Como identificar e evitar os custos ocultos e inesperados da sua nuvem híbrida?

Private cloud deployments base purchasing models on over-provisioning. Cloud deployments require a different strategy. Since, cloud customers 'rent' services, over-provisioning is wasted spending. Cloud pricing is open and public, but estimating cloud usage is complex. At a minimum, application needs consist of a container (maybe a VM), CPU, and storage. However, it is rarely that simple. Evaluate how the cloud impacts your ISV licensing models. Remember to price out cloud services for monitoring, log retention, security services, backup, high availability, short and long-term data storage, identity and access management functionality, and more. A good rule of thumb is to use the cloud provider's cost estimate calculators and add 40%.

Start by thoroughly understanding your cloud usage and needs. Audit your current and projected workloads to align with the specific capabilities and pricing models of your chosen cloud services. This involves analyzing the types of resources your applications require, such as computing power, storage, and network bandwidth, and how these demands fluctuate over time. By accurately mapping out your usage patterns, you can better select the right type and size of resources, leverage reserved instances or savings plans for predictable workloads, and avoid overprovisioning or underutilizing resources, thereby minimizing unnecessary costs.

Intrinsically, the Hybrid Cloud principle differs from the Cloud Migration one, hence the organisation shall deem it an extension of existing service frameworks instead of trying to revamp any of them, which could potentially result in unnecessary debates. As a result, this architecture allows an organisation to get involved in the whole cloud ecosystem much easier; that is to say, an organisation could be familiar with how the cloud infrastructure differs from the on-premises one, how the IAM objects integrate with your human identities and even service frameworks, how to observe your spending in-depth and perform optimisation step-by-step when requires, and many more without too many significant changes.

Regularly monitor and analyze your cloud environment to ensure resources are fully utilized but not over-provisioned. Utilize auto-scaling to adjust resources dynamically, matching demand while minimizing waste. Implementing cloud-native technologies like containerization can enhance efficiency, allowing for more granular control over resource allocation. Choose the right mix of on-premises and cloud-based solutions to balance performance and cost, leveraging cloud cost management tools for insights and automation in optimizing expenditures. This approach ensures you only pay for what you truly need, avoiding unnecessary costs.

The first step is to turn on monitoring and reporting services to give visibility into cloud costs. A layered approach to cost control might involve identifying and ranking the most expensive and most underutilized cloud resources. Then prioritize the cost savings fixes by the simplicity of implementing them. Right-sizing resources are central to sound cloud economics. Delete unneeded resources and shut down unused resources outside specific time periods. Re-evaluate the size of your VMs and storage to right-size underutilized services. Other strategies include reducing licensing costs with open-source alternatives and taking advantage of reservation offers and discounts. A best practice is to find ways to automate your strategies.

Establish clear guidelines for cloud usage, resource provisioning, and cost management to maintain oversight and control. By implementing policies that enforce best practices in security, compliance, and operational efficiency, you can prevent unnecessary expenses stemming from data breaches, non-compliance fines, or inefficient resource utilization. Regularly review and update these policies to adapt to changing cloud technologies and business needs. Engaging all stakeholders in the governance process ensures adherence, optimizes cloud spending, and leverages the cloud's full economic potential.

Working closely with vendors is essential when designing a hybrid cloud strategy. A collective understanding on where to place workloads and why is key for optimising costs and ensuring best performance. There are advisory & professional services available through vendors which can assist with recommendations for destination and migration approach for each of your targeted applications to ensure this is as smooth and cost effective as possible.

Engage with them to understand their pricing models, discounts, and any available cost optimization tools or services. Vendors often provide insights and best practices for efficient resource utilization that can lead to significant savings. Establishing strong partnerships can also unlock negotiation opportunities for better pricing or value-added services at no extra cost. Regular communication helps you stay informed about changes or updates in their offerings that could affect your costs, ensuring you make the most cost-effective decisions for your cloud strategy.

Cloud pricing is public information. Leverage your strategic vendor relationships to help solve the most challenges your organization faces. Purchasing cloud through a CSP vendor is serious business. Usually, the cloud provider requires your reseller to provide first-level cloud problem resolution support, so choose an organization that can adequately support your application workloads. Professional services organizations can bring a wealth of expertise to build cloud architectures and take the sting out of complex cloud deployments. Native cloud services can sometimes replace expensive 3rd party on-premises ISV solutions. For each ISV solution, you evaluate whether to build yourself via the cloud platform before purchasing.

A well-informed team can make more cost-effective decisions, utilize cloud resources efficiently, and avoid common pitfalls that lead to overspending. Regular training sessions should cover cloud pricing models, cost management tools, and best practices for resource utilization. Encouraging a culture of cost-awareness across the organization empowers users to identify and suggest improvements. This proactive approach to cloud education ensures that your team can leverage the cloud's full potential while staying within budget and avoiding unforeseen expenses.

Cloud platform providers publish many free, publicly available self-service training and certification resources. Additional resources are available to organizations that pass certain purchasing thresholds and for ISV, services, or resale partners enrolled in their partner programs. Entice your team to skill up on their cloud education. Gamify the process of individual certification through internal contests and incentives. Additionally, each cloud platform has certified education partners to assist with your training needs.

- 🕵️♂️ Conduct regular audits of your hybrid cloud expenditures to track where costs are originating. - 📝 Maintaining visibility into both the direct and indirect costs—such as network data transfer fees, compliance management, and administrative overhead—is essential to avoid surprises. - 🔄 Implement automated cost management tools that provide real-time insights into resource utilization and costs. - Regularly revisiting and optimizing your cloud resource allocation 📊 can prevent overprovisioning and underutilization. - Training your team on cost-awareness and cost-effective practices in cloud management 🏋️♂️ can cultivate a cost-conscious culture that proactively seeks to optimize and reduce unnecessary expenditures.

Large to medium enterprises usually employ multiple vendors for storage, hypervisors, hardware, and cloud platforms. The complex and dynamic needs of a large operation require multicloud adoption. Each CSP publishes its own Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) with tools, advice, and best practices to assist customers through their cloud journey. Their frameworks are remarkably similar. Leverage their decision trees to document your organization's choices and to understand past public, private, and hybrid cloud conclusions.

The strategy is a blueprint which guides us to achieve our intentions, however, one thing must be kept in mind is that the strategy is adjustable, depending on the situation we are involved in. For instance, we treat the Hybrid Cloud as an extension of the existing environment from the outset, when we get more familiar with the cloud ecosystems across architectures and operations, we definitely could consider revamping our service frameworks to be more cloud-native. Because of the familiarity, we could even figure out the pros and cons between Hybrid Cloud and Cloud Migration, then change our direction to the model which is able to maximise the values to the business. Hybrid Cloud is a turnkey, a milestone instead of a finale!

A few years ago, my team faced hidden costs after migrating to a hybrid cloud. We learned valuable lessons in identifying and avoiding these expenses. First, understanding cloud usage and aligning workloads with the right environment is crucial. We optimized resources by using auto-scaling and cloud-native tools, preventing over-provisioning. Clear governance policies were essential to control "cloud sprawl" and unexpected bills. Engaging vendors helped us access discounts and insights. Training our team on cloud management fostered cost-conscious decisions. Finally, regular strategy reviews helped identify inefficiencies and reduce costs, ensuring long-term success.

Create and maintain a cloud back-out plan. While nearly every organization has a plan to get into the cloud, few have a plan to get their data and information out. The cloud is sticky, and it's easy to commit additional workloads over time. Consider the tools and high-level milestones needed to get out of the cloud, if required.