Google LLC launched a major new service today aimed at helping customers using multiple cloud computing providers get a better handle on their network operations.

Multicloud is the name of the strategy in which enterprises use the services of multiple public cloud platforms to host their information technology operations. But though it has clear advantages, it also leads to some major headaches for networking teams.

Networks that span heterogeneous IT environments are just too complex to keep track of easily. That leads to a “lack of visibility, long troubleshooting times to resolve connectivity and performance issues,” Shailesh Shukla, vice president of product management at GCP Networking, explained in a blog post announcing the service.

Shukla said that what organizations need is “intelligent and continuous network operations” capable of predicting and healing network failures, driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning. The basic idea is that organizations should adopt a more proactive approach to network monitoring, identifying and troubleshooting problems before they show up, as opposed to a reactive approach that involves fixing issues after they occur.

The new Network Intelligence Center is supposed to deliver that, providing a “comprehensive network monitoring, verification and optimization platform” that spans both cloud and on-premises data centers, Shukla said.

The service is still a work in progress, with Google offering four modules at launch to help fulfill its vision of delivering intelligent network operations.

The modules include Network Topology, available in beta, which delivers an “organization-wide” view of each customer’s entire network topology, along with associated performance metrics.

“Visibility is especially important in cloud to gain trust and confidence since customers do not own the infrastructure,” Shukla said. “Network Topology lets you visualize and navigate your network with structure and insights, simplifying network monitoring and troubleshooting, and helping you fulfill your compliance requirements.”

Also available in beta is Connectivity Test, which is a module that can be used by customers to diagnose connectivity issues and measure the impact of any network configuration changes. Google said that’s important because as much as 75% of all network outages stem from misconfigurations.

“Network Intelligence Center helps to quickly diagnose connectivity issues and prevent outages by allowing teams to perform on-demand tests with the Connectivity Test module,” Shukla said. “Connectivity Test enables you to self-diagnose connectivity issues within GCP or GCP to an external IP address which could be on-prem or another cloud, helping to isolate whether the issue is in GCP or not.”

The other two modules, currently available in alpha test mode, include Performance Dashboard and Firewall Metrics & Insights. Performance Dashboard is all about enabling real-time network visibility into packet loss and latency for individual applications, to help customers determine if it’s the app or the network that’s making problems. Firewall Metrics & Insights, meanwhile, helps companies to optimize their firewall rules to improve network security.

Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller said it was encouraging to see Google focus on the networking side since it remains the “Achilles heel” of the cloud.

“It’s only appropriate that the infrastructure-as-a-service player with the most sophisticated network is leading the innovation drive around networking with a new cross-cloud network offering,” Mueller said. “Giving customers visibility into their network operations is a key requirement for multicloud. It remains open who will lead the instrumentation battle that is upon us. But Google Cloud is certainly in the lead for now.”

Google said the Network Intelligence Center is available from today via the Google Cloud Console

Photo: eberhard grossgasteiger/Unsplash