Ironically enough, sometimes the strength and appeal of an IT solution can get in the way of that solution’s success, effectively becoming a weakness or even a hindrance instead. Cloud solutions and migrations are unfortunately no exceptions.
Although my colleagues and I prefer to think of cloud migration as a journey requiring careful and considered preparation, migrating to the cloud can just as well be a quick and easy process. In fact, speed of implementation and enablement - and, linked to that, the promise of improved business agility - are two of the cloud’s main selling points. Which explains why moving to the cloud is too often adopted as a last-minute emergency solution, especially by IT managers under the pressure to meet their organisation’s fast-growing business needs and fast-changing business requirements with their existing on-premises infrastructure.
Cloud Economics & FinOps service
Unfortunately, as the practice has shown, migrating to the cloud can actually increase costs, as two-thirds of the organisations testify. Especially if it is done (too) quickly and without much prior thought, preparation and expertise. No wonder then that most organisations, once they find out the actual cost of operating in the cloud, search for options to (re)gain control of that cost.
This is where our Cloud Economics & FinOps service comes in handy: a cloud consulting service that not only helps organisations to gauge their financials (Fin) in relation to their cloud operations (Ops), but also lets them get a better grip on the best practices that directly drive those financials. The service is supported by FinOps tools that allow organisations to optimise their costs by offering insights on cost drivers, to reduce overuse and to resolve performance bottlenecks.
Our Cloud Economics & FinOps service is designed to optimise costs along the whole journey to the cloud. Next to optimising costs once you’re actually operating in the cloud, this also includes planning the costs of the actual cloud migration leg of the journey. That part of the service allows organisations, among other things, to predict future run costs, compare cloud providers and achieve an optimal mix of fixed and variable subscriptions.
Optimising your on-premises infrastructure
Often neglected or even totally ignored is the first leg of the cloud journey, in which your existing on-premises infrastructure is optimised to the max. The idea here is to first conduct a rightsizing analysis of that infrastructure. This offers you a double benefit: firstly, you save some money since you postpone your cloud investments, while also avoiding the renewal of your existing infrastructure. And secondly, you free up the necessary time to make sure that you’re not moving to the cloud for the wrong reasons – because IT can no longer meet the needs and requirements of the business, for example. Instead, you are now free to create a proper cloud adoption success story.
In conducting that analysis, you may for instance come to the conclusion that a number of applications make too little use of the existing resources so that a rightsizing of your on-premises workload is in order. By consolidating some resources and freeing up some others, you may eventually end up with more capacity for those who actually need it. All the more reason, if you ask me, not to neglect or ignore this important first step on your cloud journey!
Our Cloud Economics & FinOps service is just one of a handful of consulting services that are part of our cloud services portfolio. Check out my previous posts to find out how to define your cloud strategy and how to analyse what is already in place to drive a successful cloud journey.