https://www.xperience-group.com/news-item/cloud-cost-optimisation-best-practices/
With Cloud computing being a staple in today’s world, it is important for all businesses to optimise their investments in the Cloud. This ensures the most appropriate and cost-efficient Cloud resources are allocated to each area of an organisation. Each organisation’s Cloud requirement is unique. However, all organisations share a common goal. They want to limit costs and maximise efficiency. Cloud cost optimisation is the practice of strategically reducing your overall Cloud spending. The latest news from the Cloud market suggests that organisations can save as much as 20-25% on their Cloud spend within a few months of implementing a Cloud Strategy.
By setting out goals and budgets for each project in your organisation you can control costs. A monthly budget works well to keep on top of spending . This should help to protect against any unexpected costs. This will provide better visibility into your financial forecast.
Cloud costs can easily be optimised by identifying any unused or unattached resources. For example, you may have purchased a temporary server for a task and forgot to discontinue it. This leads to you being billed for resources you are not using. These savings can go a long way, giving you more money to put to better use for your business.
Cloud vendors will provide clients with billing details, breaking down what they are being charged for when it comes to their Cloud Service. You can use these billing details to identify what areas of your package are costing you more and analyse the return of investment (ROI). Understanding the cost of the Cloud allows you to make better informed spending decisions, leading to better ROI for your business.
Shadow IT practices are projects managed outside, and usually without the knowledge of, your IT department. They add significantly to your costs, a typical example of this is when an employee signs up to something personal using the Clouds resources, such as an online subscription using work details. This leads to increased costs for your business, as well as increasing risks to security. To stop this, carry out regular audits and educate your team about shadow IT practices and the dangers it brings.
Migrating data from on-prem to a public Cloud can be expensive. Cloud providers often charge fees to shift data between platforms and to different regions. This cost can be prevented by monitoring what data you have in what locations and avoid any data transfer that is not necessary.
Some Cloud providers offer Machine Learning features which can include a cost anomaly detection feature. This tool can monitor usage and costs with Machine Learning to identify spending anomalies. This allows you to keep on top of your spending without any nasty surprises further down the line. Once an anomaly has been identified by the system, you can investigate the cause of this and address the issue, so it does not come up again.
Real time analytics allows your organisation to identify cost saving opportunities early on. Analysing your spending allows you to see if there are any unusual patterns and whether you are spending too much on some areas. Having information available on demand allows your organisation to make well informed decisions that have a positive effect on your organisation.
Pre planning and creating a sound strategy can help save you money when it comes to the Cloud. A lot of these tips are around looking at your set up right now and looking into where money can be saved. For example, the unutilised resources and shadow IT practices could be costing an organisation money right under their nose. With a strategy in place to follow, these two factors will be less of an issue. Following these tips will help your business stay as profitable as possible.
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