4 Tips to Reduce Cloud Spending During COVID-19 and Beyond
April 30, 2020
A NYC area IT consultant and cloud services provider shares tips to reduce cloud spending in a new article on the eMazzanti Technologies website. The informative article discusses the need for increased work from home (WFH) cloud usage against the backdrop of COVID-19 budgetary constraints.
Eliminating idle resources, downsizing capacity to fit need, and ways to monitor cloud usage are presented as cost-saving measures. In addition, the author cites best practices to reduce cloud spending, including policy and schedule automation and optimized virtual machine configuration.
“In the coming months and years, organizations will continue to increase cloud usage,” stated Jennifer Mazzanti, CEO, eMazzanti Technologies. “But severe budgetary constraints will put pressure on IT managers to reduce cloud spending.”
Below are a few excerpts from the article, “4 Tips to Reduce Cloud Spending During COVID-19 and Beyond.”
“As businesses struggle through the pandemic, or rebuild after it ends, careful planning can keep cloud spending from spiraling out of control. Fortunately, one clear benefit of moving to the cloud involves scalability. And cloud services such as Microsoft Azure provide tools to help review and adjust cloud usage to achieve optimal efficiency.”
1. Identify and Eliminate Idle Resources
“In the cloud, organizations pay for certain resources by the hour or even by the minute. Consequently, idle resources eat up the budget unnecessarily. For example, for cloud instances only used during the weekday, make sure you are not paying for 24/7 usage.”
2. Downsize Capacity to Fit Need
“Many companies overestimate needed capacity when they migrate to the cloud. Operating on a “better safe than sorry” principle, they end up with a size or two larger than they actually need. Fortunately, cloud services allow you to scale down to fit your usage. With regular monitoring, you can determine where to downgrade storage or services to meet actual need.”
3. Monitor Cloud Usage
“Most cloud services offer tools for monitoring cloud spending and usage patterns. For instance, Microsoft Azure includes its Cost Management utility as a free service to help avoid overspending.”
4. Adopt Best Practices to Reduce Cloud Spending
“Learning to use the cloud efficiently will help as you work to reduce cloud spending. In addition to monitoring, you should automate cost-saving policies wherever possible. For instance, configure the system to detect and eliminate unused (or “zombie”) cloud instances. Or set schedules to start and stop instances at certain times, rather than running 24/7.”