Building a cost-effective cloud system requires careful planning and execution. This guide provides five essential tips to help you optimize your cloud setup. Learn how to choose the right cloud provider, select the appropriate pricing model, rightsize your resources, leverage automation tools, and implement effective monitoring and optimization strategies.

Consolidate disparate technologies

Cloud services come in various forms, including standalone platforms with rates that increase over time. If you’re looking to save on costs, it’s best to choose a cloud service provider that offers a suite of products that all work together. This option is often less expensive than investing in several standalone products.

Another benefit of working with a cloud provider is that you’ll have a single point of contact to quickly and effectively resolve any issues that you may experience with your cloud platform.

Partner with experienced cloud providers

Make sure to hire a trusted and experienced integration consultant to help facilitate a smooth transition. This is essential, as integration mishaps can cause serious downtime and also cost a lot of money.

Define and prioritize backups

Unnecessary or inefficient backups waste cloud storage space. Review your data stored in the cloud by asking yourself the following questions:

  • How many versions of this data do I need to store long term? The more versions I store, the more it will cost me.
  • What regulatory demands do I need to meet? Some data may need to be accessible for up to three years, while other data can be deleted after 30 days.
  • How quickly do I need to access my backups? If it can wait for a day or two, I can archive data to a less expensive service or offline at the provider’s data center.

Regulate users

It’s common practice for cloud service providers to charge per user. If you neglect to regularly manage the list of users, you may end up paying for more than the actual number of users. It’s ideal to schedule a regular audit of users and implement processes that remove them when they leave the company to ensure your cloud user list is always up to date.

Monitor proactively

Ask your cloud provider whether they can proactively monitor your account and notify you of potential issues before these escalate into major problems. This is especially important if you have a pay-as-you-go license where costs are directly tied to resource or storage consumption.

Utilizing the right technology resources is vital to your business’s success, and so is knowing how to prevent such resources from racking up an overwhelming monthly bill. Give us a call if you wish to enjoy all the benefits of cloud computing without going over your budget. We’ll be happy to help.