Cloudability buys assets of onetime competitor CloudVertical from Copper.io

Cloudability, a provider of software for analyzing companies’ spending on cloud infrastructure, is announcing today that it’s bought customers and assets from CloudVertical, a similar service that Copper.io acquired in 2013.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Take the deal as an indication that the market for cloud cost management will narrow, following the gradual consolidation of cloud infrastructure providers.

This is the “first of several deals I think you can expect to see in this space this year,” Cloudability founder and chief executive Mat Ellis told VentureBeat in an interview.

Copper.io will operate CloudVertical’s standalone service until April 10. Cloudability will offer discounts to CloudVertical customers to encourage them to migrate.

In 2012 and 2013, CloudVertical was one of Cloudability’s most prominent competitors. But the market has changed since then. Copper.io ended up buying CloudVertical. Cloudyn has become a more popular choice, while another player, Newvem, in 2013 got acquired by Datapipe.

Meanwhile, Cloudability has maintained a strong position; Ellis believes the startup manages around 15 percent of all Amazon cloud spending. Altogether, nearly 20 companies still sell cloud cost management services, but Ellis thinks that number will be shrinking soon.

No one from Copper.io is joining Cloudability as part of the deal, Ellis said.

Cloudability started in 2011 and is based in Portland, Oregon.