Aligning Your Cloud Adoption Costs with Your Expectations

A big selling point of the cloud for many companies is cost savings. Shifting capital expenses to operational expenses makes it easier to buy-in to cloud adoption, but it’s important to have a deep understanding of your costs so your total cost of ownership doesn’t exceed your expectations.

In a recent survey we conducted, we asked companies where they’re at in their cloud journey. Ten percent of respondents are 100 percent in the cloud, 61 percent use a hybrid cloud infrastructure, 21 percent are currently in the evaluation and planning stage, and 8 percent haven’t started on cloud adoption at all. Each stage of this journey has important costs to consider so that you can better plan for your future moves.

We found that 27 percent of organizations had cloud costs that were higher than they planned. You have several ways that you can better predict your cloud expenses to avoid surprises.

Understanding the Shift from CAPEX to OPEX

You’re fundamentally changing the way that you handle the bulk of your technology expenses with cloud-based solutions. The models you use to predict the total cost of ownership for on-premise systems don’t work with usage and subscription-heavy payments. Adjust your accounting to better predict the real-world costs of your cloud technology. It may take several quarters to pin down these numbers, but you’ll be able to build on the data as it comes in.

Consider Your Cloud Implementation and Optimization Costs

Look beyond the base cost of the cloud solution. How much will it cost to fully implement in your organization? You may need to change workflows, increase your network bandwidth, or expand your endpoint security to support mobile devices.

If you use an Infrastructure as a Service solution, you need to optimize it based on your requirements. Depending on the complexity of your project, you could end up paying significant amounts to get the best performance out of your cloud investment.

Keep a Close Eye on Your Cloud Consumption

Monitor your real-world usage and adjust your cost predictions based on this data. Sometimes it’s hard to pin down exactly how many resources you need, especially when you’re working with a usage-based payment model. Many cloud providers have calculators that allow you to get a general idea of your numbers, so you can better align them with your expected costs. Third-party tools are also available for cloud monitoring.

Develop a Scaling Plan

Unlike on-premise infrastructure, it’s simple to scale cloud workloads up and down as needed. Create a strategy that maximizes your flexibility, so you don’t overpay for capacity you’re not using. Don’t be afraid to adjust this plan as you gain more experience with your selected cloud platforms. Many systems offer automated scaling features to make this process even easier.

Use Reserved Instances for Predictable Workloads

If you have workloads that have static requirements or change very slowly, many cloud providers allow you to set up reserved instances. You pay for these instances on a long-term basis, such as a year upfront, and get a substantially decreased cost.

Work with an Experienced Cloud Migration Partner

One way to get better insights into the cost of your cloud migration is to work with an experienced partner. At Datavail, we’ve guided hundreds of organizations through cloud migrations and modernization. Our experience leads to cost savings throughout the entire process, allowing you to deploy cloud-based solutions faster, optimize your cloud infrastructure, and plan around well-informed expense predictions.

We’re an AWS Advanced Consulting Tier Partner, an Oracle Platinum Partner, a MongoDB Premier Partner, and a Microsoft Gold Partner with 15 years of experience and over 800 data architects and DBAs. No matter what type of cloud technology you’re migrating to, we’re able to help. Learn more about cloud adoption trends in our white paper. Contact us to get started on your cloud journey.