Cloud costs have risen for many companies in the past year. Several factors drive the increases, including inflation, a rush to adopt AI, and energy costs. Some cloud providers have complex pricing structures that can lead to unexpected charges.
Many companies are moving more significant and complex workloads to the cloud as part of their digital transformation efforts. This naturally leads to higher costs. Using multiple cloud providers can also make managing and optimizing costs across different platforms challenging.
Sunrise Banks, a recent convert to cloud computing, has seen increases in all its cloud applications and services. CIO Jon Sandoval says this is mainly due to the high inflation over the past few years. “Labor, cost of goods—everything has gotten more expensive,” he notes.
Globant, an AI and management consulting firm, has seen its cloud costs rise about 20% in the past year.
Controlling rising cloud expenses
Some of its clients are focusing on reducing wasted resources and inefficient usage.
Others are making architectural changes to achieve more efficient cloud consumption. Gayathri Rajendran, enterprise applications manager at TransUnion, says there’s some irony in the situation. Many companies moved to the cloud to cut infrastructure and application costs.
But now, they need dedicated teams to monitor and manage cloud spending. Experts recommend assertive measures to contain cloud costs. Trude Van Horn, CIO at Rimini Street, suggests appointing a “cloud controller” to monitor trends, look for overages, and manage against the budget.
This person needs to be savvy about cloud usage and courageous enough to reach out to business units that may be unaware their activities are adding to costs. Organizations can also use cloud cost management tools and engage consulting services to help optimize their cloud spending. By taking a proactive, informed approach, CIOs can better manage rising cloud costs while pursuing effective digital transformation.
Noah Nguyen is a multi-talented developer who brings a unique perspective to his craft. Initially a creative writing professor, he turned to Dev work for the ability to work remotely. He now lives in Seattle, spending time hiking and drinking craft beer with his fiancee.
