Method for facilitating network external computing assistance

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

evaluating, by an automated discovery system comprising one or more probe computing devices, selected operational relationships between assets of a network to determine computing services to be provided by a cloud service provider to perform at least one network computing task in lieu of the network performing the at least one network computing task;

identifying, by the automated discovery system, a plurality of cloud service providers for performing the at least one network computing task in lieu of the at least one network computing task being performed by the network;

determining, by the automated discovery system, dependencies between respective assets of the network performing the at least one network computing task;

determining, by an intermediary system comprising one or more intermediary computing devices operating as an intermediary between the network and the plurality of cloud service providers, one or more computing resources of the plurality of cloud service providers required to perform the at least one network computing task;

generating, by the intermediary system, a hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers based at least partly on respective capabilities of the plurality of cloud service providers, wherein generating the hierarchical representation comprises:

generating a first display object for display in a first hierarchy level of the hierarchical representation, wherein the first display object includes content associated with a plurality of display media types; and

generating a second display object for display in a second hierarchy level of the hierarchical representation below the first level, wherein the second display object includes content associated with only a single display media type of the plurality of display media types;

causing, by the intermediary system, display of the hierarchical representation via a user interface; and

automatically migrating, by the intermediary system, the at least one network computing task from the network to a cloud service provider of the plurality of cloud service providers based at least partly on an interaction with the user interface, wherein automatic migration of the at least one network computing task from the network to the cloud service provider causes a subset of computing resources of the cloud service provider to execute the at least one network computing task in lieu of a subset of computing resources of the network executing the at least one network computing task.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers comprises determining a hierarchy level for individual cloud service provides of the plurality of cloud service providers based at least partly on the respective capabilities of the plurality of cloud service providers.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the first display object comprises generating graphical and textual content associated with a particular cloud service provider of the plurality of cloud service providers.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a preferred cloud service provider of the plurality cloud service providers based at least partly on the preferred cloud service provider being capable of resolving a metric issue.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers comprises arranging display objects, corresponding to individual cloud service providers of the plurality of cloud service providers, within the hierarchical representation based at least partly on whether the individual cloud service providers are identified as preferred cloud service providers.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising normalizing data, associated with individual cloud service providers of the plurality of cloud service providers, based at least partly on respective assets identified by the individual cloud service providers for performing the at least one network computing task.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining dependencies between respective assets of the network comprises determining that a computing operation performed by a given set of assets could not be performed if a particular asset were to be excluded from the given set of assets.

8. A system comprising:

an automated discovery subsystem comprising one or more probe computing devices, wherein the automated discovery subsystem is configured to:

evaluate selected operational relationships between assets of a network to determine computing services to be provided by a cloud service provider to perform at least one network computing task in lieu of the network performing the at least one network computing task;

identify a plurality of cloud service providers for performing the at least one network computing task in lieu of the at least one network computing task being performed by the network; and

determine dependencies between respective assets of the network performing the at least one network computing task; and

an intermediary subsystem comprising one or more intermediary computing devices operating as an intermediary between the network and the plurality of cloud service providers, wherein the intermediary subsystem is configured to:

determine one or more computing resources of the plurality of cloud service providers required to perform the at least one network computing task;

generate a hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers based at least partly on respective capabilities of the plurality of cloud service providers, wherein the hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers comprises:

a first display object for display in a first hierarchy level of the hierarchical representation, wherein the first display object includes content associated with a plurality of display media types; and

a second display object for display in a second hierarchy level of the hierarchical representation below the first level, wherein the second display object includes content associated with only a single display media type of the plurality of display media types;

cause display of the hierarchical representation via a user interface; and

automatically migrate the at least one network computing task from the network to a cloud service provider of the plurality of cloud service providers based at least partly on an interaction with the user interface, wherein automatic migration of the at least one network computing task from the network to the cloud service provider causes a subset of computing resources of the cloud service provider to execute the at least one network computing task in lieu of a subset of computing resources of the network executing the at least one network computing task.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein to generate the hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers, the intermediary subsystem is configured to determine a hierarchy level for individual cloud service provides of the plurality of cloud service providers based at least partly on the respective capabilities of the plurality of cloud service providers.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first display object comprises graphical and textual content associated with a particular cloud service provider of the plurality of cloud service providers.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the intermediary subsystem is further configured to identify a preferred cloud service provider of the plurality cloud service providers based at least partly on the preferred cloud service provider being capable of resolving a metric issue.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein to generate the hierarchical representation of information regarding the plurality of cloud service providers, the intermediary subsystem is configured to arrange display objects, corresponding to individual cloud service providers of the plurality of cloud service providers, within the hierarchical representation based at least partly on whether the individual cloud service providers are identified as preferred cloud service providers.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the intermediary subsystem is further configured to normalize data, associated with individual cloud service providers of the plurality of cloud service providers, based at least partly on respective assets identified by the individual cloud service providers for performing the at least one network computing task.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein to determine the dependencies between respective assets of the network, the automated discovery subsystem is configured to determine that a computing operation performed by a given set of assets could not be performed if a particular asset were to be excluded from the given set of assets.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the automated discovery subsystem is further configured to generate monitoring data based at least partly on monitoring, using a probe computing device of the one or more probe computing devices, communications between assets of a network.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein to evaluate the selected operational relationships, the automated discovery subsystem is configured to evaluate the selected operational relationships based on the monitoring data.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the automated discovery system, monitoring data based at least partly on monitoring, using a probe computing device of the one or more probe computing devices, communications between assets of the network.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 , wherein the evaluating the selected operational relationships is based at least partly on the monitoring data.