Runecast Analyzer – 2019 year in review

2019 was the year of adding depth to Runecast, giving admins more of the tools and insights needed to keep their growing networks up and running – whether this was an enterprise-centric VMware network or a hybrid cloud with AWS. Depth is the best term to describe this – not complexity – as the Runecast team worked hard to keep the same simple and clear approach that our customers appreciate.

In a nutshell, we do our best to enable companies and admins to clearly 'see the future' in terms of potential issues and then proactively remediate them. This is done with our RAIKA tool (Runecast A.I. Knowledge Automation) by aggregating knowledge, analyzing it, and providing this as automated and proactive guidelines directly to IT administrators – in real time.

It’s getting more complicated out there

The flood of new technologies and features has opened a Pandora’s box of risks and unintended consequences for organizations. Uncovering and defusing these issues for admins kept our R&D team working to add additional depth to Runecast in 2019. Here is a summary of the major advances in Runecast Analyzer that we developed last year:

Keeping a better handle on the cloud

The accelerating transition to hybrid cloud is a major operational and security risk for enterprises. With admins unable to easily check their system configuration, there have been some massive data breaches. In addition, enterprises want to fix their issues now, and not send additional data outside. We tackled this growing need with our AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) insights, empowering admins to better manage their access and use of the major Amazon Web Services and resources such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).

Staying on top of the VMware Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)

Runecast reached full harmonization with upgrade simulations for VMWare’s HCL – the definitive resource for verifying whether ESXi servers and related hardware components will be compatible after an upgrade. This helped Runecast to earn our name, as it enables admins to simulate what has not yet occurred, so as to be fully prepared when it does.

Ich kann nicht Deutsch sprechen

Operating according to Germany’s BSI IT-Grundschutz baseline protection standards is critical for enterprises working anywhere in Germany or with German partners. But speaking German is not needed to get the latest standards from the German Federal Office for Information Security. Runecast has incorporated this information into the Analyzer, giving you continuous audits to comply with the latest standards.

Other notable additions

Additional features in Runecast include customizable PCI DSS checks, pre-scripted vRO auto-remediation workflows, and giving admins and expanded ability to view historical data from an object- or issue-centric points of view.

The word is getting out

It was easier than ever to find out about Runecast during 2019, thanks to a growing list of events, partners, and great publicity. We were present at 24 events during the year, ranging from VMworld in both the US and Europe to AWS re:Invent. This enabled us greater face-to-face contact with current and future Runecast users. We nearly doubled the size of our Runecast team to keep the innovation and the growth flowing and added an amazing 23 new partners to the Runecast Partner Network, helping us to expand our geographic footprint. 

Runecast co-founders Stan Markov (CEO) and Aylin Sali (CTO) were featured in an array of podcasts and interviews. Three of the most notable were Aylin speaking on Cloud Insiders (cloud podcast), a Stan interview at AWS re:Invent, and another of Stan speaking on the theme of technology and leadership (management leadership podcast). This growing stream of archived content helps get the word out about Runecast in a direct and time-effective medium.

Bringing in the grants and awards

The big award for 2019 was Runecast winning a Horizon 2020 grant to expand the use of our RAIKA tool. The €1.9 million grant will help us step into new areas (more news coming in 2020). Horizon 2020 is a European Union (EU) program that supports innovation. Winning the grant was a big win for Runecast: Not only did it give us an additional financial push, it also showed our credibility as an organization providing value for future-focused organizations.

Runecast was a finalist for five industry awards during this year. These included a 2019 Best of VMworld finalist award by TechTarget in the Virtualization and Cloud Infrastructure Platform category, as well as a finalist for Best Virtualisation Product for the Computing Technology Product Awards, Technology Innovator of the Year, Security Automation in the Security Excellence Awards, and Digital Transformation Company of the Year for the 2019 SDC Awards.

Too hot to stay still

IDG Connect named Runecast as one of “20 Red-Hot, Pre-IPO Companies to Watch in the 2019 B2B Tech” space. Runecast is red hot because it gives admins what they need – and that’s not going to cool off any time soon.

Enjoy the start of 2020 with Runecast in your infrastructure!

Your Runecast Team