Even though there have been cloud best practices for almost ten years, some businesses are still in "lift and shift" mode.
In the age of advanced technology, businesses are, by and large, overspending on cloud.
According to Flexera's 2022 State of the Cloud survey, expenditure management is the top cloud-related concern for more than eight out of ten businesses.
According to Flexera's Brian Adler, senior director of cloud market strategy, "the cloud makes it unbelievably easy to spend money." This issue is a cloud-based upgrading of shadow IT: Enterprises will spend money on cloud services they don't truly need if they don't have a handle on what they have and what they're paying for.
Businesses who have adopted a mature approach to cloud computing have learnt how to manage their spending by implementing tactics like guardrails on who may spend what and using cost and optimization tools, even if it's simply the free ones provided by vendors.
As a result, on-prem may appear to be the most cost-effective option. Despite being a tempting choice, on-prem systems lack the flexibility and speed that encourage innovation and make cloud computing so seductive in the first place.
Some businesses are still in "lift and shift" mode, transferring on-premises data and applications into the cloud in their current state, despite over ten years of cloud best practices.
Additionally, according to Baker, not putting up barriers for developers is like leaving toddlers loose in a candy shop. "Since you've given the infrastructure team the keys to the kingdom, it's not really their problem. They simply want to complete their task.
Because it's simple for developers to increase unneeded spending, budget, security, and access controls must be put in place for clouds.
According to Tracy Woo, senior analyst at Forrester, the requirement for control is particularly important for businesses whose engineers were "accustomed to hoarding resources."
Before, they might have had to ask IT for assistance, which could take weeks, according to Woo. Cloud technology is now "on demand, scalable, and can happen very quickly."
Use built-in cloud discounts and optimization tools
Although every cloud provider provides free optimization tools and savings, not everyone takes advantage of them.
According to the Flexera State of the Cloud survey, just 36% of AWS users use reserved instances, and 31% use savings plans. These figures have decreased from 52 percent and 44 percent correspondingly from the previous year.
According to Adler, the savings prospects are obvious. "It's like having coupons in your pocket and walking up to the cashier without using them,"
The free cost-management tools that come with the cloud can also be used by businesses. According to Woo, these can be particularly useful for businesses using a single cloud vendor.
"They all include something that is fundamentally free. You must start paying if you want to add in more extended capabilities, she said.
The capabilities of third-party solutions range from inexpensive add-ons that offer a dashboard picture of how an organization is utilizing different clouds to more expensive services that entirely reinvent an enterprise's use of the cloud.
Innovate spending while implementing cloud
Reducing cloud goals in order to reduce costs can have long-term consequences. Reverting to on-premises solutions puts businesses at risk of missing out on cloud-enabled advances.
Nobody understood what a container was seven years ago, and now here we are, trying to do containers, said Baker. "Innovation will be less expensive than wasting money."
But instead of wasting money in the name of innovation, businesses may combine cost-management strategies with creative ones.
This transformation also calls for a shift in how we view the cloud as a significant money saver, says Woo. "Everyone believes that using the cloud was intended to help you save money. You won't save money this way. You will have unrestricted access to capabilities that you wouldn't otherwise have.
Source: CIODIVE
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