The average enterprise now runs workloads across 2.6 cloud providers — and that number has been rising every year since 2020. Yet most cloud management tools were built with a single provider in mind. The result: separate consoles, separate billing views, separate security toolchains, and a patchwork of scripts trying to stitch it all together.
True multi-cloud visibility — where you can see every resource, its health, its compliance posture, and its cost contribution from a single dashboard — remains rare. This article explains what it requires, what it looks like in practice, and why OCI and VMware support are the most common gaps.
Why Multi-Cloud Visibility Is Hard
Different APIs, different resource models
AWS, Azure, OCI, and GCP all expose different API structures, authentication mechanisms, pagination styles, and resource hierarchies. What AWS calls an "account", Azure calls a "subscription", OCI calls a "tenancy/compartment", and GCP calls a "project". A genuine multi-cloud platform normalises these into a common model without losing provider-specific detail.
The OCI and VMware blind spot
Most cloud management platforms were built by teams that primarily used AWS. OCI support was an afterthought — if it exists at all. VMware vSphere (on-premises or VMware Cloud) is almost entirely absent from managed inventory tools, even though millions of enterprise VMs still run on vSphere.
| Platform | AWS | Azure | GCP | OCI | VMware |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CloudVista | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wiz | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Orca Security | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| CloudHealth | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Turbot | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
Normalisation without data loss
The challenge with any unified view is the tension between normalisation (making things comparable) and completeness (not losing provider-specific detail). A good platform provides both: a normalised summary for cross-cloud comparison, and a full metadata view per resource for deep-dive investigation.
What Genuine Multi-Cloud Visibility Looks Like
Unified inventory dashboard
A single resource list filtered by provider, account, region, resource type, and status. You should be able to answer "how many running compute instances do I have across all clouds?" with a single query — not by summing up five separate consoles.
Cross-cloud topology maps
Network and dependency relationships don't respect cloud boundaries. A microservice running in AWS EKS might call an API hosted on Azure AKS, which writes to an OCI Autonomous Database. A topology map that shows these cross-cloud relationships is essential for understanding real-world architecture.
Unified compliance posture
When you're preparing for an ISO 27001 audit, you need to see compliance posture across all your infrastructure — not just AWS. A unified compliance dashboard that applies equivalent controls across providers (even when the implementation differs) gives auditors and security teams a coherent picture.
Cross-provider cost comparison
When AWS charges $0.09/GB for egress and OCI charges $0.0085/GB, you need to see both side by side to make informed architecture decisions. Multi-cloud cost visibility isn't just about adding up bills — it's about surfacing optimisation opportunities that only become visible when you can compare.
Setting Up Multi-Cloud Visibility in CloudVista
- Add credentials for each provider — CloudVista uses read-only API access. For AWS: IAM role with SecurityAudit policy. Azure: Service Principal with Reader role. OCI: API key with read-only policies. VMware: vCenter read-only service account.
- Run initial sync — CloudVista polls all providers in parallel. A typical initial sync across 3 providers with 500 total resources completes in under 5 minutes.
- Review the unified dashboard — All resources appear in a single inventory view. Filter by provider to compare resource counts, or view everything together for a true cross-cloud picture.
- Enable topology view — Select any resource to explore its relationships. Cross-cloud connections are shown with provider-colour-coded edges.
- Set up scheduled syncs — Configure sync frequency per credential. Production credentials typically sync every 4 hours; dev/test every 24 hours.
Getting the most from topology: CloudVista's topology view is most valuable when you've connected all your providers. Resources that appear isolated on the AWS topology view often have relationships to OCI or Azure components that only become visible in the unified view.
Multi-Cloud Visibility for Different Personas
Platform / Cloud Ops teams
Complete resource inventory, change tracking, health monitoring, and operational dashboards across all providers. Single pane of glass replaces five separate console sessions.
Security teams
Unified compliance posture, cross-cloud security findings, exposure analysis, and evidence collection for audits — without needing to log into each provider separately.
FinOps teams
Cross-provider cost breakdown, egress tax visibility, idle resource identification, and budget alerting across all cloud spend in one view.
Engineering managers
Team-level cost attribution, resource ownership visibility, and anomaly alerting without needing deep cloud expertise themselves.
See All Your Clouds in One View
Connect CloudVista to every cloud account in under 10 minutes — OCI and VMware included. Free forever, no credit card required.
Start Free Today View Live Demo