloud-computing/public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-and-hybrid-cloud) * [What is network automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-network-automation) * [What are managed IT services?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-managed-it-services) * [What is business process management?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-business-process-management) * [What is the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation controller?](/en/technologies/management/ansible/automation-controller-product-feature) * [What is business process automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-business-process-automation) * [What is cloud-based digital banking?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-cloud-based-digital-banking) * [Do banking APIs benefit from cloud technology?](/en/topics/api/banking-api) * [What is IT process automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-it-process-automation) * [What is deployment automation?](/en/topics/automation/what-is-deployment-automation) * [What is business optimization?](/en/topics/automation/business-optimization) * [What is payments infrastructure?](/en/topics/financial-services/what-is-payments-infrastructure) * [What is Kubernetes cluster management?](/en/topics/containers/what-is-kubernetes-cluster-management) * [What is SRE?](/en/topics/devops/what-is-sre) * [What is multitenancy?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-multitenancy) * [What is private cloud?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-private-cloud) * [What is risk management?](/en/topics/management/what-is-risk-management) * [What is IT infrastructure?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-it-infrastructure) * [What is cloud infrastructure?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-cloud-infrastructure) * [Hybrid cloud security](/en/topics/security/what-is-hybrid-cloud-security) * [What is robotic process automation (RPA?)](/en/topics/automation/what-is-robotic-process-automation) * [What is an SOE?](/en/topics/management/what-is-an-soe) * [What is network management?](/en/topics/management/what-is-network-management) * [What is IT system life-cycle management?](/en/topics/management/it-system-life-cycle-management) * [What is cloud storage?](/en/topics/data-storage/what-is-cloud-storage) * [What is cloud security](/en/topics/security/cloud-security) * [What's business automation?](/en/topics/automation/whats-business-automation) [More about this topic](/en/topics/automation "More about this topic")