Moving applications and services to the cloud makes good business sense for a bunch of reasons. But if you’re like most organizations, your understanding of cloud expenses and utilization is, well, cloudy. The reality is there are a number of aspects of cloud computing that are challenging to manage with the tools that cloud providers give you.
One tool you could use for trying to understand your cloud spend is the monthly invoice. Often, however, the bill you get will have just one rolled-up number in a single line item. It sounds clean and easy, but it doesn’t tell you what you are actually paying for. Or you could log into your cloud portal for details. But what you usually get is lots (and lots and lots) of raw usage data. Making sense of it all is nearly impossible and would turn into a full-time job you don’t have time to do.
Is it really that important? The short answer: Yes. Here are three examples of hard-to-see cloud-busters that could be costing you money.
Cloud-buster #1: Under-utilizing Instances
Let’s say you’re running 15 instances. That might feel about right, but what if you knew that, in reality, all those instances were consistently running at 25% capacity? You could combine them down to eight to save money without hitting capacity limits.
Cloud-buster #2: Over-utilizing Applications
Or maybe you have an application that runs 24x7x365. But if only one team in one location uses that application, does it really need to run all the time? Could you turn it off at night and use that cloud power for another process? This could help you streamline your cloud deployments and associated costs so you’re truly using only what you really need.
Cloud-buster #3: Under-committing Mission-critical Resources
On the other hand, maybe you have an application or two that is mission-critical for your organization. If you put them on a dedicated server or reserved instance and you commit to those services—because you know you’re going to need them—you could get a discount for making that commitment. And who doesn’t love a discount for something you’re going to use anyway?
Clear Up These Challenges With Cloud Optimization
BCM One offers a managed cloud offering designed to help you understand your cloud utilization and expenses, so you can get the most value from your cloud deployment. With our Cloud Optimization service, there’s no place for cloud-busters to hide, so you only have to pay for what you truly need.
Contact us to learn more.
BCM One, a managed solutions provider, offers managed IT operations and is headquartered in Manhattan, New York.