May 4, 2022
Cloud spend management is an important consideration for businesses looking to optimize their cloud infrastructure and maximize cost savings. No matter your business size, tracking and optimizing cloud-based spending is the best way to get the most value out of your cloud resources. These approaches can help businesses maintain control over cloud costs and make the most of their cloud investment. Whether you are looking to improve your cloud efficiency or simply better understand where your money is going in the cloud, these tips can help you achieve your goals. So, if you're ready to start tracking your cloud spend more effectively, consider implementing these strategies today.
Storage costs can add up quickly, so it is important to carefully consider the amount of data you are storage. Gigabytes of data stored in a standard cloud server will be more expensive than similar amounts storage on a cloud object store or other lower-cost options. To minimize your costs and ensure that you are making efficient use of your storage resources, its important to have clear evaluation criteria for determining what data should eb stored and what can be safely deleted or archived. This may include factors such as age, importance, or legal requirements.
Pay attention to Storage Tiers. There are usually different tiers available with each offering different levels of capacity, cost, and performance. For example, you might have a lower-cost option for storing nonessential data, such as backups and archives, while reserving higher-cost options for your most critical business systems. Choosing the right storage tiers can help you get the most out of your cloud service.
Is your cloud solution worth it? Tying your cloud spending directly to your revenue metrics, allows you to better assess whether a particular service is worth the cost. This requires IT teams and other departments within the company to be trained on how to link each type of cloud usage to specific revenue streams. Organizations can also look at their sales data to identify areas where demand for certain products or services may be increasing. Armed with this information, they can then determine if it makes sense financially to invest in additional capacity to meet increased demand. all Use an automated cost optimization solution. Consider using a tool that continuously analyzes and reports on your usage and provides recommendations on where you can save. Storage is just one of the areas where this can be helpful.
Look into the possibility of a cost savings plan. provided by cloud providers and allow customers to commit to a certain level of usage (measured in Dollars per month) at a set discount. For example, AWS offers its 'Reserved Instances' pricing model which can provide significant savings (up to 75% off on-demand rates) for customers who commit to using a certain amount of compute power over a one or three-year period. There are many benefits to cost savings plans, including the ability to lock in access to cloud resources at an affordable rate and avoid paying high on-demand fees. To maximize these benefits, it is important to carefully evaluate your cloud usage and determine how much cloud capacity you will need to get the most value out of your cost savings plan. Additionally, it is important to understand any limitations or restrictions that may be present with your specific plan to avoid incurring additional costs down the line.
Many cloud providers have different pricing models based on where the resources are located, making it possible to lower your costs by strategically choosing which regions to deploy your applications in. For example, if you know that a particular application performs better in a region with lower network latency or higher compute capacity than other regions, then you can optimize cloud spend by deploying that application in the optimal location. If you know that users in a particular region are accessing data stored in a US East region more frequently in than users in other regions, you can replicate that data to other regions to improve performance and decrease network traffic costs.
Optimization strategies can also help reduce cloud spend. optimization technique is 'right-sizing', which involves matching the size and type of cloud resources (e.g., VMs, storage) to the actual workload requirements. Another strategy is 'resource utilization monitoring', which helps identify underutilized resources that can be downsized or even turned off altogether to save money. In addition, many cloud providers offer 'auto-scaling' features that can help businesses dynamically scale their cloud usage up or down based on changing needs. Setting monthly budgets, regularly reviewing cloud usage data, and using monitoring tools to stay on top of cloud performance.
Monitoring tools can be a powerful way to track cloud usage and identify opportunities. These tools typically provide real-time insights into cloud resource utilization across multiple levels, from individual EC2 instances, all the way up to entire accounts. This enables businesses to easily identify patterns and trends in your cloud usage. Additionally, many cloud spend management tools also offer recommendations on how to eliminate wasted resources to reduce overspending. Some popular cloud monitoring tools include CloudWatch (AWS), Stackdriver (Google Cloud), and Azure Monitor (Azure). With the right management tool, you can easily track your spending and always stay on top of your cloud costs. Approyo offers Overwatch - our own 24/7 business intelligence and advanced analytics monitoring tool with these functionalities.
The right Managed Services Provider can help you by providing better management of your cloud environment. Maybe you don’t have enough staff or are lacking the right skills to deal with the demand of your changing IT infrastructure. With a managed service provider, you’ll have an entire external team to manage all aspects of your cloud environment – from provisioning and scaling to monitoring and optimization. This takes the burden off your IT team, freeing them up to focus on strategic projects and other important tasks.
Ultimately, by understanding and utilizing the different options available for cloud spend management, organizations can save time and money. The benefits of cloud spend management leads to increased visibility into total spending, more efficient usage of resources, and lower costs. By using the right tools and processes, you can effectively tack and control your spending on different cloud services. If you’re ready to learn more about how to save with cloud spend management, Approyo can help you achieve your goals. Contact our team today to set up a free consultation.
