Reducing the cost of running a cloud infrastructure is very important for any organization, whether small or large. Not only does it help to balance the organization’s financial situation, but it also helps an organization work better and effectively.
To reduce your cloud cost, certain Dos and Don’ts need to be followed strictly by an organization for effective cost optimization. If not followed, an organization’s cloud cost optimization will be ineffective and might increase costs.
In this article, you will learn how an organization can reduce the cost of operating in the cloud and what they should avoid for effective cloud cost optimization.
What is Cloud Cost Optimization?
Cloud cost optimization can be defined as cutting down the amount spent on running an organization with a cloud infrastructure.
Cloud cost optimization ensures that an organization operating on the cloud performs well while keeping costs low.
For cloud cost optimization to be effective in an organization, there need to be certain practices and policies that should exist. Without these practices and policies, an organization might end up paying for things they don’t need to operate in the cloud.
What to do During Cloud Cost Optimization
● Review Spending and Billing Information
The mistake of companies who use cloud services is that they overlook going through their spending and billing information. A review of billing information shows the services a company is spending its money on and the amount spent within a certain time.
Looking at the company’s spending information will help them detect where they make more expenses and how they can optimize them. Reviewing their billing information will also help them find loopholes in reducing costs.
For instance, reviewing billing information can let a company know that subscribing to a cloud service for a full year brings in more bonuses than a monthly subscription. This way, they can easily switch to a yearly subscription to avoid the extra monthly costs.
● A Detailed Budget
A budget is a very important tool if an organization or individual wants to reduce the amount spent on purchasing cloud services. But when a budget is mentioned, it is not just any kind of budget; it should be detailed and expertly prepared.
In creating a budget, the head of an organization needs to meet with the technical department of the organization for more detailed information on the budget. With this information, the organization’s needs and financial capacity can be compared to reach an optimal agreement.
While creating a budget, an organization should also test and compare the services they will include. For instance, before choosing a cloud service provider, they can use the free trial option and check if it is worth the price. This gives an organization an excellent idea of what to add and leave out while creating a budget.
● Use a Smart Purchasing Strategy
Many organizations lack a smart purchasing strategy; they look for any cloud service provider and purchase without a detailed strategy. But having one can save an organization a lot of money; it can make them reduce the cost of purchasing a cloud service by as much as 70%.
But building a smart purchasing strategy can be very hard to do as it comes with many factors that must be considered. The major reason even the most prominent organizations lack insights on building a smart purchasing strategy is the lack of visibility on their entire usage log. Globaldot automates finding a smart purchasing strategy as it easily alerts organizations whenever it finds a loophole to get bonuses and discounts.
● Optimal Use of Services
One of the things that increases the amount a company will spend on cloud services is paying for things that the company does not need. Many companies, in the bid to move to a cloud infrastructure, use services unnecessary for the company. In other words, some cloud services companies use makes their cloud infrastructure overcrowded.
For instance, assuming a company needs only one cloud service provider to handle its data storage and uses three, it leads to overcrowding and, subsequently, expenses. To reduce costs, the company should right-size its cloud services to fit what they need instead of binge-spending.
● Monitor and Immediately Correct Cost Anomalies
For many organizations, one of the things that contributed to the high cost of using cloud services is the lack of monitoring for cost anomalies. It is one thing for the cost of a cloud service to increase, and it is another for an organization using such a service to take note of the increase.
Tracking unexpected cost increases — a task that Globaldot automates, will help an organization detect when the cost of their cloud tools suddenly increases. This will aid an organization in avoiding paying fees they aren’t supposed to pay and rectifying the increase’s cause.
What Not to Do During Cloud Cost optimization
Below are some of the things an organization should never do when trying to reduce the cost of running a cloud infrastructure.
● Don’t React Passively
To effectively and efficiently reduce the cost of running an organization with a cloud infrastructure, there should be no passive reaction. The organization should be ahead of the curve and proactively make decisions that will help reduce cloud costs. Automation is the major factor that aids proactive reaction to cloud costs – A situation that Globaldot can effectively handle.
● Don’t Use the Wrong Storage Option
When organizations move their workloads to the cloud, they sometimes use the wrong storage option to store their workloads and data. This doesn’t seem right and can lead to additional costs for the organization if not rectified quickly.
No matter the cloud service provider, an organization should evaluate its workload and find a storage option that suits them.
Wrapping Up
Cloud cost optimization is a very hard thing to do, so organizations need to set certain rules and practices which must be implemented to reduce cloud costs.
Some of the things which an organization must do to reduce cloud costs are reviewing their billing information, setting up a detailed budget, optimal use of services, and many others.
In the same way, there are other things an organization must avoid if they are trying to reduce the cost of having their workloads in the cloud. They must not use the wrong storage option and should avoid reacting passively to cutting down cloud costs.