Tips to Manage Cloud Spend in Your Enterprise

According to Flexera’s State of Cloud 2021 report, organizations are continuing to rapidly increase their cloud spend. In so doing, they struggle to accurately forecast their fast-growing cloud costs.

In the figure to the right, respondents reported their public cloud spend was over budget by an average of 24 percent. Respondents also expect their cloud spend to further increase by 39 percent in the next twelve months. This trend means it’s more critical than ever to get a handle on forecasting and cost optimization.

When there is a lack of visibility and control over their cloud resources, organizations are in trouble. Cloud sprawl is one of the biggest pitfalls associated with minimal oversight. Cloud sprawl refers to the unchecked proliferation of an organization’s cloud instances, services and service providers, which can lead to unexpected costs and security vulnerabilities.

3 Causes of Cloud Sprawl

Too much cloud can be a bad thing. Here a few common reasons cloud sprawl occurs within an organization.

1. Shadow IT: The self-service, user-friendly nature of the cloud has made it easy for various LOB employees to spin up resources, commonly implemented without the knowledge of IT. As a result, knowing exactly how many cloud services and subscriptions that are being utilized companywide are difficult to track. (Learn more about Shadow IT.)
2. Failing to Right-Size Your Environment: Oversized infrastructure is one of the most common sources of overspending. When enterprises don’t match cloud resources to their current demand it often leads to over-provisioned and underutilized resources.
3. No Governance Plan: It’s easy to keep throwing money at cloud resources; however, without a clear strategy and governance plan, costs can spiral under the radar.

4 Tips to Help Managed Sprawl in Your Organization

Every cloud sprawl symptom has a cure, and below are a few tips on where to start reining in your cloud.

1. Assess Your Current State
   Start with an initial analysis of your current cloud estate and identify any optimization opportunities for rightsizing, helping to identify and eliminate wasted spend.
2. Develop a Clear Governance Plan
   Define and implement a plan regarding cloud purchasing and cloud spending. Your end users should know how to make use of cloud services by adhering to policies that control costs, minimize security risks, improve efficiency and accelerate deployment.
3. Continuously Monitor
   Continue to monitor your cloud environment to identify any unused, idle or duplicate resources that can drive up costs.

OneNeck, We Got Your Back

Cloud can be complex. Understanding consumption, identifying patterns and then determining how (or where) to optimize is a huge challenge. Working with a credible IT provider, with experience optimizing cloud use can help reduce budget overruns while accounting for wasted cloud spend.

At OneNeck, we have hands-on experience helping our clients identify exactly how much they are spending, along with providing recommendations on how and where waste can be controlled.

Can your organization save on cloud costs with an Azure Cost Optimization Assessment? Start your free assessment now .

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