Cloud computing is a lot like planning a trip to Disney World.
Umm… how exactly?
Well, the moment you think you have everything decided, you then find out there are hundreds of other additional options to choose from!
While we enjoy having a few different choices, having too many is a deterrent. It makes us not want to do what we set out to do in the first place – which was to find an efficient, worry-free, cost-effective way of migrating to the cloud (or meeting Mickey Mouse in person).
There are lots of components to consider before and after you migrate – and a stack of hidden options and extras that you can choose to enable or disable depending on your business needs.
But they’re not always obvious.
The Hidden Costs
Part of the problem when using a public cloud is that companies are billed continuously as consumption occurs. And then at the end of each month… BAM! They get hit by costs they often can’t explain. As a result, financial management is overlooked until spending is out of control.
The other issue facing cloud newbies is that usage can be difficult to calculate on a monthly basis. The only way to overcome this is to closely monitor it – but this is difficult when users have completely different requirements and application requests, and that instances may vary from office to office.
That’s why having a team that’s able to keep track of how your cloud server changes and adapts as your business grows is essential. Every server change can impact your bottom line.
Costing up your cloud management isn’t just an operational concern. To be successful, it requires a tight collaboration – transparency between different disciplines and internal departments across a business.
Take, for example, a finance department running several apps: 9-5, Monday to Friday. Why keep these running 24/7? Using a cloud service you can automate apps to only run at certain times in order to save on costs.
Keep Costs Down
Managing costs is challenging for any business using public cloud services, but there are so many opportunities to make long term savings if you put the right processes in place. And it’s never too late!
Here at Universal, we have our own data centres and the resources needed to get the right performance from all our servers. Cloud computing is what we do! We’ve been helping our customers monitor their cloud servers since the dawn of the technology itself – we’re always searching for efficiencies and improvements.
We use the Gartner framework when managing and optimising costs for cloud computing which are broken down in five distinct areas.
- Plan
- Track
- Reduce
- Optimise
- Evolve
Ultimately, our goal is to build a robust cloud server solution – one where we track and monitor usage for all our clients to shut off any unnecessary applications and scheduled services, and optimise data storage where possible.
It’s a constant flow of planning, tracking, cost-saving, reviewing, and then evolving where possible. In fact, it’s probably easier to manage than a trip to Disney World – particularly if you simply outsource the complexity to a company like ours!
Want to hear more about how we can help you manage your cloud computing costs – with no nasty surprises? Contact us today.
