Article Discover the way out of rising (multi-)cloud costs
By Insight UK / 14 Jan 2022 / Topics: Cloud
By Insight UK / 14 Jan 2022 / Topics: Cloud
The cloud is changing business like never before. The sky is the limit, in terms of what you can achieve. New tools and services are easy to set up at little cost, but what if costs start rising over time?
In the first decade of the cloud, the main driver for companies to move to the cloud was cost and associated savings, driven by the consumption-based pricing model of the cloud. CapEx (buying upfront within clearly defined budgets) changed to OpEx. This brought an entirely new way of looking at costs with the opportunity to consume IT services and infrastructure on an as-you-go basis, instead of owning and managing them on premises.
Then, the driver for the cloud gradually changed from cost savings to the need for new technologies and high-tech services such as AI, machine learning, edge, and robotics, packaged in ready-to-eat bites, at low monthly costs. What has happened since is that people have gone along with the default. They deploy an as-you-go service, choose a fixed VM size and let it go. Sometimes for years. And then costs start to rise, often without noticing it.
Why can costs rise, sometimes to astronomical levels, without being noticed? There are various reasons. One is the lack of overview. Each service in itself only requires a small monthly fee, but with more and more services running, the costs add up. Another reason is limited insight into capacity and resource usage. VMs are easily deployed, often at maximum capacity, even beyond working hours, resulting in escalating costs, absence of control, let alone optimization.
However, there is a way out. The trick in controlling and optimizing cloud costs is to look at what you consume and how you consume it, in line with your budget, but also giving the business what it needs. It is all about monitoring. Monitoring gives you a really deep insight in what you are doing and how you are consuming your resources.
The basic principle is that you need to know first before you start implementing. Once you have the data, you can start (re)acting on it, set thresholds, execute actions, adjust and optimize. All in one, continuous circle: start – know what you are doing – monitor, monitor, monitor – adjust and optimize – start again.
To facilitate the management of (multi-)cloud environments, VMware’s integrated offerings of CloudWatch and vRealize suite enable you to get a full transparent view of your assets and services across multiple clouds including on-premise private clouds and hyperscalers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and others.
VMware’s CloudHealth in particular was acclaimed a Forrester Wave Leader among eight evaluated vendors. VMware’s strategy and current offering stand out across 27 distinct criteria to help you stay on top of your cloud spend.
As a VMware Aggregator Partner, Insight are pleased to offer the Cloud Watch offering together with a raft of other products and solutions as part of the VMware Cloud Provider Programme.
Contact one of our cloud specialists to find out how we can support you in your cloud journey, whether you are designing your first workloads in the cloud or work entirely cloud-based.
As a multi-vendor software licensing, workload and platform specialist, we can guide you through all stages of your strategic cloud journey with a series of workshops, assessments, services and best practices. From the first exploration of cloud or hybrid opportunities and benefits to support and optimization after migration. No matter where you are in your journey, we help you to find new ways forward and accelerate your business.
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