Are Your Cloud Costs Sky High?

Cloud storage is an important element of modern computing, allowing businesses to store and access data quickly and securely.

The costs of using a cloud storage service can be expensive. With more and more sectors relying on the cloud for data storage and transfer, it is no surprise that many seek a solution for the rising, sky high costs of cloud service providers. So, in this article, we'll discuss why your cloud costs may be reaching high levels, as well as ways to monitor and potentially reduce your cloud spending. 

What Does Running Your Cloud System Cost Your Organization? 

First and foremost, it is important to understand the different types of cloud storage services, and the associated costs. Cloud storage services can be broken down into three primary categories: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Each of these has its own set of associated costs, ranging from setup fees to monthly usage fees. Plus you may also incur additional fees as you begin using the service, such as support fees for when you need the advice of expert cloud engineers. 

What are you paying for? - Depending on the particular cloud storage service, you may be paying for different elements. In addition to the fees outlined above, you could also be charged for data transfer bandwidth, or usage of applications hosted from the cloud. You may also have to pay extra for additional storage capacity or specific features and services that are not included in a basic subscription package.

One reason your cloud costs may be high is because of inefficient use or excessive storage. If you are currently storing large amounts of data that isn't being used, this can significantly drive up your costs. It’s important to periodically review the data stored in your cloud and delete any unnecessary files or folders.

Reviewing What You Are Paying For 

While it may be easy to turn to the cost of the provider, what is also useful is reviewing what you are paying for and deciding whether this is necessary for your organization. Different providers may offer varying levels of storage, features, or services that could be more cost-effective for your organization. Before signing up to access cloud services from your chosen provider, be sure to compare different providers and packages. You may find that certain providers offer better packages on a month-to-month basis. 

It sounds simple to suggest simply reviewing your payments and your usage to ensure that you are truly paying for what you need from your cloud service provider. However, you may be wondering how to do this as your usage and requirements often fluctuate. 

How to Optimize your Cloud Costs 

One of the best ways to manage and optimize your cloud costs is to work with cloud cost optimization tools. These tools provide daily, real-time monitoring of your cloud usage and can produce reports and analyses of your spend. 

For large tech firms this is incredibly useful as cloud costs can often exceed thousands of dollars per month. 

Not only are these tools automated, but they are incredibly efficient and do not require any additional software engineering work. With other features such as autoscaling and security insights, your engineers can stay on top of your organization’s cloud usage without lifting a finger. 

How Cost Optimization Tools Work

Cost optimization tools work by analyzing your cloud system for any inefficiencies or waste. They can identify areas where you may have over-provisioned resources, unused services, or misconfigured settings that are driving up costs unnecessarily. Additionally, these tools provide cost forecasts and recommendations on how to reduce your costs without compromising performance or security. By implementing a cost optimization tool into your cloud strategy, you will benefit from accurate reporting, and monitoring that will not only help you keep your cloud costs low but offer a wide range of other benefits to your IT team.

Conclusion

Cloud storage is an essential part of modern computing, but it comes with the potential for sky high costs. By understanding the different types of cloud storage and associated costs, you can take steps to monitor and reduce your spending. Furthermore, cost optimization tools can help automate this process and provide insights into how you are using  your cloud services. Not only offering automated analysis of your cloud spending but providing real-time, continuous monitoring, optimizing your usage.