Optimizing Cloud Costs for Hybrid Cloud Environments: Best Practices and Tips

Chris Rizzo

May 1, 2023

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5 min read

Cloud computing has revolutionized the IT industry and made data storage, processing and retrieval more efficient and cost-effective. However, with the rise of hybrid cloud environments, businesses may find themselves facing new challenges when it comes to managing cloud costs. Cloud services offer the promise of agility, scalability and ease of use, but without proper optimization, cost savings can quickly become cost burdens. In this blog, we will share some best practices and tips for optimizing cloud costs in hybrid cloud environments to help CIOs and CTOs manage their cloud resources effectively and save on their cloud investment.

Make sure your cloud environment is flexible

Creating a flexible hybrid cloud environment can help optimize cloud costs in the long run. By having the flexibility to scale up and down according to demand, businesses can save costs by not over-provisioning resources. This means you should use automation to manage the allocation of resources, so that under-utilized resources can be released, while over-provisioned resources can be scaled down.

Use automated cloud management tools

Automating the management of your cloud services can reduce your overall spend on cloud services. By automating tasks such as capacity planning, patch management or database tuning, you can reduce the time spent managing your cloud environment and take advantage of opportunities to save costs. Automation can provide real-time data analysis, which can help identify areas where cloud resources are not being efficiently utilized, and help businesses prioritize optimization efforts.

Review cloud usage and billing regularly

Businesses should leverage cloud usage monitoring and billing tools to track cloud usage and billing. Regular reviews of usage and billing can help identify any irregularities such as over-consumption or inflated bills, and opportunities to optimize cloud resources. By reviewing usage and billing data, you can determine which resources are being underutilized, and make changes to reduce costs.

Work with a cloud management partner

Working with an experienced cloud management partner can help businesses gain visibility into their cloud environment, and develop a customized optimization plan based on their needs. Such partners can help provide insights into cost management tactics and offer relevant optimization tips. A cloud management partner can help you conduct a cloud cost assessment, and offer tailored recommendations for cost savings in line with best practices, that can help you manage your cloud costs effectively.

Use workload optimization

Workload optimization can help businesses optimize cloud costs by moving workloads between public and private clouds, and identifying idle or underutilized resources. By defining workload performance requirements and evaluating costs based on those requirements, businesses can pinpoint which workloads may be more cost-effective running on-premises, on public or on private clouds. This optimization strategy thereby allows for better resource management while reducing total cost of ownership.

By following these best practices and tips, businesses can successfully optimize cloud costs in hybrid cloud environments while still benefiting from the advantages of cloud services. Optimizing costs involves a co-ordinated effort, working collaboratively with your development team, software vendor and even cloud provider. CIOs and CTOs that invest time and effort into optimizing their cloud resources stand to gain better returns on their cloud investment, preserve business continuity and introduce greater flexibility, scalability and innovation into their organizations.