Cloud cost optimisation: Going into 2024, it’s more important than ever

In 2023, we’ve seen more businesses than ever continue their journey to the cloud. And whilst there are undoubted business benefits to this, cost considerations must be high on the agenda – it can be too easy for costs to spiral out of control and spell financial jeopardy. In fact according to recent data, on average about 32% of cloud space is wasted by organisations.* That’s as much as one-third of your spend on the cloud not bringing any business value.

So, how do you trim the fat? Let’s look at cloud cost optimisation and what it means.

Public cloud is the chosen direction of travel

There are many reasons why businesses are taking advantage of public cloud services, whether Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform. And chief amongst them is cost.

By going public, you’re not wasting expenditure on building private cloud networks where you don’t necessarily need them. Plus, you get an immediate productivity boost as you’ll be set up in days – compare that to the six to 10 weeks associated with provisioning private cloud networks.

Let’s not forget the ESG benefits that come with the optimal resource allocation promised with public cloud. Opting for a pay-as-you-go model can not only save costs but it also prevents the wastage of energy and resources, which can align with your ESG goals.

But in theory, the pay-as-you-go model cuts costs. If the meter is running and you don’t have the right checks and balances in play, it can easily run away with itself. One of the biggest trends we’ve seen in play this year has been increased cloud cost management across businesses, as they look to put processes in place to keep cloud costs down.

That’s the start. With cloud cost optimisation, it’s a case of taking it a step further and optimising your cloud usage to get the most out of it in line with your business objectives and KPIs.

Public cloud isn’t the only way to go – smart businesses are reaping the benefits of hybrid cloud models

Not everything belongs in a public cloud. Many forward-thinking businesses are choosing a hybrid mixture of cloud services. A hybrid cloud strategy brings the benefits of both public and private clouds and enables businesses to take advantage of existing architecture in a data centre.

For example, you may choose a public cloud for your dynamic workloads, while leaving less volatile or more sensitive workloads to a private cloud or on-premises data centre. Or you may store sensitive financial or customer data on your private cloud and run the rest of your enterprise applications on the public cloud.

Modern application development is where we’re seeing the real benefits of the hybrid cloud model. But even these forward-thinking businesses simply must have an eye on costs. And simple cost management isn’t enough. Cost optimisation is where the real value lies.

Implementing effective cloud cost optimisation across your business

Effective cloud cost optimisation combines strategies, techniques, best practices and tools to help reduce costs, find the most cost-effective way to run your applications in the cloud environment and maximise business value.

If you’re using multiple public clouds or a hybrid approach, how do you know your data is consistent and you have the right information to make informed decisions? Tools like IBM Turbonomic should be a key part of your arsenal. Turbonomic automates critical actions in real time without human oversight. This helps you to most efficiently use compute, storage and network resources. Crucially, it can work across multiple clouds and create reports showing accurate multi-cloud data.

With accurate data, you can make informed decisions. Yet, the next question is who within your business is making these decisions and analysing the data? Consider implementing a FinOps approach across your organisation. This brings together people from across IT, finance and engineering to ensure you have financial accountability for your cloud approach.

The key thing to consider is that it isn’t just about cutting costs, it’s about optimising your approach to secure business value.

Paying more for a particular cloud approach is fine if it means increased revenue, productivity or profitability. It’s about knowing the budget you’re working within, how you can control costs and making those small tweaks to save money but without compromising business performance. With effective cloud cost optimisation, you chip away from the average 32% of waste and start building your competitive advantage.

Your journey to the Cloud with DeeperThanBlue

At DeeperThanBlue, we work with you to understand the unique nature of your business and help implement a cloud strategy to get you to where you want to be – whether public, private or hybrid. We keep things flexible, helping you to take advantage of the cloud solutions and strategies that will continue to boost your business performance. With expertise in tools like IBM Turbonomic and the knowledge to help you develop a FinOps approach, we ensure cloud cost optimisation is a key facet of your strategy now and in the future.

Get in touch to discover how we can help transform your business today.

* https://info.flexera.com/CM-REPORT-State-of-the-Cloud

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