Cloud computing has become vital for modern businesses, with many opting for various service models such as Software-as-a-Service, Infrastructure-as-a-Service, and Platform-as-a-Service. However, a lack of proper planning and oversight can easily lead to overspending on unnecessary cloud resources.
The best way to avoid this is to optimize your cloud computing solutions based on your organization’s unique needs. Here are some tips to help you do so.
Take the time to shop around
Before settling on a cloud service, do your research on various pricing models and subscriptions different cloud service providers (CSPs) offer. Some may offer committed use discounts, which provide significant savings in exchange for your committed use of a resource or service over a specified period of time.
Others may also provide Function-as-a-Service, a type of serverless computing that allows developers to run, build, and maintain their apps without the need to manage the application infrastructure. Through this pricing model, you’ll only be charged per event on your app. This means that if your traffic or user activity on the app wanes, your cloud spend should decrease accordingly.
Only spend on what you need
A simple way to optimize cloud spend is to ensure you’re investing in resources you’re actually using. This is also known as rightsizing — the process of adjusting your cloud services to the appropriate or optimum size that best suits your company’s needs. Such a practice could also reduce cloud sprawl, in which your cloud-based instances far outweigh that of your business requirements.
As with any IT investment, setting clear budgets could also be an effective way of controlling costs. Take the time to discuss with executives, team leaders, and product managers the cost requirements of your tech department and the adequate resources needed for a successful cloud computing strategy. You should also invest in proper billing tools to gain a structured overview of your cloud spend, cost estimates, and potential cost-saving areas.
Automate your cloud processes
Automating your routine cloud processes, such as security updates, configurations, and data backups, allows for optimum resource performance, ensuring you’re always getting the most out of your cloud investment. For example, you may choose to automate your cloud provisioning based on your company’s fluctuating demands, providing just the right amount of cloud resources needed to run company tasks while minimizing cost overruns.
Additionally, relying on automated cloud maintenance relieves your in-house IT teams of this burden, allowing them to focus on higher-level business tasks and initiatives. You could also consider partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) to offload routine IT tasks to a team of experts.
Eliminate unutilized or idle resources
Finally, identify and eliminate any idle or underutilized cloud resources. It is common for developers to provision temporary cloud resources for certain tasks and forget to deprovision them once the job is done. Similarly, administrators may forget to delete storage for terminated cloud instances. This could result in inflated bills from your CSP charging unnecessary costs for resources you no longer use.
You can avoid this by regularly cleaning up your cloud services and consolidating or cutting down resources where possible. Some CSPs even provide features, such as load balancing and automatic scaling options to ensure an appropriate capacity at all times.
With thoughtful investment and regular maintenance, your business can enjoy the vast benefits of cloud computing while keeping spend wastage at a minimum. Reach out to our experts at outsourceIT today to discover the best cloud solutions for your needs and ways of managing, scaling, and configuring them to help maximize your expenses.
