The cloud has become as essential as the power that keeps the lights on or the network that keeps your team connected. It has become the lifeline of modern operations, enabling everything from data storage to complex analytics. But just like any vital business function, simply having the cloud in place isn't enough. To truly benefit, businesses must ensure they’re maximizing their return on investment (ROI). Without a strategic approach, cloud costs can spiral out of control, eating into profits and undermining the advantages the cloud is meant to provide.
That's why we've compiled these strategies to help you optimize your cloud costs and achieve the maximum ROI possible.
Classify your workloads
The first step in optimizing cloud costs is identifying and classifying your workloads. Different applications have different resource requirements, and it's important to understand which workloads are critical and need a higher level of resources, and which can function effectively with fewer resources. One way to classify workloads is to divide them into three main categories: mission-critical, noncritical, and experimental.
- Mission-critical workloads directly impact business operations and require high levels of performance and availability. They may include customer-facing applications such as customer relationship management software, along with email servers and enterprise resource planning systems.
- Noncritical workloads support the business but may not be as sensitive to performance or downtime as mission-critical ones. Examples include HR management systems or data analytics platforms.
- Experimental workloads are used for testing and development purposes and don't require high levels of resources. Sandboxes or software development environments fall into this category.
Monitor cloud usage
Regularly tracking your cloud consumption helps you understand how resources are being used, where waste is occurring, and where adjustments can be made. Modern cloud platforms provide real-time insights into your cloud usage, enabling you to identify trends and patterns that can help you minimize unnecessary expenses. For example, you may find that certain workloads are only being used during specific times or days of the week, allowing you to adjust resources accordingly and save on costs. These seemingly minor adjustments can accumulate into substantial savings over time.
Estimate resource needs
Many businesses tend to overprovision their cloud resources, which means they're paying for more than they need. It often stems from a lack of understanding of their workloads' true resource requirements. By accurately estimating resource needs, you avoid overprovisioning and save on unnecessary expenses. Tracking usage and trends over several months to a year can provide valuable insights into your resource needs, enabling more informed decision-making. Generally, it's better to start with a smaller allocation of resources and scale up as needed rather than overprovisioning from the start.
Determine whether you need on-demand or reserved instances
Cloud providers typically present two main options: on-demand and reserved instances. On-demand instances are billed by the hour, giving you the flexibility to scale resources based on your immediate needs. This makes them a great choice for workloads with unpredictable demand or fluctuating resource requirements.
On the other hand, reserved instances require an upfront commitment for a set period but come with substantial cost savings. They are particularly advantageous for workloads with consistent resource needs. Carefully assessing your requirements can help you determine which type of instance is more cost-effective for your business.
Continuously assess your cloud environment
Cloud environments are dynamic, with evolving needs and usage patterns. To ensure efficient resource utilization and avoid unnecessary expenses, you need to regularly assess your cloud environment. This involves monitoring usage, reviewing workloads, and evaluating new services or features offered by your cloud provider that may better suit your needs at a lower cost. Conducting these assessments every six months to a year can help you stay on top of any changes and continuously optimize your cloud costs.
Select the right partner to manage cloud costs
Partnering with the right cloud provider is critical to optimizing costs and achieving maximum ROI. A reliable cloud provider should offer a variety of services and plans aligned with your business needs, transparent pricing models, and robust cost management tools. They should also be able to offer expert guidance on optimizing costs for your specific workloads.
IntelligIS is a technology firm that helps businesses seamlessly migrate to the cloud, use the right amount of computing resources, and optimize their cloud costs for the best ROI possible. We also offer cloud backup, ongoing support, and guidance to ensure that your cloud environment operates at peak performance.
By partnering with IntelligIS, you can take the first step toward effectively optimizing your cloud costs and achieving maximum ROI. Call us today to learn more about our cloud services and how we can help your business thrive in the cloud.