Migrating to the cloud is an attractive solution to many, owing to its capabilities to address the pain points many companies face with on-premises computing. However, there are always pains associated with new technology, and the cloud is no different, especially related to cost. No, denying that migrating to the cloud is expensive, yet it’s again one of the best value investments that can result in big savings. There is an enormous opportunity (approximately $3 trillion) to capture the cloud for businesses. Yet only fewer than 10% have successfully been able to do it. Companies that have seen success know something that their peers don’t know, and that is: where the value is and how to grab it.
So, What Should be the Cost of Cloud Services?
With multiple benefits like reduced IT costs and improved automation, efficiency, and flexibility, migrating to the cloud seems a wise choice to many. However, migrating to the cloud comes with its own financial risks that make businesses wonder how much they should invest and whether the migration is worth the effort. And a major portion of the concern of the companies is fixed-cost and variable-cost operating models.
If you consider on-premises computing, it gives a sense of security to have a stable financial investment. You know how much money you will be spending monthly with certainty. Moving to the cloud removes this certainty, as in this case, you pay for what you use. Cloud needs vary and hence the cost.
Although cloud solutions help save cost in the long run, predicting and comparing the variable cost of cloud computing and the fixed price of on-premises computing creates uncertainty in the actual cost savings. Plus, there are also operating costs associated with the cloud.
The key here is to manage the migration and post-migration processes carefully. Careful planning and the appropriate management tools allow you to keep cloud services under budget.
How to Make Cloud Value for Money Investment?
There are various methods that you can use to enable cost savings during and post-cloud migration.
Visualize Current and Future Needs: While migrating to the cloud, consider the current and future needs of the cloud architecture. Understand your current cloud processes and ideal post-migration needs to identify loopholes in your infrastructure and streamline your migration while keeping the issues in consideration. Having clear cloud solutions and strategy reduces the delays and need for providing while migrating.
Keep Cloud Architecture Sketch Updated: Cloud architecture can help you understand how each cloud component works together. Cloud architecture sketches are a great way to spread your cloud components and identify underutilized or wasted money. Also, in case of any changes in your network, updated sketches ensure you decide based on what your network looks like now and keep the cost under budget.
Designate Cloud Processes and Roles: One of the best ways to keep the cost under control is to map out your cloud processes and roles. Designate the teams the roles in your process, such as security groups, network monitors, etc. Doing so will help you understand how these roles work together for maintaining and protecting your cloud network. Also, it helps you easily spot the high usage and identify the opportunity to improve.
Enlist Only Services You Need: Rightsizing is the key to successful cloud management. It will help you identify whether the resources have been configured accurately. If not, you can reconfigure them to the optimum level. In short, get services that you actually want and use. After that, monitor your usage to ensure the resources are aptly allocated. Resizing focuses on reducing cloud wastage, thus savings.
Schedule Automatic Switch off for the Resources: If you want to save on cloud servers, you must plan to automate your components. With automated scheduling, you can switch off resources when not in use. For example, you can turn off lights and switch off used resources during off hours. Doing so can help you save up to 65% on cloud costs.
Conclusion:
Cloud services can be a cost-saving option, provided you plan everything in advance. With careful planning and management and using smart resources such as animation and virtualization, you can optimize cloud usage while keeping the cloud cost under budget during migration and post that.
