How can you avoid overpaying for hybrid cloud pricing?

Slash Cloud Costs, Not Corners! ?? I'd say, to tame that wild hybrid cloud bill: ?? - First, play detective with your cloud usage. What's hot, what's not? ???♂? - Shop smart! Compare prices and haggle like a pro. ?? - Cut the clutter – ditch those digital dust collectors. ??? - Rule your cloud kingdom with governance and policies. ?? - Read the fine print in contracts to dodge those sneaky fees. ?? - Finally, manage your containers and instances like a boss! ??? Tip: Check out CloudHealth for nifty cloud management! ??

Understand clearly why you are using cloud then implement FinOps to manage cost transparently, and AIOPs to manage environment performance.

?? Avoid overpaying for hybrid cloud pricing with these tips: ?? Right-size your resources: Choose the right instance type and size for your workloads ??. Don't overprovision just in case . ?? Optimize storage usage: Delete unused storage , snapshots, and backups. Use archival storage for old data . ?? Leverage reserved instances : Get discounts for committed usage if you have predictable patterns . ?????? Monitor and track costs: Use cloud cost management tools ??? to spot potential savings . ?? Negotiate with cloud providers : Explore volume discounts , tiered pricing ???, and other options . ?? Consider multi-cloud strategies : Use different providers ?? to find the best deals and services.

To avoid overpaying for hybrid cloud pricing, optimize your resource allocation. Rightsize your instances and storage, matching them precisely to your workload requirements. Leverage auto-scaling to dynamically adjust resources based on demand, preventing unnecessary costs during low usage periods. Implement cost management tools to track spending and identify areas for optimization. Regularly review and adjust your resource allocation strategy to align with evolving workload demands and cost-efficiency goals.

To avoid overpaying for cloud integrate FinOps, DevOps, and AIOps practices. FinOps ensures financial transparency, accountability - optimizing cloud spending and aligning costs to business value. DevOps streamlines operations, utilizing resources efficiently through automation and CI/CD pipelines. AIOps employs AI to automate operations, offering insights into resource use and performance. Regular reviews and adjustments of your cloud strategy, helps maintain a balance between performance, cost, value, and scalability. The reviews should include the IT, business and finance teams working off transparent data they are all align around - TBM. This approach ensures cost-effective, performant, and efficient cloud management.

Be aware of all types of charges that you will end up paying. Most often, the business case exercise does not take into account all costs into account. For example, egress charges are one of the underlying costs that get overlooked and can cost you a lot depending on your geographical setup and the level of data transfer. Similarly, going Pay-as-you-go might not be the right strategy for all workloads. Wherever possible, fixing a commitment through Reserved Instances, Savings Plans etc. can help reduce the charges significantly. Just going to different cloud providers might not be a great strategy for the same kind of services (e.g.IaaS). This is because you lose the power of negotiation with each vendor due to reduced volume.

To optimize hybrid cloud costs, consider utilizing Reserved Instances (RIs) or Savings Plans provided by cloud providers. RIs allow you to commit to a one- or three-year term for specific instance types, providing significant cost savings compared to on-demand pricing. Savings Plans offer flexibility by providing savings across various instance types and families, allowing you to adapt to changing workload requirements while maintaining cost efficiency. Evaluate your workload predictability and commit to RIs or Savings Plans strategically to maximize savings.

Consider multi-cloud strategies. Diversifying your cloud providers or using a multi-cloud approach can provide flexibility, bargaining power, and cost savings. However, managing multiple clouds requires careful planning and coordination.

To manage and allocate costs effectively in a hybrid cloud environment, implement cost allocation and tagging practices. Assign tags to your cloud resources based on attributes such as project, department, or environment. This enables you to track and categorize costs more granularly. Utilize cloud provider tools or third-party solutions for automated cost allocation. By associating costs with specific projects or teams, you gain better visibility into resource consumption, making it easier to optimize spending and allocate expenses accurately.

The best optimization is planning ahead. If you have predictable workloads, consider committing to reserved instances. This often comes with significant cost savings compared to on-demand pricing.

There are several ways to achieve this. Some of them include 1) PAYG for Test systems which are not frequently used. 2) Archiving of data to reduce storage costs, especially for ERP systems like SAP. 3) Right-sizing your workloads 4) Shutdown unused workloads 5) Autoscaling But all of this needs to be done in an effective way by adopting FinOps practices with the help of your Cloud Center of Excellence (if you have this established). Otherwise, achieving this in an ongoing manner across the organization would become a challenging task. And FinOps is not just a matter of purchasing a tool. It requires dedicated focus, investments and involvement from engineering, business, infra and finance teams to make it successful

Implement robust monitoring and reporting mechanisms to track your hybrid cloud costs continuously. Leverage cloud provider monitoring tools or integrate with third-party solutions to gain insights into resource usage, performance, and associated costs. Set up automated alerts for cost anomalies or unexpected spikes in consumption. Regularly review detailed cost reports provided by your cloud provider and analyze trends. Establish a reporting cadence to share cost insights with relevant stakeholders. Monitoring and reporting enable proactive cost management by identifying areas for optimization and addressing issues promptly.

Based on my experience, the careful selection of the appropriate cloud service model plays a pivotal role in determining the success of a business initiative. Choosing from the various cloud service offerings, such as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, requires thorough consideration to ensure alignment with objectives. It is essential to underscore the significance of matching the chosen cloud service model with the unique needs of the project. A comprehensive evaluation of factors like scalability, control, development speed, and ongoing maintenance is essential to make an informed decision that best serves the organisation's requirements.

This is not the right way to look at cost optimization. You cannot prevent overpaying by choosing between IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. You decide between these choices based on several factors like 1) Level of control you need on the infrastructure (IaaS with highest level of control and SaaS with lowest level of control) 2) Skill availability and staff's bandwidth within your organization to manage infrastructure (if it is limited, you can save recruitment costs by deciding to move to PaaS or SaaS) 3) It might be only possible to consider SaaS-based versions if you are using a packaged product (e.g. Microsoft AX to Dynamics) So you cannot avoid overpaying by picking one over the other model. Rather you might need to run each model effectively

Technology changes constantly. Make sure the choice you make leaves the option to move to a different service should you need. Price, performance and location will continue to evolve. Don’t get caught in the trap of being locked in to a single provider that requires massive rebuild effort to extricate yourself. This is a long game.

Implementing robust cloud governance provides a framework for managing access, security, compliance, and budgetary considerations. By enforcing policies and assigning clear roles, organizations can maintain visibility and control over their cloud resources. Regular monitoring and reporting further enhance governance by allowing stakeholders to assess adherence to policies and identify areas for improvement. Overall, effective governance contributes to cost optimization and aligns cloud usage with business objectives.

This iterative process allows organizations to adapt to changing requirements, optimize resource usage, and incorporate lessons learned from previous cloud deployments. Collecting feedback from users and stakeholders provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of the current strategy and areas for improvement. Staying informed about the latest cloud trends ensures that organizations can leverage new technologies and features that may impact their hybrid cloud environment positively. This continuous improvement loop enhances agility and maximizes the benefits of hybrid cloud solutions.

To avoid overpaying for hybrid cloud pricing: 1. Understand Usage: Analyze your usage patterns, identify workloads suitable for public or private cloud, and forecast future demand. 2. Compare Prices: Research and negotiate cloud prices from different providers, considering discounts, and hidden fees. 3. Optimize Resources: Review and eliminate unused resources, resize based on actual needs, and use automation tools for efficient scaling. 4. Choose Right Model: Evaluate and choose the appropriate cloud service model based on control, flexibility, and cost considerations. 5. Implement Governance: Define and enforce cloud governance rules, assign responsibilities, and use monitoring tools to track performance, costs, and risks.